Brainstorming
After the 2019 FRC game reveal, Team 175 started
By Megan Hayes
brainstorming for what they wanted to accomplish this season. The goal
was to have the robot swiftly and efficiently pick up and deposit cargo -13
inch orange playground balls- and hatch covers -19 inch circular plastic
discs. The students and mentors split up into three groups to brainstorm.
Each of the three groups came up with their own strategies for Sandstorm
(autonomous period), lift/manipulator designs, strategies for maximum ef-
ficiency, and endgame. The groups came up with a large amount of designs
and some groups had similar ideas.
The first unanimously decided goal was to have a robot that runs
quickly and smoothly. A jerky and uncontrolled robot was to be avoided at
all costs. A universal idea throughout the groups was having an elevator
mechanism to lift the cargo/hatch manipulator. Upon further discussion, it
was brought up that the most desirable option would be to have the eleva-
tor go to preset heights to reduce how much the drivers had to finesse the
robot’s position to score. Another point brought up and agreed upon by all
groups was having a camera on the robot for the brief Sandstorm period,
and having the option of a manual override afterwards if the camera didn’t
work.
Many groups had differing designs for the cargo/hatch capturing de-
vice. The mentors brought up that it would be efficient to have only one sys-
tem to retrieve both hatch and cargo to conserve space and save time in the
building process. Valuable points were brought up about having separate
mechanisms for retrieval, but through much discussion a decision was
made to not make any big changes until the prototyping stage was over and
we could see whether or not it worked.
Issue 2: February 2, 2019
PAGE 6