We build our robot out of very tough, very durable TETRIX parts (left). They are super heavy-duty and lightweight aluminum, and are very easy to work with. We are also allowed to work with nearly every material that is deemed safe by FIRST. The most common non-TETRIX parts you will find on our robot are sheets of plastic commonly called polycarb that are strong yet easy to cut and attach. Another staple of our robot is duct tape.
Here our robot runs a match in our first ever competition! Nobody had been able to practice driving with the arm working before because our second DC motor controller was placed on back order and we did not recieve it in time for the competition, leaving us only able to control either the arm or the robot’s wheels. However, we were able to borrow a spare controller from the Denver Cybots. We quickly wired it in and went over to the practice area in the pits to make sure everything was in working order.
We are constantly troubleshooting the robot by adapting our design and finding things to improve, even at competition. This also includes general maintenance such as checking all the robot’s bolts and screws for tightness. We learned that lesson the hard way after one of our wheels fell off during a match.
Here, the team troubleshoots a software bug. We use National Instruments LabView software to program the bot. More details are available in the Programming page.