Team Blog #1

The beginning of our build season has finally arrived! We started our first week with kick off the weekend of January fourth and fifth. With this year’s game, Infinite Recharge, our subteams have been hard at work. Each answered the following questions:

1) What is a general description of your subteam? 

2) What are your thoughts on this year’s game, “Infinite Recharge”, your favorite part of this year’s game, and what do you foresee your subgroup doing to contribute?

3) What skills or topics has the subgroup been working on in the past week?

4) What are the subgroup’s plans for next week; what will your group be discussing/learning/reviewing?

Scouting and Strategy’s response:

1.  Scouting and Strategy collects data on other robots at the competition for analysis. They use this data to make decisions for match strategy and selecting partner teams.
2.  They like the 2020 game. They said it has many strategic options. The group plans to contribute effective data collection and analysis both towards robot design and tournament strategy. 
3. This week they worked on strategic analysis of the game and learning Excel programming. Next week, they plan to keep learning Excel programming and working on spreadsheet and collection sheets.

Control Systems answered:

1. The Control Systems subteam focuses on connecting and forming the inner workings of the robot, specifically getting power and information where it needs to be. They also work with pneumatics and motors, allowing the robot to move and sense its surroundings…setting us up for a successful match!
2. They feel that this year’s game is a very interesting and unique one, and it provides for lots of new challenges for their subteam. The group thinks the Control Panel is the coolest part of this year’s game, because it’s their first time learning about how a color sensor works and how to wire it up!
3. For the past week, Control Systems has been working on crimping motor and speed controller wires, as well as creating a working test board for testing code and prototyping. They have been practicing different kinds of crimps for this, as there are many different types of connections involved. In the process, they have been teaching our rookies these important skills.
4. Next week, Control Systems plans to help wire up prototypes and continue working with motors and speed controllers.

Design said:

1.  Their subteam designs the robot using Autodesk Inventor, which is a computer-aided designing software application. Everybody on Team 2791 depends on them to finish the robot design quickly, as the robot cannot be built until they finish designing it.
2. Design’s favorite part of Infinite Recharge is the new, never-before-seen game element: the control panel. It’s also exciting that it is a shooting game because for the past couple of years, there either weren’t shooting games, or shooting wasn’t possible for many teams.
3.  Design has  been working on numerous sub-assemblies and parts of the robot. 
4. In the future, Design will be working on more prototype CAD, banging out the details of the robot and will begin to start working on the real robot.

Assembly replied:

1. The Assembly subteam, using designs from the Design team and parts from the Fabrication team, assembles and maintains the robot throughout the season.
2. Infinite Recharge is a dynamic game which will require cooperation and coordination between alliance members. This year the Assembly subteam is focusing on making the robot as sustainable as possible to enable it to stand up to the rigors of the field. They are also focused on understanding all the systems of the robot in their entirety to facilitate better troubleshooting  in the future.
3. During the first two weeks, Assembly has been working on different prototypes for their shooter and intake design, working in collaboration with the Design team. They have learned a lot through trial and error, and determined things that might work for their final design.
4. Next week, Assembly plans to begin assembling finalized prototypes of their best designs, which they developed through this week’s work. 

Programming said:

1. The Programming subteam is almost like the brain of the robot. They provide the code for the autonomous part of each match as well as the tele-op portion. They are currently cleaning the code up from last year and are doing a basic update on this year’s game. Also, they are currently coding the drive train. The drive train is the part of the robot that turns on the motors and makes whatever part of the robot is supposed to move, actually move. In short, they tell the robot what to do and sometimes it listens 🙂 
2. Programming thinks this game is really cool, and their favorite part of it is the shooting part of the game. Integrating the limelight, they get to do cool things with shooting balls…and the math stuff, ya know?
3. They have been working on understanding GitHub (push, pull, commit code) , VSCode, reading through WPIlib updates, and updating software.
4. Programming will be coding the paths for the robot during autonomous period, testing out the shooter, but definitely concentrating on the limelight in the coming week. 

Leadership responded:

1.  The Leaderhip subteam deals a lot more with people outside the club than with the actual robot. They do a lot of planning for events the team conducts and attends, whether it be regional competitions, robot demos, or fundraising events. On top of that, they deal with sponsorships and compose essays that highlight certain aspects of the team for FIRST award applications; for example, they will honor one of the team’s mentors by composing a recommendation that they be considered for the Woodie Flowers mentor award.
2. They said that this year’s game is in many ways quite innovative in its field elements. The control panel is an element that has literally never before been implemented in a game. The shooting aspect effectively allows for teams to draw inspiration from a number of prior FIRST games, and the endgame climb will be quite interesting to watch with its balancing act.
3. A major topic for this week has been improving upon their writing, as many groups in one way or another had to contribute their fair share of writing to the blog and other tasks. From email composition to essay drafting, nobody has shied away from the keyboard this week.
4. Leadership will be continuing to plan out fundraising and demo events this week, as they refine a list of possibilities and ideas given graciously by many of the team’s members outside their subteam. For travel arrangements, they will be working towards tying up any loose ends for the two regional competitions Shaker will attend: NY Tech Valley and Central New York. The awards team will be revising their Chairman’s essay and start to write about the Dean’s list and Woodie Flowers nominees.

MarComm answered:

1. MarComm stands for Marketing and Communication. They do a variety of things relating to team promotion and communications. For example, they post to and monitor the team’s social media, create the team’s website, and design marketing materials including posters and t-shirts.
2. MarComm thinks the game is very interesting, especially with the control panel. The control panel is very new, and they are excited to see the creative ways other teams manage to manipulate it. They are also excited for this season because the scoring of power cells will make for very good videos.
3. In the past week, they have done multiple things, mostly relating to with the website. As you may have noticed, they have been updating it quite a bit. For example, the team’s photo is now up to date. Also, all new, they are doing a blog for each week. Along with that, they have done some photography of the team and some sponsor advertisement. They have decided to design a poster representing every aspect of robotics. Very exciting stuff.
4. MarComm is going to continue updating the website, and they will continue working on some posters and regular social media posts.

Fabrication replied:

1. Fabrication is the process of manufacturing using the resources around you. In the metal shop, they are focused on precision and accuracy with every step of the manufacturing process. 
2. The Fabrication subteam is really excited about this year’s game. It’s very interesting to work with a new game and new game elements. 
3. This past week the Fabrication subteam members have been working on basic skills in the metal shop like learning to read calipers and use lathes. Additionally, some members are working in our wood shop on prototypes. 
4. Next week they will be working more with the lathes.  As of now, they are busy working on drive train axles.