This Week in FRC Robotics: 10/13/24

Greetings Technical Difficulties, this is your “Week in Robotics Update.”

Message From the Coach:

Good to see everyone plugging away at their projects last week.  I was particularly impressed with the work that’s gone into the smaller chassis.  We’re going to be in good shape going into the build season with such a firm foundation.

There are a number of events coming up on the calendar soon and for the next couple months - from Trick-or-treat outside the CRC to FRC league events.  We’ll be looking for volunteers to help with all of that; please think about where you can contribute.  THere will be more information on Thursday.  See you then.

- Kirk

Directions on how to sign up as a League Volunteer: 

Online Storefront

• Register your Student

• Team 1502 Swag

• Chelsea Robotics Swag

 Schedule: All events at Chelsea Robotics Center unless noted otherwise

• 10/15 - Tuesday

• 3-4:30: Impact Meeting, CHS room 122

•  6-8:  Help set up FTC Field and AV before Saturday’s Meet

• 10/16 - Wednesday

• 10/17 - Thursday

• 6:00-6:15, Leads Stand Up

• 6:15-9, Team Meeting

• 10/19 - Saturday

• Noon - Student & Family potluck, come see the FTC robot progress

• 1-5 pm, MSCRL League Meet (Volunteers Needed, Sign up)

• 10/24 - Thursday

• 6-9, FRC Team Meeting

• 8-9 Booster Meeting

• 10/31 - Thursday

• 5-9, Halloween Trick or Treat Community Outreach Event, in front of CRC.

Team Google Calendar Link - All robotics activities will be on our Google Calendar with updates posted as they come up.  

Messages from Lead Mentors

Marketing, Fundraising & Communit Outreach

Wrap-A-Paloozza 

• Dates are set for 12/17/24 11:00-3:00 & 12/21/24 12:00-7:00.

• Looking for a student or two to do a radio spot on 11/27/24. 

• We need help from the team to volunteer for the days of the event.

• We need students to go to an assigned number of businesses with a script to ask for donations. More information to follow.

• Remember that this event will go directly into our travel fund for away events (Qualifier, State and Worlds)

Fundraising Committee

• Next meeting will be 10/30/24 at 6:30

• Any and all students are invited to get involved.

Photos of the Week

Our new Super Pit being built and Team Review of our new Variation on the Universal Chassis.

This Week in FRC Robotics: 10/06/24

Greetings Technical Difficulties, this is your “Week in Robotics Update.”

Message From the Coach:

Thanks to all the help with taking down last year’s game elements as we help the FTC transition to league play.   We are in full project mode, so come this Thursday ready to help on one of the project teams.   For students interested in becoming Student Project Leads, please complete the Student Lead Survey.  

• Assistant Coach Steve

Student Lead Survey

Interested in becoming a Student Lead, complete this survey to let us know.

https://forms.gle/V1b5sVLACTffrJ2F6

Online Storefront

• Register your Student

• Team 1502 Swag

• Chelsea Robotics Swag

Schedule: All events at Chelsea Robotics Center unless noted otherwise  

• 10/8 - Tuesday

• 3-4:30, Impact Meeting, CHS room 122

• 10/9 - Wednesday

• Fundraising meeting 6:30 Students invited to be involved.

• 10/10 - Thursday

• 6-9, FRC Team Meeting

• 8-9 Booster Meeting

Team Google Calendar Link - All robotics activities will be on our Google Calendar with updates posted as they come up.  

Messages from Lead Mentors

Fundraising & Community Outreach

Our next meeting will be Wednesday, 10/9/24 at 6:30. We could also use a FRC Student or two to join. Remember that you can earn varsity letter points by doing this.

• Eric

Impact:

This week we will continue to chip away at the executive summaries. Let's try to get these done by the end of October.

• Anne
  

This Week in FRC Robotics: 9/29/24

Greetings Technical Difficulties, this is your “Week in Robotics Update.”

Message From the Coach:

Good to see everyone getting into projects last week, more to come this week.  Remember the preseason is a chance to try something new in a low stress environment, so if you see something that looks interesting, jump in!  See you all on Thursday.

• Kirk

Online Storefront

• Register your Student

• Team 1502 Swag

• Chelsea Robotics Swag

 Schedule: All events at Chelsea Robotics Center unless noted otherwise

• 10/01 - Tuesday

• 3-4:30, Impact Meeting, CHS room 122

• 10/03 - Thursday

• 6-9, FRC Team Meeting

• 10/06 - Sunday

• Out of Darkness Walk in support of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

• More information in the impact section

• 10/9 - Wednesday

• Fundraising meeting 6:30 Students invited to be involved.

• 10/10 - Thursday

• 6-9, FRC Team Meeting\

Team Google Calendar Link - All robotics activities will be on our Google Calendar with updates posted as they come up.  

Messages from Lead Mentors

Fundraising & Community Outreach

Our next meeting will be Wednesday, 10/9/24 at 6:30. We could also use a FRC Student or two to join. Remember that you can earn varsity letter points by doing this.

• Eric

Impact:

We're making great progress on the executive summaries, let's keep up the good work this week!

This year, we will be participating in the out of darkness walk in Ann Arbor this Sunday on 10/6 at 12:00pm in support of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. 1502 has a team in the walk you can join if you would like to take part. Please wear your team shirt and wear comfortable shoes!

Information about the walk can be found here: https://supporting.afsp.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=10221 

Sign up to join the team on walk day: https://supporting.afsp.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donordrive.team&teamID=356364

This Week in FRC Robotics: 9/22/24

Greetings Technical Difficulties, this is your “Week in Robotics Update.”

Message From the Coach:

Keeping it short for TWIR. Students, excellent job at truly wrapping up the Crescendo Season by attending Kettering kick off.  It was exciting to see you all take on new roles, grow your experience and work as a team.  Kitbot Team, congrats wrapping up the Kit Bot Project.  From here on out, you are no longer “Kit Bot Project Students” and we look forward to the new projects and challenges you will tackle this season!   We look forward to seeing you all Thursday where we’ll kick off our new Preseason projects as we prepare for January.    

• Assistant Coach Steve

Online Storefront

• Register your Student

• Team 1502 Swag

• Chelsea Robotics Swag

 Schedule: All events at Chelsea Robotics Center unless noted otherwise

• 9/24 - Tuesday

• 3-4:30, Impact Meeting, CHS room 122

• 9/25  Wednesday

• 6:30, Fundraising Committee - Students Invited

• 9/26 - Thursday

• 6-9, FRC Team Meeting

• 10/3 - Thursday

• 6-9, FRC Team Meeting

Team Google Calendar Link - All robotics activities will be on our Google Calendar with updates posted as they come up.  

Messages from Lead Mentors

Fundraising & Community Outreach

Thank you all that came to the first committee meeting this season. We had many good ideas and valuable feedback. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, 9/25/24 at 6:30. We could also use a FRC Student or two to join. Remember that you can earn varsity letter points by doing this.

• Eric

Photos of the Week:

Photos from Kettering Kick Off:

This Week in FRC Robotics: 9/15/24

Greetings Technical Difficulties, this is your “Week in Robotics Update.”

Message From the Coach:

Good work on last week getting the bots up and running, and putting them through their paces.  We even gave the builders a chance to practice replacing the front intake axle! ;-)  The plan for this week will be to finalize everything we need so we can travel to Kettering next Sunday.  It should be a great event, and I’m excited to finally see the Kitbot in action.  See you all on Thursday.

• Coach Kirk

Kettering KickOff Information:

This event will be a lot of fun and educational for all the team members, new and veterans alike.  Families are encouraged to attend, especially if they have not been to a competition before as this is a really great way to see what FIRST robotics is all about.  Please download and join Discord (info below) for announcements leading up and the day of this event.  Students please wear your team uniform and for new students please see Coach Steve on THursday and for a loaner shirt.  New uniforms will be arriving later this fall. If you have filled out the Kettering travel form for us, do so ASAP! (link)

• Date: Sunday, September 22nd

• Times: Pits Open, 6:30 am,   Event Time,7:00 Am - 7 PM (Event schedule Details)

• Location:  Kettering University, 

      Kettering Recreation Center

      1700 University Avenue, Flint, MI 48504

• Transportation:  As of 1230 on 9/15 only one student needs a ride 

• Food:  From Parent Coordinator Dawn Holly. The team will not be providing lunch for this event, so we highly encourage you to purchase one of the vouchers for the cafe, as it appears there will not be much available from the concessions.  The price per person will be $10 each if we pre-order, or you can purchase the vouchers at the door for $14.   (see TWIR robotics email for Dawn’s contact info).

Kettiner Kickoff Student Form (Fill out ASAP)

Kettering Kickoff Event Schedule (Link)

Link to the team’s 2024 SlideShow with information about preseason, our upcoming projects and team safety topics. 

TWIR emails can also be read at www.chelsearobotics.org  The posts will be found under the FRC 9-12 Menu. 

• Assistant Coach Steve 

Message from our Volunteer Fundraiser Committee Lead. 

My name is Eric VanHevel and I have been asked to head up the fundraising committee for the Robotics Boosters this year. This is a call for help. We need people to join the committee this year to achieve our goals. I have spoken to some of you personally and you have graciously volunteered to be on this committee, and I thank you. 

Anyone who would like to join is welcome Parents and Students. We are planning to meet Wednesday 9/25/24 at 6:30 at the Chelsea Robotics Center.

Thank you,

Eric

Online Storefront

• Register your Student

• Team 1502 Swag

• Chelsea Robotics Swag

 Schedule: All events at Chelsea Robotics Center unless noted otherwise  

• 9/17 - Tuesday

• 3-4:30, Impact Meeting, CHS room 122

• 9/19 - Thursday

• 6-9, FRC Team Meeting

• 9/22 - Sunday

• 7 am - 7 PM Kettering Kick Off

• 9/26 - Thursday

• 6-9, FRC Team Meeting

Team Google Calendar Link - All robotics activities will be on our Google Calendar with updates posted as they come up.  

Messages from Lead Mentors

Impact

Good work moving into our new space last week. Let's try our best to keep it clean.

This week we need to wrap up the executive summary scouting we started two weeks ago and begin working on some writing. Anyone is welcome to join our meeting, we'd love to have you there!

• Anne

Drive

Those going to Kettering and want to drive, please come Thursday and let me and Austin know so that we can get you some practice. We will not only drive, but practice climbing and picking up notes from the source. Please refresh yourself on how the game is played by watching some of last season's matches.

• Eric

Fundraising & Community Outreach

Thank you all that came to the first committee meeting this season. We had many good ideas and valuable feedback. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, 9/25/24 at 6:30. We could also use a FRC Student or two to join. Remember that you can earn varsity letter points by doing this.

• Eric

Photos of the Week:

Video Call with our new Hungary Friends

Preparing the robot for Kettering Kick Off

Mentoring our 4-5 Grade FLL Teams: 

This Week in FRC Robotics: 9/8/24

Greetings Technical Difficulties, this is your “Week in Robotics Update.”

Message From the Coach:

And we’re off!  It was good seeing everyone on Thursday for our first pre-season meeting.  I know it wasn’t the most exciting, but there’s always a degree of administration that has to happen.  I promise the rest of the time we have leading up to Kickoff in January will be a lot more hands-on.  We have a number of interesting projects we’ll be working on; find something that sounds interesting to you and jump in!  

• Coach Kirk

Kettering Kick Off is a pre-season event that our Team will be attending with both the robot from last year’s competition and our new kit bot.  We are excited because it will give all of our students the experience of attending a competition early and with less stress.  Students will be encouraged to try all the different roles they want, such as helping in the pit, operating the robot and visiting all the other teams to see their robots.  We encourage parents to also attend, to see for themselves what FRC is all about and to cheer on the team.  Please fill out this form ASAP so we can start coordinating food and travel plans: (link)

Kettiner Kickoff Student Form (Fill out ASAP)

Kettering Kickoff Event Schedule (Link)

Link to the team’s 2024 SlideShow with information about preseason, our upcoming projects and team safety topics. 

TWIR emails can also be read at www.chelsearobotics.org  The posts will be found under the FRC 9-12 Menu. 

• Assistant Coach Steve 

Message from our Volunteer Fundraiser Committee Lead. 

My name is Eric VanHevel and I have been asked to head up the fundraising committee for the Robotics Boosters this year. This is a call for help. We need people to join the committee this year to achieve our goals. I have spoken to some of you personally and you have graciously volunteered to be on this committee, and I thank you. 

Anyone who would like to join is welcome Parents and Students. We are planning to meet this Wednesday 9/11/24 at 6:30 at the Chelsea Robotics Center. At this initial meeting, we will go through goals and brainstorm on activities to achieve these goals. Please consider getting involved with us so that we can make this year and beyond a success for our young engineers.

Please respond to this post to let me know if you plan to attend on Wednesday. If you want to be involved but cannot make it this Wednesday, please let me know this also. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions you might have.

Thank you,

Eric

Online Storefront

• Register your Student

• Team 1502 Swag

• Chelsea Robotics Swag

Schedule: All events at Chelsea Robotics Center unless noted otherwise

• 9/10 - Tuesday

• Impact meeting 3-4:30 at the CRC

• 9/11 - Wednesday

• 6:30, Fundraiser Committee (Parents & FRC Students invited)

• 9/12 - Thursday

• 6-9, FRC Team Meeting

• 9/14

• 9- 10 am, Hungary/Chelsea Global Friendship Video Call Meeting (optional)

• 10-2, FTC Meeting, FRC Students welcomed

• 9/19 - Thursday

• 6-9, FRC Team Meeting

• 9/22 - Sunday

• Kettering Kick Off

Team Google Calendar Link - All robotics activities will be on our Google Calendar with updates posted as they come up.  

Messages from Lead Mentors

Electronics & Control

Hi all!! Welcome to another Season!! 

This week we’ll be brainstorming compact electronic design ideas along with coming up with some creative packaging for pneumatics to keep the inspectors happy! ;)

We also need to spend some time cleaning up the electronics area and organizing things we have and identify what we would like to use on this design. We have the faster gearing for the swerve modules, and hopefully we’ll be looking at different motors for drive! 

Looking forward to seeing you all on Thursday!

- Greg

Impact

This week, we'll be focused on setting up our new space for the season. As you know, we'll be moving into the larger conference room.

Our Tuesday meeting will be at the CRC this week so we can move our supplies. See you then!

Drive

The Kettering pre-season event is Sunday, 9/22. This is an opportunity for anyone that might be interested in being on the drive team either this year or in the future to drive last year’s robot in a competition. Anyone interested in this opportunity, please let me know by Thursday so that we can have a list and a plan to get some practice in before 9/22.

-Eric

Volunteer Coordinator:

Hi 1502 Families!

For those of you who do not yet know me, I’m Dawn Christen and I will be the Parent Coordinator this year.  I will be orchestrating keeping this team fueled (fed and hydrated) during our weekend work sessions and for competitions. So be on the lookout for updates from me for those activities. 

On the near horizon will be the Kettering Kickoff on 9/22 and I would love some help for that event from any parents who are attending as I will be out of town that weekend. 

Anyone interested in helping with team support for this  event or for the season, please reach out to me at dawnholly@yahoo.com or on my cell @ 248.320.1374.  

I would love to have a meeting soon with those of you interested in a support role for the team. More to come on that soon. 

Thanks,

Dawn

Photos of the Week:

Thank you for all the FRC Students that helped out with FTC Kick Off:

First team meeting complete, on the road to a exciting PreSeason!

This Week in FRC Robotics: 9/2/24

Greetings Technical Difficulties, this is your “Week in Robotics Update.”

Message From the Coach:

The FRC Pre Season officially starts this Thursday night with our all team meeting from 6-9 pm.   We are excited to share the many projects, initiatives and learn opportunities that will be available this Fall.  In just over two weeks we will be participating in the Kettering Kick Off so there is a lot of robot maintenance and drive practice needed for both the KitBot and our Competition Bot.  See you Thursday!

• Assistant Coach Steve

TWIR emails can also be read at www.chelsearobotics.org  The posts will be found under the FRC 9-12 Menu.

Online Storefront

• Register your Student

• Team 1502 Swag

• Chelsea Robotics Swag

 Schedule: All events at Chelsea Robotics Center unless noted otherwise\  

• 9/3 - Tuesday

• After School, Impact Meeting (High School Room 122, all Students interested in participating on Impact welcomed.)

• 7-9 Mentor Planning Meeting (Parents who want to volunteer are welcomed)

• 9/5 - Thursday

• 6-9, FRC Team Meeting

• 9/7 - Saturday

• FTC Kick Off 10-2, all FRC Students are welcomed to help the middle school on their start of the season.  

• 9/12 - Thursday

• 6-9, FRC Team Meeting

• 9/19 - Thursday

• 6-9, FRC Team Meeting

• 9/22 - SSunday

• Kettering Kick Off

Team Google Calendar Link - All robotics activities will be on our Google Calendar with updates posted as they come up. 

Photos of the Week:

The CRC is awaiting your return!

The Week It All Comes Together…

Check out our Instagram page @frc_1502

Each day we get closer and closer to our Reveal Day, which is next Saturday the 22nd at 1:30, all are invited. On this day we will release photos and videos of the completed robot. We waited this long to start building the robot because we wanted to make sure we had everything right on paper and in CAD first.

Our calender

Ben worked on designing our pit. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, the pit is where the team sets up at the competition to work on the robot, as well as tell our team’s story to those who come to see it. He is planning on using PVC and it will look like a frame. This year we are not allowed to have a roof because they were deemed to be a fire hazard.

Your perfect and unbiased blog writer Colin went on an expedition with Lane and Coach Kirk to the high school to get a mill from the old robotics room. We got this so that we could work more efficiently and make more parts with the limited time we have. 

The small mill

The Mega Mill

Thanks for the school’s Facilities department for helping bring the Smithy into the shop

The Chairman’s team is now working on the outline for the chairman’s speech, which is basically the chairman’s essay but they read it out loud to judges at the competition. Some members of the chairman’s team got together to design banners for the new pit. One will include a list of sponsors, and the other will show the history of our team.

The Chairman’s team working on their speech

The field is still under construction (special thanks to our parent volunteers who are helping to build it)

To help with fundraising, we are selling Chelsea Robotics Bracelets for $3.00 at the Chelsea Robotics Center.

Blog Post and Photos by Colin Kovick

Week 3: Not Like The Other Weeks

Check out our Instagram @frc_1502

This week was quite different from the other weeks. We had meetings more than usual. We normally meet only Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, but we have met every day of the week so far. We are meeting so much because we have a lot of work to get done.

Head Coach Kirk may not look that stessed, but deep down he’s ready to pull a (as some would say) “vacuum from weegee’s revenge”

This week we did a lot of work on the chassis. We started by dismantling last year’s robot Weegee’s Revenge. We then started putting together an 8-wheeled prototype. We chose eight whole wheels because it allows for more control, better stability when going over the trench, and each wheel has less wear. The bot is currently being tested on the field by the programming team to make sure all the sensors are working. 

The integration team is working on drawing up the robot in CAD before we start building, so we know what it looks like (sort of like those instructions that come with Legos).

We also have the chairman’s essay done! Andrew and Anson submitted the essay and paperwork last Wednesday night. You may be wondering what the chairman’s essay is for. It is for the chairman’s award. FIRST describes it as “

The most prestigious award at FIRST, it honors the team that best represents a model for other teams to emulate and best embodies the mission of FIRST. It was created to keep the central focus of FIRST Robotics Competition on the ultimate goal of transforming the culture in ways that will inspire greater levels of respect and honor for science and technology, as well as encouraging more of today’s youth to become science and technology leaders. “

To view last year’s Chairman’s click here and this year’s here.

While everyone else was working on the robot, Ben was hard at work building carts for the electronics and tools. He spent a few weeks designing and building three of them.

Blog post and photos by Colin Kovick

Week Two: A Working Week

Did you know we have an official Instagram page? It is @frc_1502 and it is updated regularly.

After some discussion head coach Kirk Findlay decided we should work on getting the exact field measurements so we can scrimmage in The CRC (Chelsea Robotics Center). After using a 30” tape measure to try and measure 52’ 5.25” precisely we decided it would be easier to use a laser measure. After taking our time to make sure we measured correctly, we finally got the distance marked precisely.

David G. attempting to measure the field using a 30 foot long measuring tape

Other progress on the field has been made too. Jason Goodgall, Bob Tetens, and FTC sons Kyle and Ben worked on building a wooden Power Port as well as the trench. We are going to use these for practicing with the bot, and we may even have other teams over to scrimmage. For more info on the trench, see the video below. 

Jason Goodgall and FTC son Kyle building the trench

Ben and his father Bob building the turntable

This was also the week of intense planning. We started by splitting off into Project Teams of four and five and spreading out to brainstorm ideas.  After that one person from each Project Team would present their idea in front of the whole team.

Ike, Joseph, and Aiden designing a shooter

Mitchell showing his Project Team’s idea to the whole team

After the presentations were given, the integration team collected models of parts to see what they would look like after they were all combined together.

Post written by Colin Kovick and David Gauthier

Photo credits to Steve Eberle and Colin Kovick

Fll Jr. Expo and FTC Scrimmage

On Saturday, October 26 we held the FLL Jr. Expo (Grades K-3) at North Creek Elementary School. Ian Carter was our MC for the event. Six members of the FRC team volunteered to judge the FLL Jr. teams

Lane, Nick, Robbie, Trevor, Jake, and Cade ready to go judge.

There were 4 teams (Boom Builders, Generation Builders, Star Wars Build It Up, and The Fantastic North Creek Builders) and their goal was to “create a building that solves a problem and makes life easier, happier, or more connected for the people that use it”.

After the FLL Jr. Expo we hosted the Beach Bot Break-In, a scrimmage for the FTC teams at the Chelsea Robotics Center (CRC). We invited two Dexter FTC teams (The Dreadbolts and [removed]) to compete. To help referee and judge, we had FAMNM (FIRST Alumni and Mentors Network at Michigan) students from the University of Michigan come help. Anson Eberle was our MC at this event after being a judge for the FLL Jr. Expo. A lot of people came to the event.

Anson was the MC for the Beach Bot Break-In

We are thankful for the Chelsea School District’s support of our FIRST teams and for allowing us to use their schools.

---

Photo credits to Steve Eberle and Colin Kovick

Post written by Colin Kovick

2019 Chairman's Video

This is the 2019 chairman’s video for Destination: Deep Space. We had fun making it, it took a few weeks but in the end, it was worth it.. The editing and was done by Colin Kovick, the narration by Jake Goodgall, and the original music by Robbie Moore.

Weegee's Features: a Q&A

Weegee is looking better than ever. He is getting built up and ready for stop build day.

Question: “Well, what features does he have. I want to learn more!”

Answer: Well, hypothetical person that asks questions I just made up, you’re in luck. Weegee, has his vacuum manipulator I wrote about previously. To sum it up, it uses a vacuum to grab onto the cargo, a rubber ball.

This is the vacuum manipulator.

Question:“Well, I watched the animation, and the cargo looks like it has to be raised to be put into some of the bays. What is your plan with that?”

Answer: We have a linear slide which moves the manipulator up and down. “What is a linear slide?” Wow! You ask great questions. To quote Wikipedia: “A linear-motion bearing or linear slide is a bearing designed to provide free motion in one direction.”

Those three bars make up the linear slide.

Question: “How does he move?”

Answer: He uses 6 HiGrip Andymark wheels, nothing special.

A (clean) HiGrip wheel

Question: “How does he see? The sandstorm won’t let the drivers see, so what’s going on there?”

Answer: Weegee uses a webcam that will stream the video to the driver station. We will be navigating through the sandstorm based off of that. We have a vision tracking system that allows us to get close to objects and not hit them. It bounces light off of reflective tape and when it gets close, it slows then stops.

The camera and light on the demo bot

A test of the camera on the demo bot.

This blog post in video format.

Blog post, photos, and video by Colin Kovick.

Quick Update

Quick update: Our robot sucks. No really. Weegee has acquired a vacuum for grabbing cargo.

“But what is this ‘cargo’” one may ask. The cargo is a rubber ball 13 inches in diameter, that gets loaded into a cargo bay.

The cargo bay must be covered by a hatch panel to retain the cargo. “Tell me what a ‘hatch panel’ is too” one might also say. The Hatch Panel is a disc 19 inches in diameter, with a 6 inch diameter hole in the center of it.

This covers up the cargo bay so that the cargo won’t fall out. “But that vacuum won’t be able to hold it, it’s got a giant hole in the middle.” The hatch panel has hook and loop tape on the rim. The vacuum manipulator has hook and loop tape on it, so that it can grab the hatch panel.

If you want more information, I would suggest you watch the game animation or read the manual.

Blog post and photos by Colin Kovick

Kept you waiting, huh? A long awaited update.

February 5th, 2019

Kept you waiting, huh? In the blog’s absence we have been working long and hard. But this week we’re trying to finish up Weegee’s Revenge. He was named after the Smash Attack of Luigi from the game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, where he sucks his opponents into a vacuum and spits them out. Hint: Vacuum manipulator.

Weegee is without his socks and without his parts, but is changing fast. Currently, all his  guts are on the Demo Bot blogged about previously. We have taken on a new design with our electronics. We also make sure our electronics are safe and tested. The light ring didn’t work, so we tested to make sure every part works. We changed our drive train to arcade drive, easier to move forward without going at an angle, from tank drive.

Meanwhile, We had Andrew, Anson, and Nick working on Chairman’s. They had been working on this since week two, so about 80 to 100 hours collectively. They began a countdown, drawing a crowd. They then submitted the document successfully.

“We got a lot of stress off our back” said Nick.

Blog post and photos by Colin Kovick

Team 1502's Demo Bot

Recently Team 1502 has been working on a demo bot. The demo bot is being built by an eccentric team of members, all whom are working towards an exciting robot to display their skills in engineering and teamwork to the Chelsea Robotics Community.

The demo bot will be armed with pneumatic cannon that will shoot projectiles through utilizing air pressure inside a cylinder tank. Keeping audience and presenter safety close in mind, the pneumatic technology has proved to be a difficult challenge to tackle.

Working on the pneumatic cannon designed for entertainment

Pneumatics are similar to Hydraulics as they both depend on built up pressure. However, pneumatic technology relies on air pressure, whereas hydraulics relies on water pressure. The team has chosen to use pneumatics to prevent unfortunate circumstances whereas the technology could break and become a hazard to surrounding persons.

The cannon will serve purely entertainment value to the intended audience of Elementary School Children. The demo bot will help share Team 1502’s mission and diverse range of talents with the Chelsea community.

“To demonstrate engineering abilities and mount a pneumatic cannon that will entertain children.”

— Aidan D.

Meanwhile, the cannon will be mounted on a sturdy base which will drive forwards and backwards, as well as adjust the cannon through the use of a mechanical arm. By using pillow blocks to create movement as well as a 90 degree pivot in the arm, the pneumatic cannon should become an outstanding display of teamwork and robotic talent.

Planning the functions of the arm

The team has salvaged parts from retired robots to construct a successful and spectacular presentation of pneumatic power, and currently is working on the movement of the arm, and the pneumatic technology which will power the cannon.

Team 1502 hopes to inspire the Chelsea Robotics Community by presenting the demo bot and other amazing creations which represent the work ethic and teamwork which was invested.

Chelsea Robotics FLL JR. EXPO

The FRC Team 1502 just attended the Chelsea Robotics FLL JR. EXPO! How exciting!

Many of our own team members volunteered for a variety of tasks helping out. A panel of Team 1502 members personally judged each entry and several others assisted with the  Are You Smarter Than A Mars Rover? activity. 

Later, we all celebrated the FLL Team’s spectacular presentations with a dance party. Some of our volunteers showed the kids how to moonwalk, and others just danced along.

Team 1502’s talented designers made gear shaped trophies to be distributed to each team. The parents made the award ceremony very special by standing up and making a tunnel for each team to run through. 

I’m sure we all had a blast helping around, and we hope the FLL teams did as well.  

Everyone wins! Medals for all!

2018 has come to an amazing conclusion for the Chelsea Robotics community, and we’re sure to make the start of 2019 even more spectacular.

Exciting Announcement from Principal Kapolka

Good morning, Team 1502 parents and students.  It is with great excitement that I am emailing all of your this morning to inform you that Kirk Findlay has been named the adviser for the high school team.  Kirk brings passion and experience to this role and is eager to meet with students and parents to share his vision for the program.  

Additional information regarding meetings, dates, events, etc. will be forthcoming from Kirk shortly.

I am looking forward to a great season with Kirk at the helm. 

Enjoy the Labor Day weekend with your family! 

Team 1502 Works the Ice Cream Shop at Chelsea Fair

This last weekend, the High School FRC (FIRST Robotics Challenge) operated the Ice Cream Booth at the Chelsea Fair to raise funds for their program. A special thank you to Brennan, Robbie, Cade, Evan, and John Ridley for working the Ice Cream Shop at the Chelsea Fair!! Also thank you to the Fair Organizers for the opportunity for our Young Engineers to shine!

2017 Chelsea Fair Parade

Today the FRC Team and the FTC Teams are marching in the Chelsea Fair Parade.  We are preparing our float and banners.  If you see us on the parade route, cheer extra loud for us!