Preseason Newsletter 1
95 days until kickoff! Chicken Bot Pie has had a super busy preseason while training in new members. Here's a recap of what each subteam has been doing:
Build & Design
To help get the new members accustomed, the Build & Design team had the new members assemble a new shipment of Mk5 swerve drive modules. Along with that, new and old members have started to get back into CAD and started learning and relearning CAD skills with OnShape. They have also started training new members on larger machines so the new members are ready to go.
To prepare for the new season, Build has started on robot maintenance from all of the competitions and demo days from last season and over the summer. The robot was in a bit of rough shape going into the start of preseason, but the team’s veterans and junior year build captain, Paxton Smalkoski, have made sure to get the robot mechanically in shape.
Programing & Electronics
Programming is the team’s “lubricant”- they keep the robot running, functioning properly, and make problems easy to find. So far into preseason, programming has been working on our “Chicken Vision” or the eyes of our robot. Current team senior (starting year four on the team) and programming captain, Emilio Moreno, found that the vision program hadn’t been communicating with the mini PC, which is exactly what it sounds like- a very small, yet fairly powerful PC. After some investigation to fix this issue, he found that the mini PC was damaged, and they unfortunately will need to buy a new one or find a future replacement. The team, however, is competing in two tournaments this weekend, MRI and RISE, and our robot will be “going in blind” due to the loss of Chicken Vision. Even knowing what the problem is, Programming doesn't have an immediate replacement that could get up and running for these tournaments, and will likely wait to fix the issue until the build season in January.
Even with this setback in preseason, programming has had a ton of fun with new members, and between this issue and training, they have reached the more hands-on work. They were able to drive the robot ahead of our two tournaments and gain lots of practical experience. Aspiring programming member Jasper, a Junior at Minnetonka High School, has described his experience thus far with very colorful language, saying, “I can see the rainbow on the other side of the field, and the field[s] are full of golden dandelions, and the sunshine sprays its rays onto the golden dandelion, which reflects golden light, which makes my life happier.”
New members have also been working on simulated tank drive building experiences. Led by programming captain Moreno and veteran member Oliver Jones, new members have been able to try working on creating a tank drive for this season’s robot. It’s a great project to help train new members on what is expected of them during the season.
Strategy
Strategy is the basis of our gameplay at competition. Between watching old matches, scouting our games, and being the most well-rounded section of the team, they have been busy in the start of the season. So far, strategy has been helping build a new robot cart, training in new members for data analysis, and practicing analyzing past games to help understand how FIRST develops and executes games. They plan on working more efficiently through the season, and want to make sure they have effective use of time, along with efficient team management.
Strategy hopes to finish the new robot cart in the next few weeks, and has been cutting and drilling the pieces so they are ready for assembly over the next handful of practices.
Operations
Sponsors are extremely important to the success of the team; FRC is expensive and future financial sustainability is our biggest focus for the season. Starting the year strong, the operations team has already started to prepare and send out emails to new and potentially returning sponsors. Preparing grants has also been an important step towards financial sustainability for the team, and the operation team has started sending the forms already, getting a jump start on the season. Additionally, new team members have also introduced new ideas and perspectives into the team. The subteams’ new junior year member, Origal Renchin, comments how “Operations team has been a blast so far.”
Along with the finance, the operations team is also responsible for social media and community outreach, and there are plans in the works, so keep an eye out for updates! We are committed to spreading the message of FIRST and connecting students to learn STEM and life skills. Furthermore, operations has big goals in creating traditions for future years. One of these ideas is keeping a record of who we allied with in past competitions, and keeping a pin collection of these teams, along with who have participated in tournaments with us.
MRI & RISE Competitions
With a rough start to the day, Chicken Bot Pie was able to join the number three alliance as their second pick, placing fourth overall. With a fresh and never practiced before drive team, driver-of-the-day Torsten Ziebarth was able to pull off some pretty good defense through many programming issues. The third game of the day was the best, putting up incredible blocking defense and helping the opposing team miss around an estimated 120 points (go team!).
Day two of the tournament weekend during Robotics Inspire and Support Everyone (RISE), the drive team was composed of 3082’s female and non-binary members. The team once again made it into playoffs, playing as the second choice for the number four alliance, and placing fourth overall in the tournament. RISE unfortunately did not go as well mechanically as it did the day before at MRI. Rooster (our robot) had a small swerve (driving/wheel) issue that caused our robot to not play during the second part of the competition– playoffs– but will hopefully be fixed before the team starts drive team tryouts for the 26-27 season.
Written by the Operations Team. Consisting of Co-Captains Alexis Smalkoski and Torsten Ziebarth, and Members Alden Go, Origal Renchin, Asher Jeevanathan, and Bodhi Laughton.