Week 3 newsletter (2026)

Written by Aishah Adam, Sophia Thieringer

While other students at our school celebrate Valentine’s Day, our team has been hard at work to get our robot finished in time for Week 0 on February 28th, in just 2 weeks. With the addition of various shop days for our build and programming teams, we are putting our all into getting every last detail perfected, everyone excited for our robot’s debut! We are also gearing up for the Lake Superior Regional, our first travel competition since 2024, where we will spend four days in Duluth!

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Programming

The anticipation is real on the programming side of the team. While patiently waiting for the build subteam to finish the construction of the robot, the programming subteam is continuing to work on coding the autonomous period of the match. This is the period where humans aren't in control of the robot. They plan to have this code

done by Wednesday, the 18th. This week they completed the sub system code! This is the code that controls the parts of the robot that help score points, such as the shooter and the turret. All of this is being completed before they are handed the robot, hopefully by next week, so that they can get all of the wiring completed.

Build & Design

Build & Design has been on crunch time getting the robot fully finished, with only two weeks to go before Week 0, they have been putting in all their time into completing the robot with enough time for programming and drive team to get their hands on it, even adding extra meetings to be as productive as possible. The turret especially, is almost done being mounted, and is planned to be finished by lunch at

today’s meeting! The intake subsystem is also being completed, but seems to be facing problems with the chain’s measurements, a common issue with the build & design team. Both the turret and the intake differ from the CAD’s measurements, and the team has to use trial and

error in the construction stage to eyeball the right measurements. Aside from the subsystems, they have been working on the bumpers for the robot, and are using different materials and mechanisms to create the bumpers we use for competitions. We are using a pin slot mechanism this year, differing from the wingnuts we used to secure the bumpers to the robot in previous years, for more stability, as well as using wood and foam instead of pool noodles, for a more polished look in addition to more solidity.

Operations

This week, the operations subteam has submitted the Impact Award! After months of preparing executive summaries and the Impact Award Essay, the subteam feels confident in our application, and are excited to be reviewed by judges at both of our regional competitions. Along with the writing aspect, 2 operations members will give the Impact Award Speech at both competitions, to highlight our team’s embodiment of FIRST values in person in an oral presentation to a group of judges. The Impact Speech is critical for the award, as it gives judges a glimpse of our passion and energy for connecting with our community, getting to meet the people who prepare, design, and promote outreach events. In addition to the Impact Award preparations, operations are continuing to reach out to sponsors, sending out emails to businesses we connected with last week, as well as filling out grant applications we haven’t already. Our website is another thing that is constantly being chipped away at—from its content to its design. It’s a work in progress, but we hope to get it up and running as soon as possible. Finally, the subteam has been churning out content for social media, making good progress on following the new Campaign Calendar. A lot of events are happening in February, from Black History Month to Valentine’s Day, and we have taken advantage of these holidays to acknowledge the people we love, and highlight the people who have accomplished so much in STEM and civil rights. 

Strategy

The Playbook is done! They have been working so hard on this project for the past few weeks to finish it on time. This is especially helpful, as it gives time before competitions for the drive team to understand strategies ahead of time, to be experts of the match by the time they walk on the field.

• finished playbook

• Working on cading build cart and drive station 

With love in the air, we wanted to send love to all of those who support us. Thank you to our amazing mentors, sponsors, and parents who make our team possible. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Thank you!!