Week 10 Update

The team has been busy at work these past few weeks leading up to the FIRST Infinite Recharge at Home Challenges. In addition to the subgroup summaries below, members have also continued safety training with the “Stop the Bleed” program.

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Team Operations:
Team Ops has worked on multiple tasks these past two weeks. Last Friday, the group continued to prepare for the Innovation Challenge semi-finals in anticipation of being chosen. This season’s team tee-shirts have been finalized, and team sponsors have also been updated on our website. Make sure to check out our new Sponsor page! This week, Team Operations has been coming up with fundraiser ideas. The team has decided that we will be holding a virtual robotics-themed Bingo Night for the community. Prizes will be awarded to winners, so keep an eye out for more information coming soon! Additionally, the team is holding a restaurant fundraiser working with Blaze Pizza on April 22nd from 5 PM to 9 PM at the Blaze Pizza location in Burlington, MA. 20% of sales are going to the team, and in order for us to raise money, a digital copy of the flyer from our website or social media must be shown, or a promo code must be used at checkout when the order is taken. We will continue to post about this fundraiser in the coming weeks, so mark your calendars and we can’t wait to see you all there! 

Control Panel:
Over the course of the past week, the Control Panel group has finished up their prototype and tested both its pneumatics and functionality. After testing was concluded, the group decided that it would be a good idea to look for every possible flaw in both the Control Panel design and concept. Main flaws that had been found were the piston allocation and the height of where the pulleys were located. Changing these two pieces in CAD went smoothly and during Tuesday’s meeting, the group laser-cut the new brackets to test them before moving into final build ideas and materials. Once testing is finished the group will be focusing on finishing the CAD and beginning the first steps of the final build.

Intake/Indexer:
Over the course of the last two weeks, the intake/indexer group has made a lot of progress. First, the group got to work finishing up the indexer prototype. To finish, power from a motor had to be transferred to all the other spinning shafts, which members did with the poly cords and 3D printed pulleys.After the motor transmission was completed, the group concluded that the prototype works and is ready to start CAD for the actual version to go on the robot. At the same time, the group has begun to create a new intake prototype. Currently the prototype still needs some work but it should be ready for testing next week!

Swerve:
The swerve group has been making a final push towards manufacturing and assembling the first iteration of the swerve module. Members machined the wheels on our CNC lathe, and stiffening plates on our CNC mill. The group also assembled a rough prototype of the differential mechanism that is largely 3D printed in order to make sure the components fit together. Appropriate design changes were made, and the swerve group began to manufacture the updated geometry. One of the team’s mentors piloted the machining of modifications to the bevel gears needed for the differential, and is now working on the rest of them since it was successful. The swerve group is now making a final push to finish the manufacturing process and assemble the first iteration of the module for software to begin testing.

Software:
As we wrap up Week 10 of Build Season, the software team has worked to finish up and polish the code for the Galactic Search challenge. In the coming meetings, the group will record the team’s robot doing so and enter into the FIRST Infinite Recharge at Home Skills Challenge. Additionally, software has also begun to take on the challenge of creating a new type of drivetrain, one that future team members can hopefully perfect over the next few years: Swerve Drive.

Shooter:
The shooter prototype has been almost completed. At this point, the only things missing are the belts that will power the rollers on the adjustable hood. The rollers, as well as a few pulleys and gears, were made using the team’s 3D printers. Once everything, with the exception of the timing belts, were assembled, the motors were mounted on as well as all other hardware necessary to run the motors. The motors used were two Falcon 500s and one 775pro, FRC legal, motor. Currently, the shooter group is conducting various tests to see how far the ball can be launched. In parallel to this, members have begun designing and CADing the final system.