States Competition

Hello, everyone!

This will be a recap of everything that happened at our last competition, States, hosted in Houston.

Students left school Wednesday, either at lunch or after school based on their roles. We arrived around 4:00-8:00 PM, where we set up our pits and prepared our robot for inspection. We really got there too late to do anything, so we regrouped and slept.

Thursday morning, the team woke up at 6:30 to go get breakfast, and we met in the lobby at 7:45. We left the hotel at 8:00, and opened up our pit at 8:30. From then to 10:00, the drivers met on the field to discuss strategy coming into competition. We participated in some practice matches from 10:00 to 12:30, and ate lunch after that. At 1:30, we returned to practice matches, and kept it that way until 3:00. After that and an introductory speech, we started qualification matches. It stayed that way until 6:00, and as people filtered out we closed our pit. At 8:15, we had dinner, and we returned to the hotel to regroup. At 10:15, we had a team meeting to discuss strategy and methods going into the second day of competition.

Friday was much of the same. The only difference was that much of it was earlier, so we got to the hotel to discuss scouting at only 10:00.

Saturday was similar, but differed in that this was playoffs day. At 10:45 AM, alliances were selected. After lunch, we regrouped with our newfound alliance and got ready for playoff matches, which happened from 12:30 to 4:00. After that was the awards ceremony. Unfortunately, we were unable to take home any awards, but we did nominate our Woodie Flowers candidate for Worlds, which was a massive success. After awards were distributed, we loaded into our respective cars and departed towards home. We were back at 11:30, and although we didn’t quite qualify for Worlds, we were proud we got the chance to prove ourselves and learn how FRC competitions function.

With that, we bid you adieu. Until next season!

First Competition of the Year

Last week was the first competition of the year, and oh boy do we have a breakdown for you!

Let’s start at the beginning of the event for most people, Friday. CANs woke up bright and early, arriving at the event at about 7:30 in the morning. They loaded into the stands or the pit, based on their job, and got ready to get the robot up and running for qualifications, of which there were many (72 matches). From 9:00 to 10:15, our team participated in practice matches, where we got to see our robot in action against other robots. After that, the opening ceremonies allowed spectators to learn more about the rules so we could get started with qualifications. For about an hour, qualifications ran without interruption, and we got to gauge the strength of the other teams for scouting and alliances later on. We moved to lunch, where we got to eat some Chik-fil-A lunches to refuel. After that, we continued the matches for 6 and a half hours, recording them to make sure we know what we’re up against, and with, during elims. After the matches for that day had finished, the students migrated to Anderson to discuss strategy and eat dinner. The scouters met up to discuss the notes that they took, and we compiled a list of the teams we want in our alliance, whether asking them or being asked by them.

The CANs met up at Vandergrift for another early morning, arriving at the same time they did the day before. Pits opened shortly after, and the assigned members went over there to present some team info to passerbys. We had another round of opening ceremonies a little bit later to inform spectators of the rules before competition started. After that, we finished up qualifications, which took about an hour or two.

Then the moment the CANs had been fearing came: Alliance Selection. One by one, teams in a descending rank 1st-8th got to pick a partner, before going back up the line, from 8th-1st. The top teams got to choose other teams within the 8, and we were 7th. Our teammates were Orange Dynamite and the Elektrabots, two teams who had been just below 8th before the voting started. Orange Dynamite provided an excellent low goal player, being able to grab balls from the back and front of the arena and bring them to the center, able to be grabbed by us or our other team member. The Elekrabots gave us hangar points, which helped to combat a weak point we had in our robot.

We thought about the other alliances and our own at lunch, so we could debrief while we eat. After that, it was straight to elims, where teams could actually get eliminated in a playoff against another team. We won our first round against a team we had a longstanding rivalry with, and cheers erupted from the CANs. The team we were up against has a very long history with us, and with the picks that they got early on it was looking pretty dreary. The team sat in anticipation waiting for the next round, where we would see if we would tie or not, and you could feel the anxiety in the stands. Next round we played in, we were unfortunately defeated by our assigned team and needless to say we were bummed out. However, we still had one more shot to make it to semifinals and this upcoming round was it. During the match, our robot scored countless goals, racking up a large score against our opponents. However, not one of our robots were able to climb to the top notch of the hangar to win the match. And, since two of our opponents robots were able to, uncertainty writhed in the crowd come the end of the match. As we watched the airplane displaying the winning colors of the match fly across the large display in the center of the venue, our excitement was crushed. We lost to a tiebreaker, because although us and the rival team had the same amount of points, hangar points were worth more in deciding the victorious team, meaning this was an opponent victory.

After that, we finished watching the matches, including the semis and final round, then packed up our robot, as well as the materials we had in the pit. We bagged it all up, put it in the trailer, and drove back to Anderson, ideas in mind. We ran to the lab, unpacked our storage in the truck and ran to the drawing board. We looked at the footage from our matches and contemplated the downfalls we ran into, the successes we had, and things we realized dominated the game in other teams. We can guarantee, there will be improvements made to our robot by Amarillo next week. Excited to see you there!

Well, that was our rather lengthy breakdown of the Austin event. We’re excited to see you guys again soon for the Amarillo event with another breakdown! With that, I bid you adieu.

ausTIN CANs, OUT!

Open House Event

Welcome back to the ausTIN CANs blog!

Today I’ll be covering the Open House event that happened last Thursday, where parents got to see what their ausTIN CANs did here at the lab!

First, parents assembled in the gym to watch our robot reveal video, which gave a cinematic look at our robot for the Rapid React season. They also got to see our robot in action, where it shot the game’s cargo to display our shooter and the intake to show off how it will function on the field once competition starts. After a small demo, the parents, students, and mentors moved to the lab.

Once in the lab, parents split up into their kid’s subgroup, where they learned what their CAN does after school. They were given an in-depth presentation by each subgroup leader, and then moved to the practice arena, where they saw our robot compete against another to demonstrate how a match will look in real time. Parents got the chance to see how our robot functions and how their kid contributed to the robot and making sure our team doesn’t flop come competition.

With that, it’s time to bring this blog to an end. See you next time on… the ausTIN CANs!

6th and 7th Week Adventures

Welcome back to the ausTIN CANs blog!

Today I’ll be covering our team’s progress throughout week 6 and 7.

First is Business. Business has started work on the Chairman’s video, which will act as a video to persuade the judges to endow our team with the Chairman’s award, the most prestigious award a team can get. The group now must edit the video to get it ready to submit. We also started work on the robot reveal video, to announce our robot and the mechanics in the most flashy way possible. We also designed our buttons for this season to hand out at competition.

Next, Manufacturing. Manufacturing has completely assembled bot 1, and is ready for competition. We’re also starting work on testing, especially our climber. Once everything is tested and assembled, we will be completely ready for our first competition during spring break.

In the meantime, CAD has been doing design review on a variable hood, whilst also helping with assembly for Manufacturing. In their designs, CAD has been able to review their designs and has made numerous improvements to the design of our robot.

Finally, Programming has worked on the CDS to make it run automatically. They’ve also made command groups for autonomous mode, in order to better organize their code. They’ve also created a shooter lookup table, able to inform the team of the ranges and rpms of the shooter.

That’s it for these rather uneventful two weeks! See you next time on…

the ausTIN CANs!!!

5th Week Adventures

Welcome back to the ausTIN CANs blog!

Today I’ll be covering the progress of the team throughout the 5th week of kickoff.

First is Business. Business has been hard at work with essays, including the Dean’s List and the Chairman’s awards. We’ve practically finished every essay expected by the start of competition, and are now turning to editing and revising them into submittable documents that will win us an award at the end of the day. On the other hand, Business member Anthony has started progress on taking pictures of the team, trying to get some good content to post alongside these blogs and in official award applications.

Next, Manufacturing. Manufacturing’s been busy within the 5th week, hard at week constructing a total of 26 pieces, and has even started building the robot using the constructed pieces. They’ve also constructed the prototype robot completely and organized the workspace for higher efficiency. At the same time, they’ve completely finished the hangar and painted and cut the parts for where the battery will be stored.

CAD’s also been especially busy, working on practically all of the parts which will drive (haha, pun intended) our team to victory. This includes the intake, which picks up balls to shoot, the CDS, which brings the ball to the shooter, and the shooter itself, capable of landing shots from far from the goal. They’ve also used their software to construct the robot digitally, and see if they could notice any possible design flaws by actually seeing the model.

Lastly, Programming. Programming’s been finishing up the code for the autonomous section of the game, where the robot will be left to its own devices to score points before controls transfer to the drivers. They’ve also been tuning the PID and starting the climber code, capable of earning extra points closer to the end of the game. Not only that, but they’ve been working on testing their code on the robot, making sure that everything will hold up when competition season arives.

With that, I shall leave you. Until next time,

the ausTIN CANs will return!

3rd and 4th Week Adventures

Welcome back to the blog! Today I’ll be talking about the progress of each of our subgroups throughout the 3rd and 4th weeks.

First: Business. Business has started work on the Woodie Flowers’ Essay, an essay to commemorate one of our dedicated mentors to earn an award for their hard work. We’ve made major progress throughout the 3rd week, from choosing one of our mentors to creating a full fledged essay and moving on to editing. Business member Lina has been taking pictures and using her photoshop skills to create logos for our faithful sponsors, and Anthony’s been continuing his job of locating new sponsors for our team.

Next: Manufacturing. Manufacturing has completely finished the hub and is almost done with the entire arena. They’ve demonstrated their hard work and adeptness, and are aiming to finish the wooden robot as of week 4. The hub is one of the most integral parts of the game, and the completion of it is a large monument in prototype testing. They hope that the building of the wooden robot will allow programming to experiment and use their code to test programs in real life scenarios.

In the meantime, CAD has been hard at work finalizing designs for practically all of the mechanisms for the robot. Shooter, intake, CDS, they’ve done it all. Recently, they’ve finished the climber design, which the robot will use to gain extra points close to the end of the game. Now, they’ve started work on the operator station, where robots will be manned by human drivers during the teleoperated section of the game.

Meanwhile, Programming has started work on the climber, has been hard at work perfecting the beam brake/indexing for the ball, which allows the intake to function properly, completely finished the code for the drivebase, and is currently working on the shooter. Programming also has a new feature: access to a wooden robot courtesy of Manufacturing that allows them to test code. Their progress allows us to thrive once competition starts.

That’s all, folks! Catch you next time on…

the ausTIN CANs!

2nd Week Adventures

WELCOME BACK!

Greetings, everyone! Today I’ll be talking about the endeavors of the robotics team throughout the second week after kickoff.

First up: Business. Business has been active the second week, searching for new sponsors, looking for outreach events to enlarge our robotics team, creating and adjusting merchandise, and, of course, making posts about our events throughout the week. Business members Victoria and Princess have been hard at work creating the Chairman’s Essay, an essay designed to encourage the higher-ups of FRC to endow us with the highest award a team can garner. Meanwhile, I’ve worked on making relevant social media posts to keep the families of FRC students updated, and making blog posts to supply them a rundown of what we’re doing.

On larger news, Manufacturing has almost completely finished the design for the court in which the game will take place in! The hub is extremely close to completion, and other crucial parts of the design for the arena are either completed or near completion. Soon, the team will move on to the actual parts of the robot, and before you know it we’ll have a fully functioning robot capable of accomplishing all of the tasks in the game.

In the meantime, CAD works tirelessly to create more functional prototypes. They’ve designed working concepts for the shooter and intake, and the climber is next. Overall, the CAD team aims to create functional essentials before progressing into climber mechanisms.

Last but not least, Programming. They’ve been hard at work, testing their code alongside our prototypes. They’ve been currently working on the ball intake and the CDS, or Cargo Delivery Service, that transfers the ball from the intake to the shooter. Speaking of the shooter, all tests have been successful with controls, and the drivebase has proven successful in pathfinding for the autonomous section of the game.

With that, I shall leave you. To be continued on…

THE AUSTIN CANS!