Team 5295 Aldernating Current

Monday, March 12, 2018

Team 5295 Makes Semi-Finals at WILSONVILLE March 8-10

Team Turns Poor 0-6 Start into a Quarterfinal Win 

As the vault robot of the #3 Playoff Alliance, FRC Team 5295 “Aldernating Current” won its quarterfinal match and lost in the semi-finals.  In a competition week 2 event in Wilsonville, Oregon at Wilsonville High School, Team 5295 started 0-6 moving only 3-4 power cubes in the vault.  Then the pit crew removed the arms and hands from their 2018 competition robot “Locust” (named after the Locust tree).  This was the turning point.  The drive team focused on moving power cubes to the vault getting 7, 8, and 9 (filling the vault).  In the last half of qualifications Team 5295 went 3-3 and finished qualifications 3-9 ranked #29th of 37 teams.

The ability to move all nine power cubes into the vault attracted the attention of a scout on Portland Team 2374 “Crusader Bots”.  This got us into the #3 Playoff Alliance. Our ability to single-handedly fill up the vault allowed Team 2374 and Lake Oswego, Oregon Team 2635 “Lake Monsters” to focus on the scale and switches.

Team 5295 brought 31 people to the Wilsonville competition. The 17 students (the most ever at a competition in five years) held various positions: Cameron (load-in, pit crew, technician, & load-out); Carolynn (load-in, scout forms/prioritize, drive coach); Dylan R. (co-driver, technician, scout); Dylan S. (pit crew, technician, load-out); Hope (scout/prioritize); Jaeden (load-in, pit chief, technician, load-out); James C (human plaer, scout, load-out); Josh S. (scout, human player); Kirstin (scout, human player & yell/cheer leader); Lluvia (bumper construction, scout, & load-out); Rechal (scout, human player, load-out); Robert (safety captain, scout); Seth (scout, driver, human player); Te’Yana (scout, human player, load-out); Tristin (lead programmer, load-in, scout legend/prioritize, driver, pit crew & load-out), Xavier (scout, human player & arcade hat); Zoe (T-shirt art, assistant safety captain,  & pit crew battery focal).

Fourteen adults participated: C.Angel & aunt Nora, M.Bigelow (mentor/chaperon), R.Clarey (head coach & travel logistics), M.Cordova (created 24 arcade hats), A.Hansen, K.Hansen, F.Newby (chaperon), V.Norwood (chaperon), B.Sedillo (lunches & chaperon), H.Sedillo (lunches & chaperon), E.Stokely (coach and v robot inspector volunteer), A.Walker (chaperon, blogspot, & lead mentor) & Charlene (bus driver).

DAY 1: Friday, March 9, 2018
During qualification matches, teams are randomly assigned.  After each team competes in 12 qualification matches, the teams are ranked based on wins and ranking points. The top eight ranked teams become alliance captains and select their two alliance partners.  These alliances do not change throughout the playoffs.

SAFETY ON BUS TRIP
Before departing, our fantastic bus driver Charlene told us that the fire extinguisher, first aid kit, and seat belt cutter are up front.  The bus has six emergency exits: front and back windows push out; two side door exits, and two top exits.  Also all the side windows open.

The two-and-a-half hour trip south was broken up by a stop at Shari’s (I-5 exit 39) for dinner.

LOAD-IN team of Cameron, Carolynn, Dylan R, Jaeden, & Tristin loaded the trailer, and set-up the pit.

PIT CREW
Cameron, Dylan S, Jaeden (pit chief), Tristin, Zoe (batteries), M.Bigelow and E.Stokely worked the robot inspection list with the robot inspectors.  The team had only completed one of two red bumpers and no blue bumpers prior to the event. The pit crew constructed the bumpers in addition to making the final adjustments to hands, arms, and code. The 2018 competition robot Locust weighed 105#.  The maximum weight allowed is 120 pounds.

DAY 2: Friday, March 9, 2018

ROBOT INSPECTION
Team 5295 was the second to last team to pass robot inspection early Friday morning. Now that bumpers are complete, the team should not have this problem at our second competition.

SAFETY
Robert (jedi safety captain) was the only safety captain to mention the A-B-C certification of our fire extinguishers to the Underwriters Laboratory Safety Advisors.  Robert and Zoe (padawan safety captain) toured all 36 robot pits looking at other team’s safety programs. Our first aid kit got used once when moving Locust off the playing field. The captain of our #3 Playoff Alliance, Portland Team 2374 Crusader Bots would win the UL Industrial Safety Award for its safety program protecting emotions.   

UNIFORM
The team uniform consisted of 2018 T-shirts, flannel shirts, and arcade hats. The front of the T-shirt features the team logo teammates designed February 2017. Zoe and Carolynn designed the back of the 2018 T-shirt.  The actual back art design was a compromise between student art and manufacturing constraints of our sponsor BlackStarPrint.com.  The retro font and pixelated letters were a hit.  M.Cordova sewed 12 Zelda hats (2 each green, blue, purple, red, white & black), and 12 white Ghost hats. Scouts and drive team wore these as flair for the 80’s arcade atmosphere.  

SCOUTING
Carolynn (Jedi) and Hope (Padawan) acted as our Head Scout with assistance from Coach Clarey.  Tristin wrote a legend which was on each scout clipboard. All students participated in scouting except for those on the pit crew or drive team. Adults rarely did scouting, a huge change from last year.  Another improvement from 2017 was giving scouts time to take a break and walk the robot pits.

DRIVE TEAM
Carolynn (drive coach; talks to other drive coaches on the alliance), and Dylan R (co-driver) competed in every match.  Backup driver Seth drove Locust in match 59 early on Day 3.  Tristin (driver) competed in the other qualification matches and the five playoff matches. Cameron, Dylan R., Dylan S., and Jaeden took turns as the technician, responsible for any last minute adjustments to the robot.  James C., Josh S., Kirstin, Rechal, Seth, Te’Yana, and Xavier rotated as the human player. The human player puts new power cubes on the field at the portal and stacks power cubes in the vault. The team used a white board to list the human player and technician for each match.

QUALIFICATION MATCHES
Watch matches at https://www.thebluealliance.com/team/5295. These sometimes are loaded a full day after the match takes place.

Quals Match 5 Red: Left position. Technician Jaeden & Human player James C. Our autonomous program turned our competition robot "Locust" left and “BANG” hit a field fence wall hard.  The center of a green 4” diameter roller cracked all the way through.  No one knew this at the time.  After that we could not pickup any yellow power cubes.  Locust could only get 3-4 cubes into the vault. The single mast was very wiggly. 74-164 Loss 0-1 0RP (Ranking Points)

Quals Match 10 Blue: Left position. Technician Cameron & Human player Rechal.  Like the initial match Locust turned left and placed the power cube outside the field. We could not pick up a cube and only managed to get three power cubes into the vault. During the endgame, Team 1425 Wilsonville High Error Code Xero dropped wings, Tristin drove Locust on a wing and Team 1425 pulled Team 5295 up for a double climb. 278-312 Loss 0-2 +2RP for 2RP total

Quals Match 17 Blue: Left position. Technician Dylan S. & Human player Seth. Cross the baseline for five points. Tried to pickup and control a cube and dropped it. Locust got three power cubes into the vault. 205-335 Loss 0-3 +0RP

Quals Match 22 Red: Center position. Technician Jaeden & Human player Kirstin. M.Bigelow noted that everyone really likes our robot cart (designed mostly by Jaeden last year).  The autonomous program does a 180 degree turn to the left. Locust picks up one cube, places it on our switch, and moves four cubes to the vault. 189-302 Loss 0-4 ranked 28th.

Quals Match 26 Red: Center position. Technician Cameron & Human player Josh. Locust places a cube on the opponent’s side of the switch during autonomous. During teleop, Locust gets two cubes on our switch, and moves one power cube to the vault.  In the end game our alliance partner Team2471 lifts all three robots for a 90 point climb. 118-327 Loss 0-5 +1RP 3RP total now ranked 32nd.

Quals Match 32 Red: Right position. Technician Dylan R. & Human player Te’Yana. Cross baseline in autonomous and place six cubes into vault. 293-366 Loss 0-6 +1RP 4RP total still ranked 32nd.

This was the turning point. The pit team took off the arms, discovered the cracked roller and replaced it.  The cracked wheel rotated and at first glance appeared functional.  It was not able to grab a power cube.  Team 5295 stocks extra spares of all parts. Back on the field, Locust played without arms for the rest of the day and went 2-1. 

Quals Match 38 Blue: Center position. Technician Dylan S. & Human player Xavier. In autonomous crosses baseline. In teleop Locust moves two into the exchange and shuttles cubes to Team 4488 Shockwave for eight total into vault. 380-91 Win 1-6 +2RP 6RP total now ranked 28th.

Quals Match 44 Red: Left position. Technician Cameron & Human player Rechal. Crosses baseline in auto. In teleop Team 5295 gets seven into the vault. 327-303 Win 2-6 +3RP 9RP total

Quals Match 54 Blue: Center position. Technician Cameron & Human player Josh. Crossed baseline in auto. Got seven power cubes to the vault. Parked at the platform in the endgame. 182-318 Loss 2-7 +0RP 9RP total ranked 27th of 37 teams.

The team was very optimistic.  The high energy level was due to preparation and a coaching emphasis on ‘gracious professionalism’ of conduct. Coach Clarey ordered dinner from Cracker Barrel which we ate in our motel rooms. 

RANKING TEAM 5295 POTENTIAL ALLIANCE PARTNERS
After dinner, Carolynn, Hope & Tristin reviewed the scout sheets for an hour.  They prioritized potential robot partners based on their performance noted on our scout sheets.

BATTERIES
Zoe was responsible for putting a fresh battery in Locust before every match.  All batteries used in competition were purchased in 2018: Astroids, Centipede, DK, Froggert, Galigan, PacMan, and Sonic. Zoe kept a battery log and discovered that pit battery ‘Texas’ could not keep a charge. Power at the high school was very limited.  Overnight batteries charged in the room of Dylan R., Dylan S., and Tristin.  The team lugged the 14lbs. batteries and 20lbs charger up to the second floor.

DAY 3: Saturday, March 10, 2018

Quals Match59 Blue: Technician Dylan R. & Human player Te’Yana. The very first match of the day saw Seth driving Locust with the hands on.  In autonomous, Locust drove past the baseline.  Locust dropped a power cube on the carpet barely missing the switch.  Locust could not pick up any cubes.  Loss 176-455 (highest score) dropped us to #32.

Match 60: Team 5198 had only three teammates at Wilsonville and still competed.  Other teams helped them to complete their robot and pass inspection.  This FIRST philosophy of “Gracious Professionalism” teaches our youth to always share their expertise.

Quals Match63 Red: Technician Dylan S. & Human player ?. Locust lost its right hand with its rollers and motor. Got three cubes in vault. Win 235-205 +3RP now ranked #26.

Quals Match69 Blue: Technician Jaeden & no human player. The small arms with no hands worked well.  There were no motors or rollers, just a foot long 1”x1” square hollow aluminum tube for arms.  This helped driver Tristin and Locust get nine cubes into the vault (worth 135 points). Loss 280-404 +1RP finished qualification matches ranked 29th of 37 teams.

ALLIANCE SELECTION
With sixteen teams unpicked, the alliance captain of the #3 playoff alliance – Portland Team 2374 Crusader Bots (#3 after qualifications) – and its partner Lake Oswego, Oregon Team 2635 Lake Monsters (#5 after qualifications) had both exhausted their list of preferred robots.  Dylan R. saw a Team 2374 scout in the stands write 5295 on a manilla folder and wave it at their alliance captain. “Team 2374 and Team 2635 graciously invite Team 5295”. Our Team 5295 contingent erupted in loud joy.  Team representative Carolynn accepted the offer.

During build season, Team 2374 tried different roller configurations (all documented in CAD) before selecting two 6” diameter gray pneumatic tires for each arm. The team’s engineering notebook had CAD snapshots of all the roller configurations the team tested. The Crusader Bots also had teammates in the pit who could talk to visitors and judges. This let the pit crew work.    

After alliance selection, while the rest of the team ate lunch, the pit crew prepared Locust for the playoff matches.  They discovered that inside the motors powering the rollers, internal gears had seized, probably due to heat.  The pit crew changed the motor gear ratio from 30:1 to 40:1 and the problem disappeared.  Each arm now had one green 4” diameter roller.  Driver Tristin said the new rollers worked fine.  The pit crew also added a surgical tube to help Locust hold power cubes up so they would not fall out during travel to a switch.

PLAYOFFS
QF4-1 Red: Technician Cameron and Human player Te’Yana. Locust got nine cubes into the exchange filling the vault. Te’Yana placed them all in the vault and hit the buttons. Win 358-146 1-0

QF4-2 Red: Technician Dylan R. Team 5295 got nine cubes into the exchange filling the vault. Loss 244-260 1-1

QF4-3 Red: Technician Dylan S. Locust got a cube on our switch and then nine cubes into the exchange to fill the vault. Win 281-178 2-1 advances to Semi-Finals.

SF2-1 Blue: Technician Jaeden. Team 5295 got one cube on our switch and nine into the vault. Loss 237-413 0-1

SF2-2 Blue: Technician Cameron. Locust got one cube on our switch and nine into the vault. Loss 271-358 0-2 Our #3 playoff alliance was eliminated and would not play in the finals.

LOAD-OUT: Cameron, Dylan S, Jaeden, James, Lluvia, Rechal, Te’Yana, & Tristin bagged Locust, packed up the pit, and loaded the trailer.

After a stop at quick stop at Wendy’s (we ate on the bus), E.Stokely drove the trailer back to Shelton.  Our awesome bus driver Charlene drove us back to Shelton, with one stop at the Toutle River rest area. We arrived back at Shelton at 9PM.

SPOKANE March 22-24 At our next competition, better planning will allow the team to hand out buttons and show-off our wonderful sponsors listed on our banner (similar to the header at this blogspot).

Training at Week1 Mount Vernon Competition March 3rd

Following a best practice discovered in 2017, Team 5295 brought new FRC teammates to the Mount Vernon competition. The team glanced at the robot pits, saw the opening ceremony, toured the robot pits, ate lunch, and scouted a couple matches.  Exhibiting gracious professionalism, Carolynn and Tristin offered our scout data to rookie Team 7118 "ScotBots". They were happy to accept.