On Saturday January, 3rd 2015 the FRC Team 3313 Mechatronics went to the FRC game reveal. This year’s game reveal told us that the game will be called Recycle Rush! The game involves the moving and stacking of totes and recycle bins with the choice of placing “litter” (pool noodles) in the bins for some well earned points. What a wonderful way to start the new year and the Robotics season.
On January 4th, 2015 we brought back the materials contained within some of the totes to help with our building process. As soon as we opened the door to start the meeting, ideas started to flow around us. We split the team into two parts; brainstorming and building. Half of us went into the brainstorming room and half of us stayed in the work area.
In the classroom we started off by putting everyone who had an idea onto a chalkboard and writing down the wants and needs of the robot. Then from there we assessed each idea that was presented on the board and we changed a few things on each of the ideas. After we did the changes we finally had a few prototype ideas that we could build and test out in the near future, but before we do that we have to have help from the building mini-group so that the robot can start to come to life!
In the workshop we started off by coming up with a game strategy. Once we came up with the strategy, we started to work on building half of the game field where we could test out the prototypes and see what we need to improve. Some of the members worked on the wheels of the robot and also the robot board where we can test the prototype. We also assembled the dry frame of the robot.
For the first meeting of the year we were all able to work together, meet new people and conjure up some ideas for a prototype. We can’t wait for the upcoming weeks of building with the rest of the team members and we are super excited for Recycle rush! Let the building begin!
