Kickoff

Team 238 went to the official FIRST kickoff at SNHU campus in Hooksett, NH. Dean Kamen first brought some guests such as Senator Maggie Hassan and Mayor Joyce Craig to speak, then presented the new FIRST president, Lawrence Cohen. Dean next spoke about global problems like global warming and energy and finally revealed the 2020 challenge, called INFINITE RECHARGE. Afterwards, we met up back at the shop to go over the game manual and discuss the rules, some strategies, and what we should prioritize on this year's bot.

The game seems interesting and is themed around Star Wars. Some of the game elements are complex while others are similar to past years’ challenges. The main game piece for this year's game is the power cell. A power cell is a 7” diameter foam ball that is compressible. We were all excited to hear about the new game and the new challenges that come with it. One of these challenges is the generator switch which is a large hanging bar that can move from side to side, the objective is to hand our robot from the bar. The main challenge of the game is both teams have to score the power cells (the yellow balls) into either the lower, outer, or the inner ports. We have to be able to move them to one side of the field to the other and also spin the control panel wheel on the field.

Single Wheel Shooter 

The first iteration of the shooter for our robot was not successful because did not have a good angle for scoring in the goal. We are hoping that the second iteration will have a more consistent speed and variable angle.

Intake

We attempted two designs, of which one did not work to our requirements. However, the other intake design is working to satisfaction. Improvements are still needed to help it integrate with the other systems of the robot. Now, we are testing new parameters and seeing how they affect the performance of the intake. Our confidence is high. We still have more developments to be made and improvements, but overall our progress is satisfactory.

Control Panel Color Wheel Spinner 

We have fully prototyped a working mechanism for manipulating the control panel wheel on the field. 

Belt Feeder 

The belt feeder was difficult to prototype due to parts falling apart while being built. We are still working on the details on this prototype to be sure that it works well. We will continue to test different variation of this element of our robot.

Climbing Hook

A rudimentary hook has also been fully prototyped. Though a few components are missing, we expect our final mechanism to be relatively similar to this.

Community Division

The community team has been working on our Chairman’s Award submission. The goal is to involve the whole team on the theme and on what is happening on this project. We have been working hard and are trying to meet certain deadlines on both the executive summaries and the essay. Read more about the Chairman's Award at this link.