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).
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).
