FIRST Technology Challenge

You know the feeling when you finally program your robot to autonomously move forward, turn left, locate a CASCADE EFFECT ball, and then pick it up all on its own? Then you travel to your next FTC competition and your robot is off! Without a hitch! Have you ever wondered how this amazing skill you now possess will benefit you in the future? The Deep Phreatic Thermal Explorer (DEPTHX) is basically a very, very advanced FTC robot constructed with the goal of creating a vehicle that could travel and explore the underwater oceans of Jupiter’s moon, Europa.    The Deep Phreatic Thermal Explorer (DEPTHX) is an autonomous underwater vehicle that was designed and built by Stone Aerospace, an aerospace engineering firm from Austin, Texas. It was designed to autonomously explore and map underwater sinkholes in northern Mexico as well as collect water and wall core samples. The DEPTHX vehicle was the first of three vehicles to be built by Stone Aerospace, which were funded by NASA with the goal

3D Printing for FIRST Teams Authors: Kari Karwedsky, PTC , and Colm Prendergast, Mentor for FIRST Robotics Competition Team 1965 3D Printing Work Flow The 3D Printing Work Flow that we use is composed of 7 steps.   Step 1: Design your part using PTC Creo. Step 2: Export Model from PTC Creo in .stl format. Step 3: Prepare Model and Generate g-code file (or equivalent) for the printer. Step 4: Prepare and Level the 3D Printer Build Plate. Step 5: Load printer filament. Step 6: Print Model. Step 7: Clean up printed model. In this blog post, we will look more closely at Step 1. 3D Printing Step 1: Design your part using PTC Creo Most people reading this blog are probably familiar with using PTC Creo or another CAD program. Designing parts for 3D printing is a pretty straightforward process in PTC Creo. Most designs can be done using basic extrude and sketch functions to create different geometry. PTC Creo is an easy tool to use for this purpose. Using PTC’s training materials novices can

by Bob Howard, Coach Team #4997, Masquerade ; Paul Bresnan, Coach Team 6433, Neutrinos ; Caroline Bresnan, FTC Alumna, Team #2868, Smoke and Mirrors   Scouting is the art of gathering information about your fellow FIRST Tech Challenge teams and their robots. Knowing your opponents’ strengths and weaknesses is critical for a team’s success. The following simple tips are designed to help your team begin the scouting process. Tip #1 – Visit the Inspection Field As a part of inspection, all teams are required to test their robot on the field. Watching these test drives is a great way to gather information on a team’s autonomous programs and scoring capabilities before the tournament has even started! Be sure to take detailed notes. The practice field is also a good place for pre-tournament scouting. Tip #2 – Print Out the Field Diagram Field Diagrams are great for scouting. Print our several copies per page and use them as a way to draw out autonomous paths. They also come in handy for

3D Printing for FIRST Teams Authors: Kari Karwedsky, PTC , and Colm Prendergast, Mentor for FIRST Robotics Competition Team 1965 3D Printing Background As with all manufacturing processes it is important to understand the limitations of the materials and equipment that you are using when you are doing your initial designs in PTC Creo . The 3D printing process is no different. The following sections will introduce you to a 3D printing workflow and will identify some of the potentials issues that you may encounter during the process. At each step along the way useful tip-and-tricks will be shared to make the process more predictable. Like any manufacturing process, when you are producing a lot of parts, yield and repeatability are important.  Maximizing Yield and Repeatability makes any manufacturing process more efficient and predictable. If you have good yield and repeatability your process for making parts will be more predictable and will allow for minimal use of materials. The yiel

  Eduardo Rodriguez, a professional engineer in Lubbock,Texas , has been a part of the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) for years. As Professor Alan Barhorst notes, Eduardo “was an early adopter of the FTC outreach. He willingly volunteered to help in the Head Referee position even though it was a position requiring certification.”  That willingness to take on a challenge sets him apart as a volunteer . However, Eduardo admits that at the beginning, “the thought of not knowing what to expect made me very nervous. My nerves were quickly gone following the first match.” Yet, that nervousness does not translate on the field. For those watching him in the midst of a match, “Eduardo is a perfect Head Referee. He is calm and makes the critical calls in fair fashion. He has a dignity that exudes fairness among the teams. The other referees enjoy his leadership and the games are usually hitch-free.” As a referee, especially the Head Referee, Eduardo is constantly moving and focused during a match.

This is the first entry of an 8-part series. Each entry will be published Tuesday, so be sure to look each week for the next post! 3D Printing for FIRST Teams Authors: Kari Karwedsky, PTC , and Colm Prendergast, Mentor for FRC Team 1965 Many FIRST Tech Challenge and FIRST Robotics Competition teams now have access to a 3D printer thanks to the generous donations of suppliers, but now what do you do with it? To get started, it’s probably a good idea to just tinker with it making something like a pencil cup to get a feel for how the printer works. But after that, how do you decide what makes sense to print for your robot? In this blog series we’ll review a robot design (by FRC Team 1965) that has several components that were 3D printed. This robot was specifically built to test the capabilities of 3D printing techniques. We will then walk through the 3D printing workflow used. We will discuss guidelines for deciding which parts might be good parts to consider 3D printing for your

By Rachel Hunter Everyone knows about the gender gap and that men outnumber women in FIRST and in STEM careers. FIRST teams have been challenged to "Make It Loud" and help engage more young people in STEM activities . Girls on FIRST teams all over the world are already doing big things, and it’s time to bring those talents to the forefront and showcase them for the rest of the FIRST community. In June 2014, FTC Team 5972, The Patronum Bots , created FIRST Ladies to do just that. The intention of the FIRST Ladies community is to create a space for female members of any FIRST program to unite and learn from each other’s experiences. As the numbers grew to over one hundred before the first month was even over, it became apparent that it had the potential to do much more than that. FIRST Ladies began to expand its reach and recruit FRC and alumni partners. It began with FRC Team 3132, The Thunder Down Under, from Sydney, Australia partnering with Patronum Bots to promote the F