Scoopie's Journey
Over the past season, Team 4717 has undertaken an inspiring journey making it to the World Championships in Houston. We started our journey before the game was released, with our recruitment camps in the summer, which are essential to our sustainability plan and our business plan. We worked on developing our skills by mentoring newer team members in areas such as CAD and Java.
Once the game was released, our team worked diligently on our priority: our robot. Throughout the season, our robot, Scoopie, has evolved in many ways. The most consistent component of our robot we have built is the drive train, which we decided upon making a tricycle drive. Although we have made some minor changes to it, our extremely unique drivetrain design remained reliable throughout all the stages of our competition. In addition to our innovative drivetrain, we also went through building various versions of our arm and intake system.
Despite testing a mecanum drive at the beginning of the season, we discovered our tricycle drive would be more robust, providing more benefits while making smooth turns.
At the beginning of our journey, our intake was a vertical grabber which clamped down on freight. However, we considered this inefficient in terms of time. To simplify and accelerate freight pick-up, we substituted our clamp for a spinner using rubber flaps. This had some flaws when it came to picking up the spherical cargo. To fix this, we designed a pivoting sweeper intake that could adjust for the size of the freight.
At the beginning of our journey, our intake was a vertical grabber which clamped down on freight. However, we considered this inefficient in terms of time. To simplify and accelerate freight pick-up, we substituted our clamp for a spinner using rubber flaps. This had some flaws when it came to picking up the spherical cargo. To fix this, we designed a pivoting sweeper intake that could adjust for the size of the freight.
Throughout the season, we added a variety of sensors to improve accuracy and consistency while driving and during the autonomous (pre-programmed) period. To prepare for the first meet, we made a variety of programs to work with different teams. As well as improving autonomous throughout the season, we included automation during the driver-operated period to help the driver.
To reach out to the community, the team mentors seven FIRST Lego League teams. With one Discover team, three Explore teams, and three Challenge teams, team 4717 was able to create an inclusive environment for STEM. Along with our FLL teams, we were able to demo our robot to a group of Cub Scouts and lead some fun STEM-related activities. Team 4717, along with our sister team 4227 and our FLL teams, debuted their robots at Otronicon. We were invited to present at the University of Central Florida’s STEM Day, including team 4227, to share our robot with the community.
To reach out to the community, the team mentors seven FIRST Lego League teams. With one Discover team, three Explore teams, and three Challenge teams, team 4717 was able to create an inclusive environment for STEM. Along with our FLL teams, we were able to demo our robot to a group of Cub Scouts and lead some fun STEM-related activities. Team 4717, along with our sister team 4227 and our FLL teams, debuted their robots at Otronicon. We were invited to present at the University of Central Florida’s STEM Day, including team 4227, to share our robot with the community.
Throughout the year, we connected with a variety of professionals in fields such as game design, aerospace, roller coaster design, and education to help us explore different careers and gain insight on further improving our robot. To better ourselves as mentors for our FLL teams, we met with an Early Childhood Education teacher. She taught us how to keep the students engaged and motivate them to learn about STEM. We also met with the mayor of Oviedo, Mayor Megan Sladek, and showed her our team spirit, our robot, and explained this season’s game.
As we prepare for our next journey, we sustain our program by bringing in new members with summer camps, as well as a recruitment camp for incoming members.
As we prepare for our next journey, we sustain our program by bringing in new members with summer camps, as well as a recruitment camp for incoming members.