Robotics

As some of you may know, I am on the school’s robotics team. This year’s game is called FIRST Stronghold. It is medieval themed and the basic premise is that there are two alliance each with a tower. The tower is behind a row of obstacles called the outer works. There are 5 obstacles called defenses that are chosen from 9 options and they range from a low bar you have to fit under to a drawbridge. You can earn points for crossing each of these defenses and after you cross 4 of them twice, you get what is called a breach. The other primary game element is the tower. There are a bunch of dodgeballs on the field and you can earn points by shooting them into the tower. You can shoot in a goal at the base of the tower for 2 points or at the top of the tower for 5 points. At the end of the game, there is the opportunity for robots to climb the tower for additional points.

Our robot is designed to cross most of the defenses. It is also capable of shooting into the high goal and uses vision software for aiming instead of being aimed manually. I really like our robot this year and think it will perform well (knock on wood). We compete for the first time this weekend at a competition that we are hosting at the high school, so we are down to the wire with putting the finishing touches on the robot. I am very excited to finally get to compete and to see how well we do.