Final build days before Meet 1. Things are coming together quickly. All teams have more ideas for improvements in the future, but there have been some great advancements since Meet 0.

The teams also have picked new names, but they still need to be updated on the First site so we’ll see when they become official.

Team Number: 13229
Was called “CougarCoders”, and now will be “RoboSquirrels“

Team Number: 15041
Was called “RoboGIRLS”, and now will be “We Come in Peace“

Team Number: 13889
Was called “Jordan CougarBots”, and now will be “No Chance“

The teams all learned a lot at Meet 0 and seem a lot more focused on their robots after seeing this years game in action. We met twice this week and there is already a lot of progress on updated chassis and work on constructing linear slides to use for stacking.

We had a large turn out for the final robotics club meeting in preparation to get everything wrapped up in time for the first meet of the season that was going to happen the next day. Everyone worked hard to get functioning robots ready in time. I know there were some big plans for linear slides, arms, mecanum wheels, etc, but that will have to wait for later.

FIRST has instructions on how to make your own robot sizing box here. I had some extra 3/4 inch plywood though so I decided to use that instead. The only thing I bought were two 18″ x 24″ sheets of plexiglass that I cut to make windows for the box. I cut the plywood into 2 pieces that were 18″ x 18″, two pieces that were 19.5″ x 18″, and the top piece at 19.5″ x 19.5″. Then I cut out the windows a little smaller than my plexiglass pieces and used a router to trim insets to place the windows into. In the end I had this:

The next step was using some construction adhesive to glue in the plexiglass windows and mount the handle to the top piece.

Finally, it was time to assemble the pieces. I used some wood glue and 1.25″ brad nails to put it all together. Plus a few screws on the top help support the weight when lifting the box by the handle. Overall I think it turned out pretty well.