The AVengineers
dpgaiero
Entry ID #: 2479
Created: Tue, Jan 12, 2016 11:09 PM
The Amador Valley High School VEX Team is made up of dedicated high school students who are interested in a future in engineering. During our meetings we design, build, and program our own original robot. Each member works on both building and programming, though everyone has a specialization. We want members who can work on many different aspects if needed, and therefore generally be better-rounded. Before building our robot, we create a 3D computer model of our robot using Autodesk Inventor. This model gets adapted many different times before we start building. While the build team is implementing the plan, our programming team writes code for the automated portion of the challenge as well as practices on the new aspects of that year’s game. In VEX, there are two applications for programming in the challenges: The 15 second automated period, where driver control is prohibited, and a driver control period of 105 seconds. The robot itself needs a variety of parts, from pneumatics to omnidirectional wheels. We are also permitted to cut pieces of Lexan or 3D print a small volume of parts. The build team is committed to brainstorming and creating our robot. Since each year’s vehicle is built from scratch, the build team starts with a collaborative brainstorming session. In each session, they discuss the various rules of the competition and the requirements that the robots must have. The base is the first part of the robot to be built. While the base is under construction, brainstorming begins for challenge-specific components. This year’s specific component is a flywheel. The flywheel requires special motors and gear ratios to create the robot. Each year, the competition changes, and subsequently, the robot must change. The programming division is responsible for writing and maintaining our robot’s code. Each year, the programming requirements for the robot change. This division needs to brainstorm, design, and flowchart in order to create a new program each year. Since the challenge changes every year, we need to test each component thoroughly to see how it reacts to the program and build job. While the build team is constructing the robot, the programming division practices using simulation software like Robot Virtual Worlds. This allows us to program a robot and simulate the year’s competition, so that the programming team has the knowledge to program the actual robot. The online challenge division of our team is responsible for the rest of the competitive events related to VEX. Besides the performance of the robot at competition, there are other events that could also qualify our team for World Championships. For example, some of these events include creating and maintaining a website, CAD 3D modeling, taking pictures of our team in action, and reverse engineering an electronic device. Although not directly related to robotics, all of these online challenges are related to different areas in STEM and allow different members of our team to express their interests in these areas.
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The Amador Valley High School VEX Team is made up of dedicated high school students who are interested in a future in engineering. During our meetings we design, build, and program our own original robot. Each member works on both building and programming, though everyone has a specialization. We want members who can work on many different aspects if needed, and therefore generally be better-rounded. Before building our robot, we create a 3D computer model of our robot using Autodesk Inventor. This model gets adapted many different times before we start building. While the build team is implementing the plan, our programming team writes code for the automated portion of the challenge as well as practices on the new aspects of that year’s game. In VEX, there are two applications for programming in the challenges: The 15 second automated period, where driver control is prohibited, and a driver control period of 105 seconds. The robot itself needs a variety of parts, from pneumatics to omnidirectional wheels. We are also permitted to cut pieces of Lexan or 3D print a small volume of parts. The build team is committed to brainstorming and creating our robot. Since each year’s vehicle is built from scratch, the build team starts with a collaborative brainstorming session. In each session, they discuss the various rules of the competition and the requirements that the robots must have. The base is the first part of the robot to be built. While the base is under construction, brainstorming begins for challenge-specific components. This year’s specific component is a flywheel. The flywheel requires special motors and gear ratios to create the robot. Each year, the competition changes, and subsequently, the robot must change. The programming division is responsible for writing and maintaining our robot’s code. Each year, the programming requirements for the robot change. This division needs to brainstorm, design, and flowchart in order to create a new program each year. Since the challenge changes every year, we need to test each component thoroughly to see how it reacts to the program and build job. While the build team is constructing the robot, the programming division practices using simulation software like Robot Virtual Worlds. This allows us to program a robot and simulate the year’s competition, so that the programming team has the knowledge to program the actual robot. The online challenge division of our team is responsible for the rest of the competitive events related to VEX. Besides the performance of the robot at competition, there are other events that could also qualify our team for World Championships. For example, some of these events include creating and maintaining a website, CAD 3D modeling, taking pictures of our team in action, and reverse engineering an electronic device. Although not directly related to robotics, all of these online challenges are related to different areas in STEM and allow different members of our team to express their interests in these areas.
