FRC Team 238 2017 Build Season Week 4 Newsletter

Crusaders

FIRST Robotics Competition Team 238
2017 Build Season Week 4 Newsletter

Click here to watch this year's game animation for FIRST STEAMWORKS!

MANUFACTURING PROCESS

This year Team 238 is trying to become more structured like a real machine shop so we have incorporated a Traveler system and this process helps to keep us more organized.

The Traveler is a packet that the CAD Master puts together which includes an Inventor drawing (blueprint) of the piece with exact dimensions for the mechanical team to follow. Also included are the step by step instructions for the student. Once a step is completed, one of our mentors checks the piece to ensure quality and then signs off upon completion.

So far it has been very successful and everyone agrees the Traveler is a good way to get the parts done right. It’s is also very easy to update the Traveler and print a new one if there are any corrections that are needed to be made to a part.

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT

The MuShield Co. has supported the Crusaders since 2013, when mentor Tommy joined the MuShield Team. MuShield is a small company specializing in magnetic shielding with a global customer base.

They have supported the team with funding, however their largest contribution has been through the use of the shop equipment to help manufacture critical parts for the robot over the years. Primarily a sheet metal/machine shop, MuShield has donated the use of sheet metal laser cutters, a Hurco Machining center, proto track milling machines and press break forming machines (as well as Tommy himself). MuShield’s contributions have allowed Team 238 to gradually plan/design increasingly complex parts and components, leading directly to higher levels of competitive play.

Thank you MuShield!!!

MENTOR SPOTLIGHT

JB is the team’s lead technical mentor who specializes in the mechanical subteam. He’s been mentoring the team since the summer of 2015 and is a FIRST alum and now works for FIRST as the KOP engineer.

Since he’s joined, our team has improved in many ways. The most drastic change to the team was with our design process. JB showed the team how to properly prototype and CAD when we used to just go from idea straight to building.

We’re also very grateful for JB because he’s a great guy when he needs to be and a drill sergeant when we’re behind (which is never because we’re never behind). Fun fact: JB surprisingly really likes to cook, even though that’s hard to believe because we’ve only ever seen him eat take-out at the meetings.

Thank you JB!

Technical Division Update

Mechanical

The Mechanical subteam has been working hard on machining and fabricating pieces for our practice and competition robot. This week we finished all the pieces for the drivetrain of the robot. We wrapped up the pieces for the competition robot and sent them to get powder coated. We finished the week with both the practice and competition robot drivetrains constructed.

Software

The software team this week has been understanding velocity tuning code that we can use with our motor controllers to keep them at a constant speed. We are also now beginning to lay out the framework code for the rest of our robot systems.

CAD

Trevor, the CAD master, and a few of the mentors worked on finalizing many of our robot systems this week. The upper frame, intake, climber, and shooter have been completed in CAD and parts are being cut. The gear holder and the ball sorter are still being worked on and have already been iterated upon. In the rare downtime, the CAD team has been 3d printing parts and making drawing packages.

Electrical

This week the electrical team started to work on a practice robot. We are about 80% done with all the wiring and will be able to attach it to the drive train soon. This is a practice robot which we can test new components, code, and strategies with while our competition robot is packed. If we like something on the practice robot then it will be implemented on the competition robot.

Operations Division Update

Finance

The Finance subteam has been working on keeping team expenses accounted for. We have been updating our team ledger quite frequently and made sure all the other subteams are aware of where they stand with their budget. Things have been going smoothly and everyone is still within their allocated expenses.

Logistics

The Logistics subteam has been working on scheduling the team lunches for the duration of the build season. We have also been planning out how we are getting the team to the competitions, and getting a rough budget of how much it would cost if we were to go to FIRST Championships in St. Louis, MO.

Community Division Update

Chipotle Fundraiser
Monday, February 13, 2017
3pm to 9pm

Show this flyer to the cashier!

The Red Arrow
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
3pm to 7pm
10% of proceeds go to our team!

Fundraising

The Fundraising subteam has been very busy this week. We have been organizing events as well as beginning to draw winners for our Cash Calendar raffle. One of our big things is we will be starting a candy bar fundraiser soon and just took care of all the organizing that needed.

Join us at our Restaurant Fundraisers to help us get to St. Louis!

Outreach & Awards

The Outreach & Awards subteam has been working on the Entrepreneurship Award, an award that showcases our team’s business plan and the way our team is run. We are just about finished the Executive Summary (the part of the award that we send into FIRST) which is due on February 16th.

Sponsors & Presentations

This week the sponsors & presentations subteam presented to the MMHS Booster club to help fund our travel to competitions. At the beginning of the week, we started brainstorming ideas of what to say, and from that created the presentation. This presentation is different than most others where it is only 2-3 minutes long and contains no powerpoint. On Wednesday, we presented to the Booster Club. We successfully finished the presentation, gaining their support and money for our travel fund. The presentation team also worked on a presentation for Southside Middle School’s PSG held on Monday, February 6th.

Upcoming Events:

2 /18/17: FIRST Robotics Competition Week Zero Event

3/4/17 - 3/5/17 Granite State District Event
Windham High School
Windham, NH

3/18/17 - 3/19/17 Greater Boston District Event
Revere High School
Revere, MA

3/25/17 - 3/26/17 Southern NH District Event
Bedford High School
Bedford, NH

Thank YOU to all our wonderful sponsors and supporters!

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