FRC 238 Newsletter: GSD Winner!

FIRST Robotics Competition Team 238
2018 Granite State District Event Newsletter

Team 238 participated in the Granite State District Event in Windham, NH on March 3rd & 4th. We competed with teams throughout all of New England and worked our way up to become the #1 ranked team. We went on to win the event with our alliance partners 5687 (The Outliers) and 1517 (The Lumberjacks) and the Quality Award sponsored by Motorola Solutions Foundation.

After the end of the qualification matches, as the #1 ranked team, we were the captain of Alliance #1. We proceeded through the elimination matches working out a smart strategy with our alliance to take advantage of each teams' strengths. After losing our first semi-final match, we needed to re-strategize with our alliance partners and went on to win the rest of our matches and the event.

Catwoman's autonomous programs worked well. Our robot was able to place a cube on the scale and the switch.

We helped other teams with their autonomous code so they could move during the start of the match. We also helped other teams with technical fixes to their robots during the competition.

During the competition, our scouting team completed two sets of scouting activities: pit scouting and match scouting. Pit scouting was done before the first matches and we visited teams in the pits and asked them some questions, for example: the weight of the robot, how many batteries they had, what wheels did they use on their drivetrain. We also asked what programming software do the used like C++, Java, or LabView, and what kind or autonomous modes they planned on using like crossing the line, putting a cube on the scale, putting a cube on the switch.

Match scouting is done during live matches where we monitor each specific robot and log the results of how they performed in that match. The information that we kept track included what they did in autonomous and teleop match periods. We recorded how many cubes they placed on the different field elements and if they climbed in the last 30 seconds of the match.

After all of the scout sheets were filled out, the sheets were scanned in our pit and the data appeared on our scouting website (click here to view). We used this data to work with our alliance partners to strategize.

At the event, Team 238 won the Quality Award. The quality award is given to the team that displays overall quality in every aspect of the competition from robot to team.
The judges wrote the following about us: This team’s attention to detail was impeccable, from the sleek workmanship on their robot to the construction of their control panel to the organization of their pit. Their careful color coordination was suggestive of professional branding, and their mounted touch panel displayed high-quality CAD work. They have built a product-quality machine that has clearly withstood the rigors of competition.

For the first time in many years, Team 238 submitted for the Chairman’s Award. It was a long road, but we put in a lot of effort. In the end, our hard work paid off to create a Chairman’s Award submission that we are extremely proud of. Even though we did not win at this event, we are still very satisfied with what we have done so far, and we look forward to trying again at our next event. Check out our Chairman's Award Video!

Team 238's Chairman's Award Video

Thank you to our sponsors and supporters for helping us get this far!

Follow along as we compete at the North Shore District Event this weekend by tuning in:

https://www.twitch.tv/nefirst_blue
https://www.twitch.tv/nefirst_red

Sponsor Spotlight

Rapid Manufacturing has sponsored the Crusaders since 2017, as one of our mentors, Sean, works in their machining division. Rapid is a company based in Nashua, NH, now a division of Proto Labs that has separate sheet metal, CNC machining, and wire cable divisions based around fast turnarounds on prototype and production parts. Their state of the art machining centers, laser cutters, and presses along with their custom built software such as their Solidworks add on that will give instant pricing on parts allows Rapid to get finished parts to customers with incredible speed.

Rapid has supported the team through the use of various equipment and services in their divisions to help us manufacture parts for the robot. Their sheet metal division has powder coated all of our finished parts for the competition robot using their in house paint facility and powder coating oven. Thank you, Rapid!

Upcoming Events

March 17th & 18th:
North Shore District Event
Reading Memorial High School

March 21st:
Five Guys Fundraiser
Manchester, NH

March 26th:
School District Recognition
Manchester City Hall

March 28th:
Buffalo Wild Wings Fundraiser
Manchester, NH

April 3rd:
City Year FLL Demo
FIRST Place, Manchester, NH

April 7th & 8th:
Greater Boston District Event
Revere High School

Click here to help us fundraise for Championship in Detroit!

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