What is Robotics About?
View the photos and videos below to learn about what a FIRST Robotics Team does each year.
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A FIRST Robotics team consists of high school students grade 9-12. Students in grade 8 can also join the team but cannot be on the robot drive team. The team can have up to 30 or 40 students. Our team is a community team and is not limited to Jemison students. We have a Robotics Lab upstairs in the College Academy.
The team not only needs students who like building robots, but students who can participate in many other activities, such as social media, web design, team spirit, inventory, fund raising, etc. Our team started in the fall of 2015 when Johnson High was still open, and then moved to Jemison in the fall of 2016. We are FRC Team 6107, the CyberJagzz. Our team colors are similar to Jemison's colors, but yellow instead of gold, and a sapphire/teal blue. Our team mascot is, of course, a Jaguar, and our theme is the Rainforest (where jaguars live). Our Soundbyte is "Roaring to Win!" |
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You can expand the videos to full screen to see them better.
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There are two "seasons" for the team: Preseason, and Robot Season.
During Preseason, which is first semester, the team learns about:
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Nuts, bolts, and small robot parts.
Students teaching each other how to program using C++.
The Pit setup in the Robotics Lab so students can be familiar where everything goes.
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Learning Solidworks CAD.
Practicing driving a robot from a prior season.
Building a prototype of a mechanism to see if it works.
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Potential robot design planned using CAD.
Learning how to use power tools.
One of the things we do that doesn't involve a robot is preparing "trinkets and trash" to exchange with other students at competition.
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Robot Season!
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The first Saturday in January is the "Kickoff" when the season's game is revealed. We get really busy this semester.
After Kickoff we start planning our robot. First we have to come up with a list of the things the robot has to do during matches. This also involves checking the Game Manual for the details of the game. Once we have determined the tasks, we start brainstorming ideas for each mechanism. We have Mentors who are engineers and can help us with the realities of design. Then comes Build Season. We design in CAD (with mentor help), build and test prototypes, and then start building the robot. We have 6-8 weeks from the Kickoff to complete a robot. |
Kickoff is held at the Space & Rocket Center. Here we wait the last few seconds until the game reveal.
Just some ideas for a "power cell" launching mechanism.
Testing out a special camera that allows the robot to align itself with targets on the playing field.
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Brainstorming after Kickoff.
Assembling electronics for the robot.
Motors require gearboxes. Here we are putting these together.
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Checking the game manual. How DOES a robot score points, anyway?
Working on the drive base.
Putting gearboxes together.
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Going to Competitions!
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After we have finished building the robot we must then program it, test it, and practice driving. There are a couple of weeks between this and our first competition.
Competitions involve anywhere from 40-60 teams from around the world. They are held in places like the Von Braun Center and teams can sign up for as many as they want to attend. The competitions start with "Load In" on a Wednesday evening. That's when you bring your robot, tools, etc. into the venue. Thursday is practice day. First your robot must pass inspection, then you can participate in some practice matches. This day is also used to set up the team's pit area, and go around and visit other teams. All day Friday and Saturday morning of competition you will compete in around 10 Qualification Matches. Each match is played with two alliances of three teams, assigned randomly. The playing field is approximately 27 feet by 57 feet. Each alliance of 3 teams will start on their own end of the field. The first 15 seconds of the match is Autonomous. The robot is programmed to complete a task during this section without any driver input (such as drive forward a few feet and stop). Then the students take over during the Teleop period and must drive the robot around the field completing the game tasks and trying to earn as many points as possible. Matches are spaced out every 30 or so minutes during this day and a half. Teams earn Qualifying Points during each match which will determine their ranking. The top 8 ranked teams then get to select the other two teams they want to play with in the Championship Matches (for a total of 24 teams). Saturday afternoon the Championship Matches are held. Following these are the Awards Ceremony. Awards are not only given for the Regional Champions and Finalists, but many other awards like Team Spirit, Design Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Safety, Imagery, etc. You can watch some of our matches from previous years. Look for robot 6107. In the first video on the right we are in the RED Alliance, and are in the Blue Alliance during the second video. |
We get the chance to meet and make friends with teams from other countries. Here you see us with Brazilian Storm, 6404.
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