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First Robotics - Blog Posts
We have a Facebook page now! Go and Like our page for updates!
We recently finished working on our motorized cart! It's now fully operational!
We brought in our donated 3-D printer today!
http://instagram.com/p/jDKcdpM_g2/
Prototyping with ways to throw the ball today... We aren't saying how yet but it's on it's way!
Working hard as we close on week 1 of the season! Off to a great start! How is everyone else doing? Good luck to all and you can do it!
It's officially the end of week 1 of build season, and we're right on track. We're still working on a few prototypes and starting to refine them.
Here's hoping your team's doing well too!
Our team's pretty excited about this year's game, what about yours?
Throwback Thursday to when we got our motorized cart system working just before winter break!
We finally got a twitter, so come and follow us there too if you like!
Theme update!
Today we updated our theme, check it out here!
Our 2012 robot is getting into the spirit of the holidays!
One project that we've been working on in the off season is motorizing our robot cart! A lot of progress was made today.
Working on fundraising and spirit stuff in the off season!
Here's one of our very successful matches from Robocon!
Our robot did very well on Day 2 of Robocon considering that it fell off the pyramid from Zone 3 during a practice match the day before.
Although we got eliminated from the finals, we're going home with the "Awesome Pit Award!"
Hey all! We now have a GoPro camera for our robot! We'll be able to get footage of us flipping up on the pyramid now.
We're going to be at Robocon in Tampa this weekend, so come out and say hi if you're going!
After school today we worked on our autonomous for Robocon next weekend!
Here's a video of Team 2152 SMASH climbing the pyramid at Panther Prowl 2013!
This was our first time at Panther Prowl. We ended up as finalists with 801 Horsepower and 1592 The Bionic Tigers. We also won the Judges Award!
We're also going to be at Robocon in Tampa.
Robotics, Simulation & Future: NASA Co-Op #3 Week 8&9
Robotics: Many NASA interns and Co-Ops got hooked on STEM disciplines by participating in FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics. In fact there is a robotics team that meets at NASA Johnson's Space Vehicle Mock Up Facility, the Robonauts. There are four levels for FIRST Robotics; Junior Lego League for ages 6 to 10 (JrFLL), Lego Robotics League for 4th to 8th grade (FLL), FIRST Tech Challenge for 7th to 12th grade (FTC), and FIRST Robotics Competition for 9th to 12th graders (FRC). There are still FIRST Robotics events you can take part in.
Search for FIRST Robotics events pick “Event” and use filters such as dates, program type, county and zip code.Volunteers apply through the Volunteer Information and Matching System and need to pass a background check. Once you are accepted into a position the volunteer coordinator will supply you with the necessary training.
WATCH TEAMS COMPETE LIVE (every Thur - Sat through weekend of April 27th, 2017).
Robot my FRC team made
Robot the team who builds here, Robonauts, made.
This year’s FRC game.
Simulation: A group of us toured the Systems Engineering Simulator (SES) lab a part of NASA Johnson's Robotics Engineering division. Astronauts visit SES to practice docking Orion, capturing the SpaceX Dragon cargo ship, and driving a Mars rover. They simulate realistic physics and scenarios with in house software (Unreal Engine couldn't cut it). The have simulations with the International Space Station, Japanese Cargo Vehicle (HTV), Dragon, Cygnus, Orion and future space exploration vehicles.
Future of NASA: Center Director Ellen Ochoa, Deputy Director Mark Geyer and Associate Director Melanie Saunders hosted an All Hands where they shared with NASA Johnson employees essentially our state of the union. Ochoa described that NASA of priority and interest of the new administration. Per the request of the administration, NASA is conducting a study to weigh the risks of adding a manned crew to Space Launch System and Orion Space Craft's EM1 test. This study is expected to conclude late March.
Guess what day it is?! Have to post this video every year: https://youtu.be/G_bOA3qrC-c Link to FIRST Robotics Kick Off webcast starting 9amCT with preshow and 9:30amCT with new game info: http://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/frc/2017-broadcast
FIRST Robotics Kick Off is THIS SATURDAY Jan7 at 9amCT!
3,400 teams made up of over 85,000 students will learn what game their robot will be playing. Within a six week build season students will have to fabricate, wire and program that robot. The game's name, "STEAMworks", has been revealed along with some vague hints. Here is a post with some of my theories and the link to watch the unveiling of the game live.
These are essential tips for FIRST Robotics teams starting build season this Saturday!
8 Ways to Stay Healthy During Build Season
Three more days until kickoff! You know what this means: pizza, caffeine, and no sleep for 42 days.
However, despite all the jokes we all make about awful diets and bad sleep habits, self-care is something we all need to remember during build season. Here are some tips to stay healthy as we approach a time when our health often, unfortunately, ends up as a low priority.
Reusable water bottles. Water is pretty important for obvious reasons, but multiple bottles of water can be tiring to lug around. Plus, it’s better for the environment than the recyclable water bottles.
Sports drinks in moderation. Although water is always a good go-to when you need to hydrate, if you’ve been sweating a lot, you also need to replenish the electrolytes you lose. Drinks like Powerade and Pocari Sweat are great for those purposes.
Don’t fall asleep in a binder. We all know how it happens: after a long day’s work, you get home, plop in bed, and pass out in grimy clothing. It’s fine. Just make sure you remove your binder if you wear one.
Utilize team sweatshirts and layers. Depending on what part of the world you live in, it can get pretty cold outside, so make sure to bundle up when traveling to and from your team’s shop. If you wear a binder, you can also use sweatshirts and larger clothing to take a break.
Fruit instead of sweets. And most snacks in general. Vitamin C prevents colds, which is extremely important when you spend a lot of time close to people in the winter. It’ll also help prevent breakouts.
Protein bars. Pizza is the solution to almost all your problems most of the time, but if you’re eating it three meals a day, that’s a problem that can’t be solved by more pizza. Protein bars are just one alternative, and a fantastic one at that.
Set an alarm for lunchtime. Speaking of eating three meals a day, you need to make sure you really have three meals a day. It also goes for anything else you need to remember at a certain time, like picking up an object, taking your meds, checking a monitor, etc. This is also useful during competition season, because it’s very easy to forget in the heat of things.
Work out. You don’t necessarily have to do any intense workouts, but doing at least one physically active thing for an hour each week serves as a good distraction from spending so much brainpower on robots every day. It will also help prevent you from passing out at competitions when you run back and forth between the pits and the stands, or when everyone gets up to do the Macarena.
Good luck, and remember: safety and your health come FIRST.
~Staff: Errica 1073
Throwback to when I captained a FIRST Robotics team and a really fun interview about my NASA Co-Op experience:
http://www.fox21online.com/news/local-news/UMD-Student-Reaches-For-The-Stars-With-NASA/42581116
STEAMworks: Robotics Game Theories
Teaser trailer for the 2017 FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition for Science and Technology) Robotics Competition was released late September revealing a Steampunk theme. Now is the time for my annual game conspiracy post about what I think teams can expect based on nuanced clues and veteran FIRST experience.
FLYING MINI BOTS - "Prepare to take flight!" was the closing statement of the 2017 FIRST STEAMworks Teaser video. Could minibots be coming back with quadcopter features? Minibots was a successful and entertaining aspect of the 2011 FIRST challenge Logo Motion. At the end of the Logo Motion teams' primary 120lb robot deployed smaller minibots to climb a tower. A FIRST inspired robotics competition, Collegiate Aerial Robotics Demonstration (CARD), launched at the 2011 World Championship with the hope to start a College-Level FIRST competition. According to CARD's Wikipedia page the competitions were held between 2011 and 2013. In the teaser video the flying contraptions illustrated have circular quadcopter like rioters. With the growing interest in quadcopters, drones and other flying robots it would be easier FIRST to suppliers for teams' Kit Of Parts and easier to find mentoring help from college students and companies than years prior.
STEAM (Science Technology Engineering ART and Math) - Within the past decade educators and professionals have realized that the arts do indeed belong in STEM education. FIRST appears to be adopting the trend by imagining STEAMworks. Even a paint brush is visible in the STEAMworks game logo. What would life be without music and art? (My father is a high school art teacher and both of my parents and myself play stringed instruments). The Beautility factor or engineering, when something is aesthetic while serving a purpose, is due to the blend of STEAM disciplines. FIRST could include arts in the 2017 season by adding a Beautility award, challenging teams to combine their brand with the game's theme, continue the team website competition and add scholarships to their ~200 already offered that include students in the arts.
PNEUMATICS - It would be disappointing if STEAMworks did not emphasize the use of pneumatic devices. Although water is a component that makes steam happen a water game does not seem feasible... I'm imagining teams trying to isolate electronics from water reservoirs... don't get your hopes up. Likely, FIRST will require teams to have at least one pneumatic device. In past seasons pneumatics have been used for championship winning actuators but primarily underutilized. In the teaser trailer a gauge showing 40psi was visible, a possible operating pressure for Kit of Parts pneumatics parts (that est. 1989 is the year Dean Kamen Founded FIRST).
Hopefully these theories get you excited about the upcoming season!
Kick Off Saturday, January 7, 2017 at 9:00 amCT, will update with broadcast link before 1/9/17.
WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
Find a local team to help.
Mentor a team.
Check out my past robotics team.
100 Million X-Rays: NASA Co-Op #2 Week Three & Four
Jupiter orbital insertion, FIRST robotics coach visit and humidity sensor test prep have filled these past two weeks.
Drafting a fluid schematic complete with themocouples and pressure gauges I learn some fluid dynamics not expected to acquire as an electrical engineering and computer science major. The humidity sensor will be tested three ways - for 0% humidity with evaporating liquid nitrogen (Yah!), for ~ 50% with ambient room humidity down here in Houston, and >50% with ambient air being pulled through a water filled bubbler. Sensors will systemically be scattered to collect data and determine with a hefty amount of PV=NRTing if the humidity sensor works. After learning PV=NRT can only be used when you are certain the amount of water and vapor are equal to derive humidity we came up with the simple three part test matrix explained above.
My high school FIRST Robotics coach came to Johnson Space to tour some spacefaring robots, propulsion test center and space station mock ups (exact replicas of what is in space) at the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility! We also visited Houston’s Natural Science Museum and biked on Galveston.
Within a second of what was expected the Juno Spacecraft performed her tasks successfully and inserted into Jupiter’s orbit. This basketball court sized spacecraft will be exposed radiation equivalent to a human receiving 100 million X-Rays in a year. Juno also captured the first demonstration of celestial harmonic movement hypothesized by physics. Powered by solar energy this Juno is unique because most crafts that travel this far are radioisotope thermoelectrically powered. A critical part of this insertion was turning the solar arrays back toward the Sun post insertion.
WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
Watch…
Juno Media Briefing: https://youtu.be/I6uUEYOzipw
Juno Insertion: https://youtu.be/zfIqnpqPFbI
Juno Post Insertion Media Briefing: https://youtu.be/LH_uPWU5V3o
Apply for a NASA Internship: https://intern.nasa.gov/ossi/web/public/guest/searchOpps/
Apply for a NASA Co-Op (check back as it is updated as soon as one opens): http://nasajobs.nasa.gov/studentopps/employment/opportunities.htm
Reporting All Robots!
This FIRST Robotics season I joined forces with BlueDevil Press to live report on the Duluth Robotics Regional. BlueDevil Press is a collaboration of three teams to give an unbiased view of the robotics world to the community. As a part project mentor part alumna I helped edit articles, devise interview questions and follow beats. For the Duluth Regional we crafted a wrap around the Duluth News Tribune, submitted four articles to the paper and published eight articles on the BlueDevil Press blog. Some of the stories include...
"Starting ’em Young" - Kindergartners visit the FIRST Robotics Regional
"FIRST President Don Bossi Interview" - FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) President shares he visions for the future of robotics
"Phoenix Robotics" - A norm busting robotics team
"A “FEARless” Season" - Overcoming disaster, robot drove off the stage during community demo
Wrap around the Duluth News Tribune. Part program part “What is robotics?”
Following the competition I visited the Kindergarten class that took a field trip to watch the robots. We reviewed the robotics challenge reveal video one more time, then they were challenged to build a robot of their own out of odd materials. Students were given googly eyes (cameras), clothes pins (robot defense manipulators), pom poms (boulders), foam (robot structure), construction paper (robot field) and pipe cleaners (aluminum rods). I expected the students to glue their creations down on provided construction paper but instead they made the robots 3-D! Folding and building their robots like a diorama recreating the scenes they saw at the competition. Every time I give a class a design challenge I am amazed by what they imagine!
Robot shooting a boulder into a tower.
WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
Watch FIRST robotics competitions live every Thursday to Saturday until May 1st, 2016.
Support your local FIRST Robotics team. Teams often have their own website and 501c3 so you can donate to them. Find them here.
Visit a classroom and read a book, teach some coding, talk about your career. Teachers will love the extra prep time and students love a fresh perspective.
Pit area where teams work on their robot between matches.
NASA Intern Bonus Update
Recently my coach from FIRST Robotics past visited me and we toured Johnson Space Center (JSC). We got a look into Building Nine where astronauts train for their missions in mock vehicles. There were shuttle, international space station, Orion, rover, and robotic mocks. I was so glad my mentor could visit, FIRST Robotics is a huge reason why I am here!
For photo descriptions see captions. All taken by me at JSC.
Links: FIRST Robotics My old HS team Duluth East Daredevils
Launching Your Aerospace Career
As unbelievable as it seems my passion for aerospace and space research was not found until my senior year in high school. There are many programs I wish I had known about throughout my schooling and programs I still want to participate in the future. I hope this post open doors about ways you can launch your aerospace career and spark your imagination.
Elementary School
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Jr. LEGO League (Jr.FLL) Students ages 6 - 9 create an invention out of LEGO parts that solves real world problems.
FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Students ages 9 - 14 design, build, and program LEGO Robots that compete in a game. A really cool FLL team
VEX IQ Challenge Elementary - middle school students build controllable robots to complete tasks and compete.
Middle School
FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Students ages 9 - 14 design, build, and program LEGO Robots that compete in a game. A really cool FLL team
FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) Students in grades 7 - 12 design, fabricate, wire, and program robots to compete in alliances. A really cool FTC team
VEX IQ Challenge Elementary - middle school students build controllable robots to complete tasks and compete.
VEX Robotics Competition With skills in computer aided design, programming, animation, and fabrication middle school - college students build robots and compete on alliances of 2 V 2 to achieve reach the top score.
High School
FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) Students in grades 7 - 12 design, fabricate, wire, and program robots to compete in alliances. A really cool FTC team
FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) In only six weeks high school students from around the world design and build 120 lb robots to play games such as soccer, basketball, and Ultimate Frisbee. I captained an FRC team in high school and can vouch that all the FIRST robotics leagues (JrFLL - FRC) are fantastic! My old high school's FRC team
Texas High School Aerospace Scholars High school students from Texas get to collaborate with NASA engineers onsite to complete a week long project and work among fellow scholars.
VEX Robotics Competition With skills in computer aided design, programming, animation, and fabrication middle school - college students build robots and compete on alliances of 2 V 2 to achieve reach the top score.
Glenn High School Internship Project (GHIP) Eight week paid internship for high schoolers to work at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. This opportunity is for incoming juniors and seniors.
K - 12
Science, Engineering, Mathematics, and Aerospace Academy (SEMAA) Summer filled with innovation offering activities for all Contact
Destination Imagination Improv to engineering, art to teamwork students compete from around the world in many disciplines.
College
NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS) Community college students get onsite and online NASA experience and education.
VEX Robotics Competition With skills in computer aided design, programming, animation, and fabrication middle school - college students build robots and compete on alliances of 2 V 2 to achieve reach the top score.
NASA College Internships Paid internships at NASA available for year round and every season at the various NASA centers.
NASA Pathways Internship (College Co-Op) Now the OSSI internships are different than what NASA calls Pathways Internships (more commonly known as Co-Ops) where you are a civil servant with higher pay and benefits. You also go on “tours” (at least 3) where you switch between a semester working and NASA and a semester studying three times.
All Ages and Disciplines
Alphabetical order list of NASA programs for all ages and disciplines.
*My earlier posts explain FIRST Robotics better* **Next post, as a woman in STEM, I will focus on resources for women in STEM!**
(TopL: NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars Credit: NASA, TopR: Jr. LEGO League creation Credit:FIRST FLL, Middle: Me lining up my high school robotics team’s basketball shooting robot Credit: Daredevils FRC Robotics Team 2512, BottomL: LEGO Mindstorm robot Credit: LEGO, BottomR: In a parade with NASA Glenn and their Orion float.)
Teams watch robots compete at a FIRST Robotics Regional in Minnesota