Hardware:
Our robot Rex, is one of the most unique robots in the state of Florida. Rex has 3 things that are very unique to our team and increase our performance in robot matches.
The first is the 2 step transfer system. We intake the minerals from the crater and it comes into our box which is attached to our extension system. We then dump those minerals back into another box which is attached to the lift system. This lift system leads into our second unique part of our robot which is passive systems. We believe that with the use of passive systems, we can increase efficiency and decrease our robots weight(due to the fact there are not motors). When the lift system goes up, box goes with it and flips automatically at the top because it is attached with a chain.
Another unique thing about our robot is the use of plastics. At the beginning of the season, a plastics company Farco Plastics, graciously donated to our team 2 2 x 4 pieces of plastic. This greatly benefited our team and saved us thousands of dollars as our 2 boxes and protective guards are made out of lexan. We customized them and bent them to the shape that we need in our robot.
Software:
Programming this year presented a unique set of challenges, as the programming team was composed solely of first-year members of robotics. This lack of experience forced us to experiment with differing sensors and programming methods for both autonomous and TeleOp to determine which could enable reliable scoring while allowing the building team sufficient time to create its designs. Despite little experience in robotics, many of our members had unique programming experiences which we employed to create an effective system. Our lead programmer was actively involved for several years with Scratch, a block-based programming language created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to make programming more accessible and appealing to young children, where he continues to assist the community moderators by helping to maintain their “welcoming committee”. From there, he was able to manipulate programs using Python-based web automation. This experience allowed for the application of alternative programming languages, such as during our initial attempt to implement TensorFlow, a machine learning library originally designed in Python and subsequently implemented by FIRST.
Our robot Rex, is one of the most unique robots in the state of Florida. Rex has 3 things that are very unique to our team and increase our performance in robot matches.
The first is the 2 step transfer system. We intake the minerals from the crater and it comes into our box which is attached to our extension system. We then dump those minerals back into another box which is attached to the lift system. This lift system leads into our second unique part of our robot which is passive systems. We believe that with the use of passive systems, we can increase efficiency and decrease our robots weight(due to the fact there are not motors). When the lift system goes up, box goes with it and flips automatically at the top because it is attached with a chain.
Another unique thing about our robot is the use of plastics. At the beginning of the season, a plastics company Farco Plastics, graciously donated to our team 2 2 x 4 pieces of plastic. This greatly benefited our team and saved us thousands of dollars as our 2 boxes and protective guards are made out of lexan. We customized them and bent them to the shape that we need in our robot.
Software:
Programming this year presented a unique set of challenges, as the programming team was composed solely of first-year members of robotics. This lack of experience forced us to experiment with differing sensors and programming methods for both autonomous and TeleOp to determine which could enable reliable scoring while allowing the building team sufficient time to create its designs. Despite little experience in robotics, many of our members had unique programming experiences which we employed to create an effective system. Our lead programmer was actively involved for several years with Scratch, a block-based programming language created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to make programming more accessible and appealing to young children, where he continues to assist the community moderators by helping to maintain their “welcoming committee”. From there, he was able to manipulate programs using Python-based web automation. This experience allowed for the application of alternative programming languages, such as during our initial attempt to implement TensorFlow, a machine learning library originally designed in Python and subsequently implemented by FIRST.