by Megan Strecker, member of Hollis-Brookline High School FIRST®? Robotics Competition Team 1073, The Force Team

In light of the 2019 FIRST®? Competition Season, The Force Team has been persistently preparing for their first two competitions. Through strategy, prototyping and building, every member has been passionately striving to accomplish their goal of attending the 2019 FIRST®? Championship in Detroit.

Initially, when the game was released on January 5th, The Force Team brainstormed potential winning strategies. Through mock games, they selected the most effective plans. The prototyping phase fine-tuned these strategies to ensure their plausibility. Through CAD, a 3D modeling software, digital drafts of the robot were completed.

Recently, the team has started to build the robot. This year, The Force Team is not only utilizing LiDAR and Vision, advanced software applications, but also PID. This robot feature keeps it stationary even when another force is acting upon the robot.

Although the team is busy building the robot, they have been working on other projects, too. During competitions, team members analyze other teams’ performances, a procedure known as Scouting. For efficient Scouting, The Force Team created an application that simplifies the process. The team also greatly values safety by offering CPR/AED/FA training, and ensuring that every member gets a 100% on a safety quiz. No member can attend competitions without knowing all of the content. Another crucial task includes selecting the operators of the robot. Through a rigorous process, the chosen drive team will begin to practice maneuvering the robot.

Additionally, The Force Team would like to highlight the achievements of FIRST®? Tech Challenge Teams 10660 HBMS Knights and 11115 Gluten Free at the New Hampshire FIRST®? Tech Challenge State Championship. The HBMS Knights, a team that The Force Team proudly mentors, earned the Motivate award. Team Gluten Free earned the Control award and even broke the world record high score in a FIRST®? Tech Challenge event! The Force Team is immensely proud of the other FIRST®? teams in their community.

Please support The Force Team at their upcoming competitions. From March 15th to the 17th, they will be competing in the North Shore District event in Reading, Massachusetts. Two weeks later, the team will participate in the UNH District event taking place from March 29th to the 31st.

More info: frc1073.org

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