2018

Last Sunday, we came together as a team to emulate the 2014 FRC Kickoff. We were accompanied by two regional mentors from the Innovators team 3138 and pizza was provided at a discounted rate by Jet's Pizza.

In completing a mock-kickoff, we hope to prepare for this coming season. We began by watching the introductory video. Afterwards, we divided into teams and examined the rules and developed ideas on how to complete the task of the game. Next, we came together to share our questions, concerns, and ideas. We then went upstairs to explore the parameters of the game using human players. As we played the game, the "robots" tested strategies for obtaining the most points. After a few rounds, we further investigated the possible events in the game by distributing handicaps. This experience will assist us in working through this year’s kickoff.

Vault 6936 Updates Week 1:

• Prototyping the different robot components (base, pulley, etc.)

• Programming the basic robot movement

• Building the field

• Practicing driving the robot around various obstacles (picking drive team members)

• We will be participating in the Robots amongst us at Wright Patt Airforce Base

Vault 6936 has started off its first year with a bang! Our team members have already begun preliminary designs for the robot. This involved prototyping different robot parts, such as its base and block-grabbing mechanism. The team ended up deciding on using a simple claw mechanism to pick up the game piece. The programming team has also gotten a great start, experimenting with some designs on the already-built testing robot. Drive team members have already begun their practice as well, learning to maneuver around different obstacles on the team-constructed field. Good luck to all of the teams! Our very first competition will be on January 28 at the Nutter Center, and we hope to see teams there!

Throughout this week, we have made significant progress in the robot design and the prototyping of various designs. Additionally, we have seen great progress in the programming of the base robot.

A reminder that we have a public outreach opportunity tomorrow at Robots Amongst Us at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. We will be there from 9:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. with attractions, information, and an appearance from our robot in development. All are welcome!

Hello Vault 6936 parents! Our team has been hard at work building the main components of the robots in the past few weeks. Some of the things we have accomplished include:

• Building a wheel mechanism in order to grab the blocks (Build)

• Building a pulley mechanism so that the robot can climb the tower (Build)

• Designing a schematic for the robot’s chassis (CAD)

• Programming the autonomous motion of the robot (Programming)

We only have 3.5 weeks till our robot has to be finished! Our first competition will occur from March 1st from March 3rd. We hope to see all of your kids there.

During week 3, Vault 6936 has accomplished many things involving their FRC competition this coming March. The CAD team, this week, added more towards the robot on their CAD software while also fixing inconsistencies involving the measurements. The Build Team has finished the official base of the robot, and they are also getting closer to finishing the lifting system. The programming team has managed to make the robot move autonomously, they have also started to work on the accelerator (fixing bugs and control issues). The PR team is currently working on the Chairman’s Essay, recording the team’s everyday actions, and has decided on team t-shirts.

Overall, Vault 6936 has made great strides and they are almost ready for their competition.

This week we have made significant progress with the robot and team growth. The robot is nearing completion. Soon the robot will be bagged and put into storage until competing at the Nutter Center February 28-March 3. Be sure to come out and support! The next step after building is to hand the robot over to the programming team to finalize the software and program the robot to complete tasks during the autonomous period of the competition. Additionally we have chosen a design for team shirts and will be ordering them soon.

Hello Vault 6936! Our kids have been working extremely hard for the past six weeks, and the fruits of their labor have paid off. Our competition robot is completed, and all we have to do is test it out on our makeshift field. The programming team also has to finish debugging the final portions of their code. After all of this is done, the robot should be ready to go for our first competition on February 28th. We hope to see you guys there!

Our seventh week was a blast! Vault 6936 went out to the Miami Valley Regional competition and performed wonderfully for a rookie team. We had a lot of fun competing and talking with other teams, talking strategy with other alliance members, and viewing the wonders of science and innovation compacted into one stadium floor.

The team was happy to have visitors such as the mayor of Beavercreek and representatives from the Air Force swing by our pit and talk to us about the competition, team, and our lovely robot named Bolt. While our robot didn't perform so well in the beginning practice matches (tipping over isn't an ideal action for Bolt), our drive team and pit crew quickly thought of a solution that fixed the weight distribution problem well enough to get us through the rest of the competition.

This year, our team was sponsored by Team 3138, the Innovators, who we got to play with and against multiple times throughout the 3 day competition. That series of fortunate events was celebrated by all; our teams have a great relationship with each other. Overall in the competition, we placed 35th in general ranking, 10th in offensive power rating, 19th in defensive power rating, and 14th in overall contribution to winning the game rating.