Media, Machining, and Monday
Written By: Gretchen T
Stuff happened! There was a Media Meeting, Captain’s Meeting, and Open Room. CNC was running, and packages came. At our Media Meeting, we went over our Gratitude Board, a way for subteam members to show their appreciation to each other, planned out our team yearbook, and got more team merch ready to hand out! There was a lot of machining in the room, and between that and the packages, we’ve got a lot of stuff for our robots ready.
We also had our Outreach meeting, where we planned out some upcoming events, such as our Rebuilt Info Night, and a few more in the future! A lot was accomplished, and we ended with a fun activity to get everyone talking!
A Very Chill Tuesday
Written By: Viki P
Once in a while, Talon has some pretty chill days, a chance to do some homework or look at some pretty Hot Takes on Chief Delphi. But of course, robotics kids find a way to stay busy. We had the CNC going to make some parts while packages came in, and one of the faces of our Hub was constructed to test out the season’s April Tags.
Meanwhile, both awards and fundraising subteams had their meetings. As the deadline for our biggest essays and executive summaries inches closer, the awards subteam is hard at work. We submitted our Woodie Flowers Essay, nominating one of our hardworking mentors, which came to exactly 3000 words. Hooray!
Next on the to-do list is our Impact executive summaries, which were cleaned up with the help of some feedback from our mentor, Michelle. Back in the room, Fundraising had a meeting debriefing last week’s concessions event at our local middle school. Turns out, kids LOVE cheese pizza but not so much Fritos. The rest of the meeting was spent looking at our upcoming fundraisers (Taco Tuesday, anyone?) and getting more ideas. Who doesn’t love satisfying that munchies craving while supporting FRC?
Finally, our sponsorship subteam followed up with some of their contacts that they got from their Sponsorship Drive last week and started on their February Newsletter. Talk about diligence!
Before Open Room closed up early for the day, our state-bound FTC team got some time to work on their robot before their competition next weekend. They even got some advice on their strategy from Ally, Talon’s build captain. Good Luck, Taped Together!
Now, to end off our Tuesday, we had an online team meeting discussing past and future events for the team, and got some more information about our Duluth Trip! We’ll be headed up to Northern Lights Regional, and we could not be more excited for it. Unlike last year’s Alabama trip, it’s only a few hours of driving for us. If you’re on the team, this is your reminder to fill out your time trackers!!!
Wednesday – Nothing?!
Room was canceled on Wednesday! We still had our Inclusivity meeting, we worked on Women’s Panel, team builders, and our diversity month post. While nothing happened in the room, enjoy this image of Story Time with a Captain from one of our weekend rooms:
Thursday – My Perfect Victory (at losing)
Written By: Connor P
Have you ever thought to yourself, “I wish I knew how to lose a match the most effectively?” Obviously, everyone’s so focused on winning, and you want to be unique. But it’s tough to lose a match, so I’ve compiled some of the best and easiest ways so you can finally show how different you are from all the other teams.
- Make sure to reuse batteries match to match. You’re likely to start browning out shortly into the second or third match, which will prevent you from moving around too much.
- Don’t go for the climb. Go for that last cycle. You’ll miss the big point bonus from climbs and also impress scouts with the extra 0.1 cycle average added to their scouting data on you.
- Don’t do a systems check. Surprises are fun.
- Don’t check which driver/operator controllers are in which driver station port. If they’re wrong, simply have your operator drive and your driver operate.
- Expose your main breaker to the outside world as much as possible. This way, another game piece or robot could turn your robot off, especially if you don’t have an easily printable shroud
- Keep your driver station laptop almost closed so that it doesn’t block your view of the field. If a robot hits the DS wall and closes your laptop, just re-open it and log in to get back to playing.
- Use acrylic (instead of polycarb) for lightweight robot applications. Under mild stress, it will shatter, leaving your mechanism dysfunctional.
- Leave useful hand tools inside the robot. That way, they get stuck in something and break the robot, and they’re always conveniently located next to whatever you need to fix.
- Schedule a Windows update for the middle of a match.
- Don’t add a bottom and just let your electronics drag on the floor, ensuring something will break or disconnect.
I hope these ten ways to lose a game have finally helped you be unique from the other teams and finally made you feel better about your performance and get all the congratulations you deserve for your outside-the-box thinking.
Friday – Bearing with the Build Process
Written By: Karl M
Today started off with a shipment of new parts. We used our free credits in First Choice to buy a new PDH, a radio, and a new multimeter to replace our old one. We also received numerous other parts, such as a new 4mm endmill, some extra 2” (and 4”) wheels, aluminum sheet metal, and a planetary gearbox set. We have been waiting a while for new parts to get here—and for things to be cut out on the CNC, so this shipment should help get the show on the road!
Naren, Ally, and Ishan sorted out bearings for our intake, picking out a select few while putting most of them in the ‘mediocre’ pile. Some of the bearings were especially egregious, including one that had no cage for the balls, allowing them to fall out. Meanwhile, we started milling out frames for the turret on the CNC router, using the new 4mm endmill. Using our new endmill made it much quieter, and formed some actual shavings rather than just chips. During this time, we also started assembly for the gearboxes used for the turret, using Loctite (as usual).
Will decided to work on programming an indicator to tell when the alliance shifts happen. Naren worked on finding his RC transmitter and eventually found it in a box. We tested out the gearbox with an old Kraken motor and got it mounted up on the frame. We had some issues with the CNC being misaligned, but it eventually worked itself out. In the following days, we receive more (space-grade) bearings and will work on the turret, including adding some support for the (currently somewhat cantilevered) Kraken.
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