Robot
Chassis
The Chassis department designs, builds and maintains the mobile section of the robot. The chassis is much more than a rolling platform, however, it also houses and protects the vital electronics, without which the robot would be a very cool-looking paperweight. Simultaneously, the chassis provides a series of hard points that enable the Environmental Manipulator to function safely. The locomotive secret behind the chassis is a series of powerful electric motors that work through a calculated set of gears and sprockets to deliver a high amount of torque with comparable speed.
The human element of the Chassis department is 100% student engineering power. Every year, we prepare for the game by prototyping, designing, and planning for the year's competition. Members of this division have hands-on experience with the mechanisms and tools, giving them unmatched levels of experience and knowledge. Much of our design is done in AutoCAD, a computer program that allows us to render our pieces and parts in 3D. This also allows us to accurately describe our plans to the various machine shops we communicate with. All rolled together, these aspects of the creation process yield a working chassis that is ready for whatever gets thrown its way.
Environmental Manipulator
The electronics department is responsible for the wiring and other power distribution in the robot, including the wires that send signals to motors and input from sensors and controls. It also works with the hardware sensors on the robot and the hardware used to control the robot during competition (the OI).
During build, it makes sure that adequate power is available to the motors and that motors are controlled by either a victor or a spike connected to the robot controller (RC) through PWM cables. It is responsible for designing and building an usable control system through the OI and RC, working together with programming. It also works with the mechanical departments, primarily Chassis, to ensure the necessary motors and sensors connect to power and the RC and that there is access and space for the battery, sensors, radio, power distribution, and RC. Finally, it makes sure that these components are safe and used in accordance with the FIRST rules and regulations.
The Enviromental Manipulator department oversees the brainstorming, prototyping, mechanical design and drafting, and manufacturing of the part of the robot that actually interacts with the game enviroment. It works in close conjunction with the chassis, electronics, and programming department as the arm is usually a complicated and delicate mechanism that mounts on top of the chassis and is closely controlled by range-of-motion sensors and software.
Using motors, pneumatics, and lightweight structural elements, the EVom department has managed to make successful articulated arms, ball shooters, and extending forklift arms in the past 4 years. However, the evom department is undergoing constant change to further improve the way that workflow is accomplished. One major thing that has been happening in the past year is the primary prototyping of all elements before final construction. This allows the the team to create better functioning mechanisms that allow a more complete interaction with the game field and overall objective.
Electronics
The electronics department is responsible for the wiring and other power distribution in the robot, including the wires that send signals to motors and input from sensors and controls. It also works with the hardware sensors on the robot and the hardware used to control the robot during competition (the OI).
During build, it makes sure that adequate power is available to the motors and that motors are controlled by either a victor or a spike connected to the robot controller (RC) through PWM cables. It is responsible for designing and building an usable control system through the OI and RC, working together with programming. It also works with the mechanical departments, primarily Chassis, to ensure the necessary motors and sensors connect to power and the RC and that there is access and space for the battery, sensors, radio, power distribution, and RC. Finally, it makes sure that these components are safe and used in accordance with the FIRST rules and regulations.
Software
The software division is a creative, dynamic group of students with a knack for logical and mathematical problem-solving. The software division deals with programming the robot. The software writes the C code in addition to actually testing it on the robot. Software is in charge of providing flexible, functional code for the robot. This includes basic driving and environmental manipulation functions. In addition, our code must be efficient and reusable, so that it can be easily modified for future generations of the robot. In addition, the division is responsible for providing code that takes full advantage of the robot's capabilities. The software group communicates with the electronics department to agree where the sensors and motors on the robot and the operating interface should be wired. Finally, the division must interact with potential drivers of the robot to inform and instruct them on safe control of the robot.
Administration
The purpose of Administration in the team is to handle all team matters that do not directly relate to the design and building of the robot. Administration takes care of things like the logistics of team travel to regionals and other events, the team's budget, and the publicity of the team within the school and outside community.
Administration supports the Robot division of the team by providing them with the resources, money, and support they need to build an excellent robot.
Website
The Website department is in charge of coding and writing the team's website. The purpose of the team's website is to promote the team, FIRST Robotics, and science and technology. The website is the primary way for people to learn about our purpose. The making of the website is a process involving coding (currently HTML, CSS, and PHP) the website itself, designing the layout, and writing the content.
The Website department works with every other department at some point or another, whether it be for consultation on accuracy of certain subjects in the case of the Robot division, or with Animation on planning and animating certain parts of the website.
Animation
The animation division is a new, supplementary component of the robotics team that hopes, in years to come, to become a successful subgroup and provide a first exposure to animation and 3-D computer design to students. Unlike many other of units in the team, animation does not have direct contact with the robot or the process of building it. However, animation provides aesthetic complementarity to the busy mechanical and theoretical work behind the construction of the robot. Using the latest software from Autodesk, students will receive a enormously rewarding and fun exposure to computer design and animation.
The animation subgroup is not in any particularly strong conjunction with the other departments, but the skills learned through creating and experimenting with the animation software can carry over to other areas of expertise. The CAD aspect of animation will become of special use in the Chassis and Arm departments, who constantly are fabricating and experimenting new ideas for the robot's design through computer animated design. Animation is thus a component of the team that is both fun, exciting, and insightful all at once. While its beginnings are humble and current lattice still small, the animation department hopes to one day exceed in showing students and mentors the harvests of creating animations and other 3-D computer projects.
Public Relations
PR, or Public Relations, is charged with spreading and promoting FIRST and our own FRC Team 1351. One level of marketing is aimed at our Archbishop Mitty High School community. We utilize many channels for raising awareness of our team for recruiting and support purposes. Some examples of our advertising around the school are fliers posted in hallways, display boards and slides on LCD screens. We also are represented at school events such as Open House and Freshman Welcome Night, being more visible to a wider crowd of students, allowing them to talk to real robotics team members.
The second level of our marketing and awareness is within the FIRST community. The PR department is in charge of spreading awareness of our team at competitions. This is done through visual aids such as buttons, robot data sheets, and our highly visible "TKO Blue" T-shirts. We are also responsible for promoting FIRST and its vision in the San Jose area, which is done through publicity at outside events; for example, staffing a booth at the San Jose Grand Prix and contributing to articles in local newspapers.
Budgeting
The treasurer has many important jobs such as maintaining financial information for the team, setting up the budget for the subgroups, and working with the moderator to fill out reimbursement claim forms. Also, the treasurer records expenses, reimbursements, and donations, making sure we stay within the team’s annual budget. The treasurer is in charge of maintaining the FIRST robotics team robot supply cost sheet which must be turned in at competition before being allowed to participate at each regional competition.
At Competition
Scouting
The basic function of Scouting is to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of other teams at competitions to determine the teams that would complement our team best in an alliance in the event that we make it into the top teams. Before the matches, team members are sent around the pit to talk to other teams and ask about their robot's strengths and weaknesses, as well as its approach to accomplishing the goal of the game. Once the matches start, team members in the stand watch the matches, each person focusing on one robot and recording information such as autonomous method, how much they scored, etc.
In the event that our team makes it into the top teams, this information is very valuable in choosing the other team(s) to ally with us in the final rounds, as we know all of our competitiors' strengths and weaknesses and are able to choose team(s) who cover our weaknesses and complement our strengths, and vice versa; this method allows us to go into the final rounds with the greatest chance of success.