2020- Infinite Recharge
It's time to act fast. Asteroids are quickly approaching the FIRST City. Alliances need to energize the Shield Generator by collecting and throwing Power Cells. In order to unlock different levels of protection, the droids must manipulate the Control Panels. Finally, the droid must quickly return to the Rendezvous Point to insure their Shield Generator is fully operational.
Our droid for the Star Wars sponsored challenge is named Gilly. She can collect the Power Cells and deposit them in the lowest goal as well as hang from the bar. Her main function is operating the Control Panel to unlock higher levels of the challenge. Unfortunately, right before Gilly could appear in competition to show off her abilities, this years' competition was cancelled due to the rapid spread of Covid-19.
2019 - Destination: Deep Space
Explore the unknown with the 2019 Destination: Deep Space! Play in the final frontier, as teams face an oncoming storm. Place hatches on cargo ships and rockets, and fill them to the brim with cargo! Then attempt to reach the habitat and scale it in an attempt to escape!
Intergalactic is our 2019 challenger. Able to climb to the highest zone on the habitat, control the offensive game, and defend from all of those who may oppose. In technical terms, for the first time in our team's history, runs on swerve drive.
2018 - Power Up
Play for Real with the 2018 FRC Game Power Up! Teams are trapped in an 8-bit video game, and must use power cubes to own switches and scales, so they can climb the scale tower to face the boss. And if they need a hand, teams can use power ups mid play!
OTIS is our 2018 competition robot. In technical terms, he features a pivoting gripping arm with a linear actuator, a 24-mode autonomous with gyro and accelerometer navigation, and a 2 additional robot holding capacity. In simpler terms, he can pick up and put down cubes up to 76" high, and he can climb the tower at the end. He also has rungs for the other robots to climb up.
(Note, the picture below is not the finished OTIS, since we forgot to take a picture on bag night...)
2017 - STEAMWORKS
Unite Your Crew. Ready Your Contraption. Prepare to take flight! STEAMWORKS is a Victorian-era themed challenge where teams must prepare their airships for flight by collecting and delivering fuel balls and gears, then must climb abord the ship before liftoff.
BARF is our 2017 competition robot. Although he was originally designed to intake fuel balls from the floor and shoot them into the low goal, he now delivers gears and climbs the rope to board the airship - and can climb in under 10 seconds! He runs on C++ and uses gyroscopes, accelerometers, and other sensors to improve driving and autonomous modes.
BARF is now enjoying zipping around the school and showing off for students and parents.
2016 – Stronghold
STRONGHOLD is a medieval game where Alliances compete to breach their opponent’s defenses (outer works) and capture their tower. They score points by crossing elements of their opponents’ outer works, scoring boulders in their opponents’ tower goals, and surrounding and scaling their opponents’ tower.
PANZER is our 2016 competition robot. He is named after German tanks, since his tank drive system let us effortlessly defeat half of the defenses (All category B and D defenses). Panzer also features a powerful pneumatic arm, harnessing many pounds of force in order to scale the tower. New this year, Panzer's instructions are written in C++, and he has an impressive autonomous mode. Panzer did not bring home any awards, but he sure made a splash at the Wisconsin Regional!
Panzer is now used for demos, and loves doing chin-ups at the shop!
2015 – Recycle Rush
RECYCLE RUSH is a recycling-themed game played by two Alliances of three robots each. Robots score points by stacking totes on scoring platforms, capping those stacks with recycling containers, and properly disposing of pool noodles, representing litter.
PHIL is our 2015 competition robot. He features a pneumatic “jaw”, electric “elevator/arms”, and mecanum drive chassis. After putting the finishing touches on our LabVIEW autonomous program at the Wisconsin Regional in Milwaukee, he performed well in most of his matches. Phil got 31st out of 60 teams, bringing home no awards but plenty of buttons!
2014 – Aerial Assist
AERIAL ASSIST is played by two competing Alliances of three robots each on a flat 25’ x 54’ foot field, straddled by a truss suspended just over five feet above the floor. The objective is to score as many balls in goals as possible during a two (2)-minute and 30-second match. The more Alliances score their ball in their goals, and the more they work together to do it, the more points their Alliance receives.
FELICIA is our 2014 competition robot. She has two “whirlygigs” on the front that collect the ball, and a pneumatic launcher that sends it flying into goals. Felicia was our first robot, but she got 29th out of 60 teams at the Wisconsin Regional in Milwaukee, plus the “Highest Rookie Seed” and “Rookie Inspiration” awards.
Felicia has retired to being the demo robot, and everyone loves to drive her around and shoot beach balls (and the annual raw chicken).
Our Robots, Through The Years