WIRED FTC 5035

2017/2018 Challenge

relic recovery

We received the new challenge for this season.  The video explains what the teams need to do to score points in this year's season.

Seeking New Team Members

We are seeking a few new people for our team. You do not have to be interested in robotics to join the team, so keep reading! 1st off we are located in O'Fallon, MO area. We accept kids from anywhere.

We don’t expect any of the people who do these tasks to do it alone. I offer training, support and whatever they need to be successful in their tasks.

We need someone who is interested in journalism and promotions. For journalism we need someone to document the meeting happenings, assemble a journal of the events and incorporate photos. Write updates for our website and Facebook page, and create flyers regarding our team which we use for fundraising. If you have a kid who would be interested in something like being on the yearbook committee of a typical school, this would be great for them.

Another area is photography & videography, this person would handle the photography to be used on website, Facebook, presentation boards, slide show, Public Relations and whatever else they can think of.

Financial person - if you have a student into business and finance we could use them. The team needs to have a business plan, budget, keep track of expenses, research grants and fill out grant forms, keep reports and whatever else required.

In regards to robotics tasks - We have to design our robot in CAD type software. There are a couple to choose from. We also design pieces for our robot that we then print with our 3D printer. We make prototypes to test concepts before making the permanent structures. The robot is built requiring some use of tools to make custom parts from metal. We have to wire the robot in order for the electronics to work and program the robot via Java. The programming requires both autonomous programs that the robot runs as well as programs that allow members to use a control pad to drive the robot. Once the robot is complete, and the programming is complete the student learn to drive the robot and handle competition situations. Another aspect is Technical Presentation. The team has a technical presentation at the competitions in front of a group of judges. They prepare a 10 minute presentation & 10 minute Q&A on the features of the robot, what it can do, the process of building it and the programming. They also talk about the team, budget, programming and community outreach.

Community Outreach is what the team has done in the community. For example, we volunteer at robotics events for younger kids, run a summer camp for 2 weeks of the summer, did a collection drive for Mary Queen of Angels, visit business, give presentation at the library and anything else we think of.

An important fact is that none of the kids are expected to do everything.

There is a charge for being on the team depends on the fundraising, number of kids on the team and how many competitions we qualify for. This year we had 5 kids and 2 competitions. The cost was $140 per kid. The funds are collected in installments as the money is spent over the period from August to March. Some years this amount is lower because of grants or donations. We do not sell items as part of fundraising. We meet once a week during the first part of the season then twice a week. One week night and one weekend day. The team is for boys and girls. There are lots of scholarships that are only available to kids who participate in FIRST Robotics at lots of schools and for a variety of degrees.