In the next five weeks of our 2023-2024 Pre-Season, we rose to the challenge in planning, preparation, and performance at two back-to-back off-season events. Everything in between included school outreach, deep dives into advanced robotics, and progress of Pre-Season education streamlines.
RECAP
Outreach and Volunteering
Club Fair On October 9th was Bellarmine’s second Club Fair of the school year. Thank you to Charlie K. B’25, Lauren L. B’25, Keirnan M. B’27, Blake B. B'27, and Rowan L. B’27 who ran our booth and got the program’s name out in the Bellarmine community!
Pope St. John XXIII STEM Academy Showcase On October 25th, Outreach Lead Sol S. B’25, General Manager David A. B’25, and Outreach member Marie W. B’26 went to the Pope St. John XXIII STEM Academy to present to elementary school students the opportunities in FIRST® robotics beyond middle school. We are so grateful to help establish a sustainable student base and recruit some summer campers for next year!
Girls Generation Hosted by FIRST® Team 2046 Bear Metal
Girls Gen Head Scout Jameson C. B’25 at Alliance Selection with our alliance partners 2046 Bear Metal and 4512 Otter Chaos.
We had a blast at Tahoma High School on October 21-22 at Girls Generation, an off-season competition that celebrates the advancement of women in STEM, hosted by FRC 2046 Bear Metal. Connecting and competing with fellow PNW teams, our team placed 3rd at the end of qualification matches and were named captain of the 2nd seed alliance. Thanks to all those who supported our team this weekend, and shout-out to our competition leadership:
Drive Team: Julia S. B’24, Lauren L. B’25, Yvonne C. B’25, Anna S. B’26, Arsema R. B’26
Pit Captain: Cole W. B’24
Scouting: Rydar J. B’24, Charlie K. B’25, Jameson C. B’25, Aidan P. B’26
Media: David A. B’25, Claire S. B’25
PNW Block Party Hosted by FIRST® Team 2910 Jack in the Bot
Block Party Head Scout Griffin L. B’24 at Alliance Selection with our alliance partners 2557 SOTAbots and 4513 Circuit Breakers.
PNW Block Party, our second off-season hosted by FRC 2910 Jack in the Bot at Henry M. Jackson High School on October 28-29 was a success. At the end of qualification matches, we placed 5th and were named captain of the 3rd seed alliance. Thanks to all those who supported our team this weekend, and shout-out to our competition leadership:
Drive Team: Charlie K. B’25, Rydar J. B’24, Jameson C. B’25, Lauren L. B’25, Yvonne C. B’25
Pit Captain: Cole W. B’24
Scouting: Julia S. B’24, Sol S. B’25, Santiago Q. B’25, Griffin L. B’24
Media: David A. B’25, Claire S. B’27, Roxy P. B’27, Ruot T. B’25
Jake's Advanced Topics Classes
Mentor Jake Dusek calculating time constraints for optimizing an auto in FIRST® Charged Up.
Between lab session days since October 4, Design/Strategy Mentor Jake Dusek has carried out a comprehensive curriculum of advanced topics in FRC robotics. All attending members have developed a nuanced understanding of robot design, covering the topics every Wednesday listed below:
10/04/2023- Karthik’s strategic design principles
10/11/2023- Identifying simple and strategic advantages in past FRC games
10/18/2023- FRC mechanisms and success cases
11/01/2023- Robot troubleshooting
11/08/2023- Robot specifications for a perfect autonomous
11/15/2023- Master sketches in CAD
SUBTEAM HIGHLIGHTS
Manufacturing
Manufacturing rookie Abraham A. B’27 working on the mill.
Throughout Weeks 5 and 6, Manufacturing was hard at work in preparation for our Off-Season events. Specifically for Girls Gen, after getting members scout trained and performing electrical inventory, Manufacturing Leads Jameson C. B'25 and Charlie K. B'25 instructed returners and rookies in swerve drive module construction and road case preparation. This, in addition to multiple system checks, assisted our performance at Girls Gen and Block Party. Members quickly shifted gear after Week 7 and Block Party, learning crimping, swerve drive assembly, and prototyping processes.
Programming
Emma S. B’26, Isaac O. B’27, and Bryce O. B’27 participating in Mr. Schneider’s Java Class during a lab session.
Programming Leads Julia S. B'24 and Lauren L. B'25 began working on a rewrite of last year’s competition code as a training exercise for rookies–with a focus on the robot’s intake code for Weeks 5 and 6. Also at this time, along with Computer Science Department Head Mr. Schneider, the Java Classes were brought back to teach rookies introductory programming skills. As more became tool trained by Manufacturing, both projects were continued into the prep weeks for Girls Gen and Block Party.
Design
Ethan O. B’27 examining the drive base assembly.
Projects in the CAD Cave were in full swing as Weeks 5 and 6 progressed. Design Lead Rydar J. B’24 had Connor M. B’25, Brad S. B’25, Carter W. B’26, and Ethan O. B’27 design new securing brackets for the road case, drive bases with intakes, and shelving for batteries. When the drive base was fully finished and sent to Manufacturing by Week 7, Design experimented with belly pan assemblies. Post-Block Party, Rydar led discussion between Design members and mentors to define goals for deadline calendars, top-down CAD training, and the full Build Season timeline.
Outreach and Business
Sol S. B’25 and Marie W. B’25 presenting FLL, FRC, and VEX to interested students.
Starting this period with more introductory lessons in Business and sponsor communication, Outreach Lead Sol S. B'25 and Tony G. B’24 prepared slide decks for Sundancer. Post-off-seasons, members continually communicated with prospective supporters Kettering, Haas, Fabworks, Grainger, Tacoma Steel, and Philomathea. Outreach held several discussions about the FIRST® Impact Award and networked for the program at Bellarmine’s Open House. After gathering volunteers for Parent-Teacher Conferences, they began field element construction and role delegation for our December 3 FLL Competition.
Marketing
Mac D. B’24 and David A. B’25 developing graphic elements to use in Instagram birthday posts.
While Marketing Lead Mac D. B'24 made progress on our Save-the-Date and recap posts for our Instagram graphic media during Weeks 5-6, rookies produced a “thank you” video to our sponsor Hermanson, a #TeamREV product review for TikTok, and a celebratory Rev-O-Ween video for our second year working with REV Robotics. Roxy P. B’27, Claire S. B’27, and Ruot T. B’25 worked hard as our photographers and videographers for Girls Gen and Block Party—stay tuned to see the final product of our off-season recap!
Scouting
Griffin L. B’24 running our pre-off-season scout training to get rookies familiar with match data collection.
This subteam led by Griffin L. B'24 started our competition weeks very busy, ensuring each member, rookie or returning, was acclimated with the collection, consolidation, and application of robot match data. They also learned from Scouting Mentor Stephen Shimshock how to join databases and import scouting data from .csv files. Griffin found the use of Scout IDs at competition to be unsuccessful and considered the ID section of ZipGrade as an alternative. Along with the mentors, they discussed more alternatives of Tableau and SQL for data backup during competition, as well as improving the alliance selection process.
General Management
David A. B’25 monitoring progress on the Engineering Notebooks, a documentation system utilized by the leadership team to create resources such as this blog.
General Manager David A. B'25 made measurable progress on all team resources accessed in the team MyBellarmine page, as well as coordinated transportation to both off-season events. During the events, he assisted Marketing with techniques behind video storyboarding and production. Team resources were fully integrated into MyBellarmine by Weeks 7 and 8, in addition to the recently finalized 2023-2024 Team Handbook. In addition to making minor website edits, collaborating with Business on event promotion, and running team meetings, he wrote and published this blog.
FEATURE: MOCK KICKOFF
The most important pivot in the season, Kickoff is a demanding event for new members. To avoid the intensity surrounding the first few days of Build Season, as well as prepare others for strategy discussions, we held an unofficial Mock Kickoff on November 12. As per a normal kickoff strategy session, members broke into groups to dissect the 2016 FIRST® Robotics Competition game, FIRST® Stronghold. At this six-hour session, we analyzed:
The FIRST® Stronghold game manual
Different possible score maxima
All robot capabilities in one match
All alliance capabilities in one match
Different robot capabilities dependent on team resources
Upcoming Events
Tacoma Robotics Alliance Workshop On November 18 will be the annual workshop for TRA teams hosted by 2557 SOTAbots, this time at IDEA High School. We hope to join other local teams in exploring facets of engineering and business through attending robotics sessions. Thank you to Design/Strategy Mentor Jake Dusek and Outreach Lead Sol S. B’25 for running their own sessions as well!
Teched Out Summit from WayOut Kids On December 2, WayOut Kids, a local education organization focused on underserved students, is inviting several PNW FRC teams to run robot demonstrations and take advantage of outreach opportunities. Join us and 2557 SOTAbots at this community summit!
FIRST® LEGO® League Competition On December 3 we are hosting another FLL competition for elementary and middle school students to demonstrate their application of engineering and advance respect for the FIRST® community. If you’re a parent, we invite you to participate as a competition judge, queuer, or check-in volunteer! For more information, contact the volunteer coordinator and our Program Director Joy Taylor.
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