GetRobo Blog English

[FIRST 2010] Silicon Valley Regional, March 18-20

 The 2010 FIRST Robotics Competition, Silicon Valley Regional  was held last weekend.

(Photo 1: The field) 

 First and foremost, I would like to thank Team 114 for letting me follow the team this season and to experience with them firsthand what this competition is all about. I would not have had a clue about what was going on at the event, had I not watched you build the robot over a matter of weeks and if you had not so kindly answered all my questions during that process and also on the day of the game. (I mean, seriously, the rules are not easy for a first-timer as myself.)

(Photo 2: Team 114) 

 And Team 114 did great! They got into the final tournament and competed in the quarter finals. 

 Their robot even seemed to know what makes a good story!  The team's seeding score was 9th (out of 50 teams) after the qualifications, which couldn't have been better for my article because it allows me to explain to my Japanese readers how the alliances are formed for the final tournament. (The top 8 teams become team captains for the elimination matches, they each choose 2 other teams to form an alliance, but the 1st team chose the 2nd, so team 114 moved up to become an alliance captain, and so on......  see, it's complicated.) 

 Moreover, the robot was the only machine that made a major runaway during autonomous mode and hit an opponent. This did end in a penalty, but again, these are the things that make an intriguing story.

(Photo 3: Robot makes runaway)

(Photo 4: Team 114 communicating with the MC)

(Photo 5: Team 114 was really good at scoring)

(Photo 6: The quarter finals) 
 

(Photo 7: Fixing the robot in the pit)

 

   

(Photo 8: 50 teams competed in the Silicon Valley Regional)

(Photos 1,2,4 Courtesy of Mr. Budd)

 For the time being, the season ends for Team 114 but GetRobo will be covering the  Championship to be held in Atlanta in April.  
 

[FIRST 2010] Robot works, packed up and waits to be named

 Hooray! The robot is working! Yesterday's problem - a combination of wiring, faulty cables and some code - have been resolved. Test run was done at the school library.

 It can climb mountains

 And it can kick - hard

 Just like any professional engineer (and journalist) the team would like to work on it more but there is always a deadline. It's time to pack up because FEDEX is picking the robot up next morning to be sent to storage until the Silicon Valley Regional that's being held on March 18-20 at San Jose State University.

(Photo: Into the box. Team mentor Craig -right- created the Eagle Strike logo on the crate below.) 

 

And off it goes.

 The team will continue to work on small parts and code, and also to come up with a name for their robot. But basically it's time to get some rest after 6 intense weeks of building. "Otsukaresama~" as we would say in Japanese.  

 

[FIRST 2010] 36 hours to go and there is a problem

 It's 4:30pm on Sunday and the robot is not responding. There is a problem but Team 114 is not quite sure what it is. Could it be the bug that some of the other teams were complaining about? Or is it something else?

 
(Photo: Testing)

(Photo: More testing)

(Photo: Calling to seek advice)

(Photo: If it could only tell us what the matter is.....)
 

 

[FIRST 2010] Three more days till shipment date

 There's only three more days left till Team 114 (as well as all the other 1,800 FIRST teams around the country) must pack the robot up and ship it to the regional competition site.  This ensures that all teams equally have 6 weeks to build the robot after the rules are announced regardless of when and where the regionals are being held.

(Photo: Team 114 robot taking more shape and character)

 All the components have safely arrived and the team has had the chance to drive the robot around. But today, they have taken the drive train off again. "Why now?" asks Ms. Davis, one of the team advisors. The answer is, they need to attach an encoder so that the robot can control it's speed.

(Photo: James, one of the mentors, helps installing the encoder) 

(Photo: The roller that keeps the ball will be attached in front of the robot)

 

 Another last minute change were the bumpers. Instead of using different color flags to tell which robot belongs to which team, this year the robots have to be able to change the color of their bumpers. This has turned into a sewing project which Ms. Davis decided to take over. "I'd rather have you guys focus on the engineering part." 

(Photo: Team advisor, Ms. Karen Davis)

(Photo: Flipping the cloth will change the bumper from blue to red)

(Photo: Team 114 believes their powerful kicker will be a differentiator at the games)

And yet the story unfolds...........

 

[FIRST 2010] Gaining Momentum

 The complete track system has not arrived yet, but the tank track module has, and there is definitely more activity going on in Rm. 602. 

 (Photo 1: Tank track module has arrived)

 

(Photo 2: Preparing to use a retired robot to test the camera)

 Next up will be driving around the new robot as soon as the track belts come.