2022-2023 FRC Preseason Update #1

Introduction: It’s hard to believe we are halfway through the 2023 preseason!  Every part of our team, from Business to Technical, has worked hard to prepare for build season.  Here’s a statement from all our leads about what we’ve accomplished so far this preseason.

Business
Business Project Manager: Ashley W.

We have had a great start to business! Almost halfway through preseason, and everyone is making great progress! Everyone participates in business on Tuesdays, 5;30 to 8:30 pm from September – December. We’ve had so many amazing new ideas being implemented this year such as the outreach training day, improvements in our fundraising efforts, media training, a new business structure, and so much more! I’m so excited to see what’s to come for the rest of preseason!

Outreach: Aria N.

Outreach has had their hands full this preseason with our first fully in person preseason since 2019. They have been working on updating and sharing our outreach catalog, which is a resource we created for the FIRST community to exchange outreach expertise amongst various teams. They’ve also been collaborating with individual team members to host and champion their own outreach events in their communities in and around Pittsburgh, PA. The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion subteam and Advocacy subteam have been analyzing the team’s DEI goals and setting up initiatives with new community partners. The FIRST Ladies co-directors are currently in the midst of accepting applications from teams around the world to be regional partners. The FLL co-directors, outside of helping with the outreach catalog, have also been planning and facilitating the first fully in-person FLL season since 2019 and are currently more than halfway through the FLL season! In fact, our four FLL teams attended a competitive scrimmage to prepare for the championships in December.

Finance: Grace G.

The finance team has applied for two grants: Rev Robotics and Baughman Family grant. We received a total of $6,000 from the grants and plan on using the proceeds for a swerve drive and electrical parts. The finance team has also scheduled numerous fundraisers such as Sarris Candies, Choolaah and Panera , drafted the business plan, and compiled a list of companies we hope to reach out to for partnerships. This year, we have decided on crowdfunding through CMU for robot parts. #GivingCMUday is November 29, 2022!

Media: Tara S.

 Media has been hard at work!  Our visual subteam has been learning Premiere basics, taking headshots of all our team members, and beginning work on our Crowdfunding video.  Image has drafted a variety of posts about fundraising and outreach events.  They’re also working on some signs that will hang around the practice field.

Awards: Katherine H.

The awards team has been diving into writing the submission essays. They’ve gotten an understanding of what each award is and the specific requirements for them. They have also gotten a big picture of the outreach events that we do.

Student Support Director: Mia M.

I have been so happy to return to this team and be back to the welcoming and loving environment on the team. As the team’s Student Support Director, I’ve gotten to connect with both new and returning FRC and FTC team members to get to know them better and help them feel more integrated and comfortable on the team. I am extremely grateful to be part of a community with such a hard working, yet comfortable and appreciative atmosphere! Check out the FTC blog here!

Technical
Technical Project Manager: Samhita G.

The technical season has started with a new approach to an old training tradition we had. This year we elongated our sub team training methods and spread them out over two weeks so that everyone would be trained in the 4 sub team basics as well as have a good idea of what each sub team does during the season. 

After picking technical sub teams, our members started in depth training in skills needed for their teams as well as participating in sub team specific mock kick offs. We also are planning team wide preseason projects and are going to be building a swerve drive in late November!

Mechanical: Ciara A.

The Mechanical team has been working on learning and refreshing tech skills. So far they have learned about all the hand tools and where all the tools are located in the practice field. They have been helping develop an outreach project by making small robots called “Meep Boop”. Soon they’ll be working on a swerve drive bot to gain experience with it. 

Design: Rishika S.

The Design subteam has had a busy few weeks learning all about CADing in the OnShape software. So far, they have learned how to create basic e-boards, apply featurescripts, make basic sketches and extrusions and apply fasten mates. They continue to utilize and apply these skills as they each work on their long term projects to create robots that would perform well in completing the 2017 FRC game: SteamWorks. 

Programming: Ashley W.

The programming team has so many new and returning members this year! We’re still helping everyone learn the basics they need to succeed and be prepared during build season. Everyone’s learning/reviewing the basics of Java and how to create basic subsystems and commands to get familiar with the command-based framework and WPILib. For the next half of the preseason, we’re going to dive into more topics such as PID control, using the electronics and sensors, and working on personal projects depending on what part of programming they’re interested in.

Electrical: Kameron L.

The Electrical subteam first started with learning what a circuit is and the difference between amperage, voltage, wattage, resistance, and more. Then, we learned the components of an e-board and the essentials to make a functioning robot. Afterwards, we reviewed how to make a proper wire diagram and the components of pneumatics. Currently, we are working on a can crusher powered by pneumatics, where we will continue to gain more experience in this category.