Auburn Mountainview District Feb.26-28, 2015
ATTENDING
Seven students and seven adults of robotics Team 5295 "Aldernating Current" attended the Feb.26-28th district competition at Auburn Mountainview High School in Auburn, Washington. With the team all three days were students Dustin S., Guy B., Jacob K.("J-K"), Josh M., & Kiery E; and Coach Bachtell, mentor A.Hospador, Josh's mom Kimberly, and lead mentor A.Walker. Brayden O. and his mom Joy joined us Friday and Saturday. Todd M. and his parents Carrie and Craig joined us on Saturday.TEAM CAPTAIN: Josh; DRIVE TEAM: Guy (Drive Captain), Josh (driver), Kiery, and Brayden/J-K; PIT TEAM: Josh (Build Captain), Kiery, J-K, Brayden & Todd. Kiery also installed a fully charged battery before each match; PROGRAM TEAM: Guy and J-K; SAFETY TEAM: J-K (Safety Captain) and Dustin; SCHEDULE BOARD: K.Mougous, A.Walker, and Dustin.
PERFORMANCE
After our dozen qualifying matches, we finished 30 out of 32 teams. We were not selected to be on a playoff alliance; 24 robot teams were selected. We were offered the position of 4th backup robot (replaces a playoff robot if and when it breaks). Instead the students decided to pack up after lunch and head back early. A.Walker tried to overrule the students until Josh reminded him that "Mentors suggest, students decide." The more successful teams tend to have more students and more community support. For example the winner of the Engineering Inspiration Award, Team 3588 from Lindbergh High in Renton had sixty team members (students + adults). Standings are posted at http://frc-events.usfirst.org/2015/WAAMV/rankings
ROBOT INSPECTION
Partially because the team did not have a competition packing list of items to load into the trailer, the team forgot to bring white boards which we intended to add the team number and attach to our competition robot "Fir". This meets the requirement of rule R02. (The game manual with all the rules can be found at http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/competition-manual-and-related-documents). We could not sign up to be inspected until we had an inspectable robot. The team looked at how the other robots posted their team numbers and then quickly cut up one of our white moving boxes, added "5295", and attached those to the robot with cable ties. We were one of the last teams to be inspected. Volunteer E.Stokely from Team 360 "The Revolution" inspected competition robot "Fir" and discovered three things amiss: 1) one sharp edge on our arms; 2) leaky pneumatics near the pressure regulator; and 3) software version 60 should be updated to version 62. He complemented the team on having so few items to resolve inspection. Within twenty minutes these items were all resolved. The robot inspector also said that our Bill of Materials (BOM) should include the market price of any wood or metal materials donated. We passed inspection on the first day, too late to use the practice field.
SAFETY EQUIPMENT
Dustin walked around the pit asking each team which safety equipment (first aid kit, battery spill kit, and fire extinguisher) they had in their pit. Safety Captain J-K got permission from Pit Admin to modify the pit map showing the location of these three safety items. J-K and Dustin got dots from the robot inspectors and added this information to the pit map. This effort was one of the reasons the team won Hat Hat pins last year.
PREVENTATIVE MEDICINE
Josh had a brainstorm and designed backup system to pickup the totes in case our robot arms were not working too well. He made a sketch and gave it to the onsite machine shop first thing on day 2 Friday. The machine shop fabricated a set of robot claws from the raw aluminum stock we brought with us.
SCORING REVIEW
---Four yellow totes stacked by both alliances = 40 points.
---Gray tote on white scoring platform = 2 points.
---Green recycle can on a tote = 4 points per number of totes in stack.
---Litter or pool noodles in landfill zone (midfield) = +1 point.
---Litter or pool noodle of alliance color not in landfill zone = -4 points.
MATCHES: FAILURE---TROUBLESHOOTING---SUCCESS
Sometimes our robot "Fir" did not perform as desired. After troubleshooting, our students were able to turn failures into success.
Auburn Mountainview Matches 2015 Team 5295 competed in Auburn Mountainview matches 3-8-12-18-22-31-36-43-47-51-55-63.
--- Match 3 --- The robot ceased talking to the field software. Solid robot signal light indicated something wrong. Guy asked Pyton of Team 4911 to explain why our roboRIO developed zero memory. Guy fixed the software. Robot now functional.
--- Match 8 --- Chain fell off when the aluminum support angle had a bearing failure (the bolt tore through the bracket). Josh led the pit team in fabricating a new aluminum bracket. Robot now operational. The length of the chain and its weight were the root cause of this failure. Another mentor commented that using a lightweight cable, wire or rope would not have this problem.
--- Match 12 --- Disappointed that a fully functional "FIR" could only successfully stack two totes, the pit team replaces arms with robot claws. Good thinking Josh to come up with an alternative robot claw design ahead of time.
--- Match 18 --- The claws seem to pick up totes more easily than the arms. We are now ranked 22nd overall.
--- Match 22 --- One by one we drag three totes to the scoring platform. Sometimes only one claw attaches to the tote. The pit team discusses how best to modify the claw. Some quick work and the claws are better able to grasp the gray totes.
--- Match 31 --- "FIR" stacks gray totes on top of one another. More practice ahead of time would aid drive team performance.
--- Match 36 --- Halfway through the match, our robot "FIR" stops. Troubleshooting revealed a dead laptop battery. Recharged and all okay.
--- Match 43 --- Connection problem causes "FIR" to temporarily cease. The team now checks all electrical connections before each match.
--- Match 47 --- More chain problems. The lower end of the chain comes loose from the sprocket. The pit team reinstalls and tightens the chain.
--- Match 51--- Grasping totes quickly with both claws eludes us. The pit team discusses this and feels the best we can do now is use the improved claws. When we return to our robot shop, we can improve how we pickup totes.
--- Match 55 --- Why does our robot "FIR" just sit midway through the match?
--- Match 63 --- "FIR" stacks first one, then two yellow totes on the common area. We realize we need to more quickly grasp and release totes.
LETTER-WRITING The team received $4900 this year from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (Thank you P.Cusack for writing the application). Our state legislature allocates funds for this purpose. There are 1054 FIRST teams in Washington with a combined budget of $4.6 million. Erin McCallum, President of Washington FIRST Robotics, asked each student to write a letter to our elected senator and two representatives. All seven students wrote letters to our 35th Legislative District Senator Tim Sheldon, Rep. Dan Griffey, and Rep. Drew MacEwen thanking them for supporting FIRST robotics, encouraging future support, and sharing what being on Team 5295 meant to them personally.
QUOTES During the opening ceremony on Friday, the principal of Auburn Mountainview High School said "Robotics is the coolest thing ever". The Associated Student Body president Kayla felt "Nothing else could be more exciting or rewarding". Early in the 2014 season Josh (current team captain) remarked: "Before I was on the robot team, failure was a rare occurance. Now, it is a common occurance."
AWARDS Team 2557 "Sotabots" won the Chairman's Award. Team 4450 "Olympia Robotics Federation" won the UL Industrial Safety Award. "The Proper Care and Feeding of Your Tribble" tipsheet aids safety teachings littered with humor.See http://frc-events.usfirst.org/2015/WAAMV/awards for t he full list of awards.
DEANS LIST
The Deans List honors students who model ideal student behavior. Our two Dean's List nominees, Todd and Kiery, will be interviewed at our Shorewood High School district competition on day 3, Sunday morning March 22. Pages 43-45 of the administrative manual give more infomation on the Deans List.
http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/competition-manual-and-related-documents
MARKETING
---VISIBILITY---In order to recruit more students, mentors, and funding, P.Cusack (Director of Career Technical Education for Shelton School District) and A.Walker feel we need to display our six foot robot at high school events and at public events in the city. Greater visibility will bring the team more students, more parents, more sponsors, and more community support.
---BRAND---
Second year teams usually expand their image. In their second year our mother Team 4450 "Olympia Robotics Federation" added an Engineering Bay to their pit and handed out Tribbles at the 2014 Pacific Northwest Championship. They now use "Proper Care and Feeding of Tribbles" to teach safety in a humorous manner. After some thought and communication with some members of the team, I do not think there is much to develop with "Current": the raison fruit, electrical current symbol I, or i = square root of -1. "Aldernating" a timber derivative of "Alternating" may have more promise. Since the serbian (present day Croatia) Nikoli Tesla developed alternating current, one idea is for the team or just a mascot to be dressed up as Nikoli Tesla and his mustache in lumberman garb. Perhaps we could fill one hump of a sine wave with timber icons and the other with electrical icons.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternating_current
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternating_current
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla
---ART---
Dustin thought of one way to make our brand more visible is to add eyeball catching artwork to our marketing materials. Dustin excels at artwork. Todd thought these aspects of Team 5295 should be represented in our artwork: teamwork and friendship. Friendship might be represented with a curvy little f or a handshake. Match 51 shows a blue/red handshake at the 44 second mark when Team 4450 completes the coopertition stack. Craig Mann thought a mechanical tree or claws and elbows (like our robot) might bring out teamwork. Any art we add to our marketing materials ( robot, pit, website, brochure, & letterhead) must be okayed by the students.
---WEBSITE---
Our team website is frcTEAM5295AldernatingCurrent.blogspot.com. Both students who worked on our website are no longer on the team. Ideally there should be at least one person (student or mentor) who knows how to add text, photos, or videos to our website. The consent and release form allows our team members to be photographed and videoed at FIRST competitions. Do we need additional approvals to post photos or videos of our students to our website? To preserve anonymity, Team 3574 "HiTekerz" taught Team 5295 that students should be identified as First L. and mentors at F.Last.
THANK YOU
---Team 5295 "Aldernating Current" is thankful for the help provided to our team from many sources.
---Thank you Community Foundation of South Puget Sound for the $5000 that funds our team.
---Thank you Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction for the $4900 that funds our team.
---Thank you Bezos Family Foundation for the $3000 that funds our team.
---Thank you Shelton High School for meeting space, raw stock, and use of wood and metal manufacturing equipment.
---Thank you mentor A.Hospador for loading the trailer Thursday, February 26th.
---Thank you Coach Bachtell for splicing in trailer electronics so the trailer had proper safety lights.
---Thank you Coach Bachtell for driving the student van and trailer to and from the competition.
---Thank you Kayla of Team 2929 "Jagbots" for showing us how to properly install the pit canopy structure.
---Thank you volunteer E.Stokely of Team 360 and John ? for inspecting our robot Thursday.
---Thank you student Pyton of Team 4911 for showing Guy how to update the firmware (drive software) from version 60 to version 62.
---Thank you Team 4911 for donating red electrical tape to us.
---Thank you Pit Admin for letting us modify the pit map with the location of the first aid kits, battery spill kits, and fire extinguishers.
---Thank you T.Thomas of Team 2046 "Bear Metal" driving R.Bachtell & A.Walker on the shuttle Friday morning.
---Thank you student Pyton of Team 4911 for showing Guy how to eliminate the zero memory problem of our roboRIO.
---Thank you chaperon K.Mougous, R.Bachtell & A.Hospador for chaperoning our students at the Best Western motel.
---Thank you machine shop for fabricating our robot claws Friday morning from Josh's sketch.
---Thank you Team 3218 mentor M.McGrew for teaching Labview programming basics to first years Brayden and Kiery on Friday.
---Thank you Team 4469 for letting us use your vacuum to cleanup our pit.
---Thank you mentor Dillan of Team 3663 for using a small power saw to cut angle stock into 2" lengths.
---Thank you Team 3588 student Vanessa L for driving R.Bachtell & A.Walker over to the shuttle area to pickup our vehicles on Friday.
---Thank you Eric at Best Western for loaning us pens for our students to write letters to our legislators.
---Thank you Josh for reminding A.Walker that "Mentors suggest; students decide" in the decision to leave after Saturday's lunch.
---Thank you parent Joy (Brayden's mom) for heading back after lunch Saturday with Dustin and Brayden.
---Thank you J.Meier, K.Beaudoin, and J.Ordonez for writing checks to cover the cost of the food and motel.
MEALS
On Thursday the students had Cliff bars on the 80 minute drive to Auburn. For dinner we had pizza delivered. We ate breakfast both mornings at the Best Western Auburn Peppertree. We ate sandwiches (ham & swiss and/or peanut butter & jelly), fruit bars, and fruit (apples, tangerines, oranges & banana) for lunch and dinner at the high school cafeteria. For Saturday's lunch we ate sandwiches (turkey and/or tuna), fruit bars and fruit. Thank you A.Walker and K.Mougous for planning and providing food.
HELP NEEDED
---SCHOLARSHIPS---
Parents of seniors and juniors should look at the $20 million of scholarships available to FIRST graduates.
http://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/scholarships
---FOOD---
Coordinate who brings snacks and Saturday meals for our students.
Volunteer to bring food.
---NEXT COMPETITION---
Shorewood District Competition (March 20-22) in Shoreline Washington
Plan grocery list.
Create a list of what the team should load into the trailer.
---SAFETY ADVISOR---
Volunteer to be our Safety Advisor and work with our student Safety Captain.
Team 4450 won the UL Industrial Safety Award at Auburn Mountainview.
---MARKETING---
Help plan visibility events at the high school.
Help plan visibility events in the city.
Attend a fundraising seminar. Team 3588 (Lynden High) fundraising jumped from $2,500 to $11,000 after attending.
Create a business plan. Team 3781 won the Entreneurship Award for the best business plan.
---WEBSITE---
Figure out how we add or modify our website (text, photos, and video).
Keep website up-to-date with team information.
Determine approvals needed before we can post pictures or videos of students to our website.
---PIT---
Donate a wall clock for the pit to help us stay on our match schedule.
Donate a hand vacuum to keep the pit clean.
Plan how to display our past awards, buttons, and brochures in our pit.
Build a Battery Charger. Teams 360 "Revolution" & 2046 "Bear Metal" built an easy to access battery charger out of 2x4s.
---ROBOT---
Look at the Oregon City district videos to see what characteristics the best robots had.
---ALUMNI---
At http://pnwfirst.org/alumni, document our three alumni that graduated last year.
---OTHER IDEAS---If you see other ways to improve the team, please contact AlanWalker@earthlink.net
ROBOT TEAM MEETINGS
We continue to meet Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:30pm-5:00pm and Saturdays from 8:00am-6:00pm in the Drafting Room 808 at Shelton High School.
