The robotics season is upon us once again! FIRST® CRESCENDO is the name of the game this year, in which the robot uses “notes” (Orange Rings) to score and earn points. Our team is starting the season strong with building, programming, and communications all in one location.

One improvement this year is that we now have a dedicated school space—our Whiteford Robotics room! This allows our separate subteams (build, programming, and communications) to work in separate spaces and then come together in our dedicated robotics room.
 

This year presents unique challenges and opportunities for each subteam. Our build team is busy designing and prototyping for this year’s game. We are designing a robot to score notes in the amp or speaker, the game scoring areas. We can collect notes via our intake, which our team is currently designing. At the end of the game, the robot can climb for additional points. Our team is busy brainstorming, designing, and prototyping a climber for our bot.

The programming team is currently focused on perfecting our swerve drive and autonomous systems. We recently acquired a new Limelight vision system, which will allow the robot to better identify game pieces during autonomous mode, in turn allowing for more accurate play. During the human-controlled portion of the match, Limelight allows the robot to lock on to game pieces and goals, which takes some of the pressure off of the driver and automates certain tasks. 

The communications team is responsible for designing spirit wear and communicating with our community and sponsors, working hard behind the scenes to ensure this year’s robotic season runs smoothly. We are all eager to tackle these challenges, both as subteams and cooperatively as Whiteford Robotics.

As competition approaches, we look towards our long-term, overarching goals. As with any year, we want to make it into competition as far as possible. This year, however, we have an especially good chance of qualifying for the state competition. The last time our team made it that far was in 2019, but unfortunately, we could not partake that year. With the support of our superb community and gracious sponsors, we can make this year of robotics a historic one. 

Both of our competitions take place in early March. Our Week 1 competition occurs from March 1st to 3rd (Friday to Sunday). It is the Jackson District Event. Our Week 2 competition occurs March 7th to 9th (Thursday to Saturday) in Belleville. We appreciate the attendance of those who can attend these events, but for those who cannot, First hosts a livestream of the games on Twitch. More information regarding that stream will be publicized by First as the competition approaches. 

It is also not widely known, but we have an Instagram where we post photos from the season https://www.instagram.com/frc6570/?hl=en. We also have our own YouTube channel where you can catch videos of our robot in operation.

Check here regularly to stay up to date on the season, competition, and spirit wear.

• Whiteford Robotics Communication Team
• Written by: Anson Bahls (Student), Jaden Smith (Mentor)