Blog Posts

Build season for our team ended with Stop Build Day yesterday! The team gathered at the workshop for a special extended workshop session, where we made some final touches to the robot and celebrated the end of the build season with cake (Thanks Mrs. Nagg!). Team members and mentors voted on a name for our robot (“Beatrice”) and had a chance to sign their names on the robot before bagging and tagging it until our competition in March.

We are proud to present to you our 2017 robot, Beatrice:

Build Season has officially begun! Today, our team met up for the annual FIRST® Robotics Competition Kickoff, where teams from all over the world watch the reveal of the year’s game challenge. A select few of our members attended the local kickoff event at the A.W. Beattie Career Center in Allison Park, PA to watch the stream and pick up the team’s Kit of Parts, while the majority of the team opted to meet at the high school for viewing and discussion.

After the game reveal stream ended, the members from the event returned to the high school, allowing team discussion and planning to begin. Team members collaborated to determine what the team’s robot was going to focus on this year, and create preliminary designs based on the plan. Discussion lasted well into the afternoon, with the team eventually coming to a consensus that this year’s robot should focus on collecting gears to deliver to the center ‘airship’ (attached is an explanation of this year’s game).

Overall, kickoff was a large success this year, with the team being able to draw up a preliminary plan for this year’s robot and begin drawing up possible designs. The team members had a blast, with team members socializing with each other and the team mentors, and the event-attending members being able to network with other teams at the regional kickoff. We look forward to build season and the Greater Pittsburgh Regional this March!

Today, our team conducted our annual workshop safety training night at 7 PM at the FRobotics Workshop. This workshop training is required annually for all members in order to participate in the team’s workshop nights during the build season. We had a large turnout, with a majority of the team’s members and mentors in attendance to learn about the tools in the workshop, how to operate them, and workshop safety techniques. Experienced team members and mentors hosted individual stations, where they demonstrated their respective tool, how to operate it safely, and explained what it is used for. Stations included the soldering iron, the hacksaw, the drill press, and the sanding machine, among others. Overall, it was a very successful night, with team members getting the opportunity to get the workshop training they need and a chance to get to know and socialize with fellow team members and mentors afterward. The team is eagerly anticipating the start of the build season in two months!

FRC and FRobotics

• FIRST Robotics Team 4150 “FRobotics” is Franklin Regional Senior High’s very own FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) team. FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting STEM through its four K-12 robotics competitions – FIRST Lego League Jr. (FLL Jr.), FIRST Lego League (FLL), FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), and the one our team participates in, the FIRST Robotics Competition, or FRC.
• The students on our team learn invaluable skills by participating in FRC.
• FRC is a real world high school robotics competition where students are given an objective to build a functioning robot that must meet specific requirements while being able to accomplish multiple tasks.  We are totally responsible to develop and manage a budget, design and build a robot, while gaining invaluable analytical and leadership skills related to engineering, software development, and business.
• For further information on FIRST® and FRC®, check out the FRC Penultimate Manual here.
• FRobotics is open to anyone and everyone in FRHS. No matter what you can or cannot do, you are a valuable member of the team.

Organization and Communication

• Our team is divided into subteams, each of which do different tasks. Each subteam is essential to the functioning of FRobotics as a whole.
  • Team Support and Communications – Manages the team’s communications, public relations, branding, and administration.
    • Communication
    • Outreach
    • Relations
    • Team Development
    • Technology
    • Awards and Media/Branding
  • Robot Build and Design – Actually designs and builds the robot.
    • Build
    • Wiring
    • Programming
    • CAD
    • Safety
    • Strategy and Scouting
  • Sponsors and Finance – Gets money for us to build the robot and run the team.
    • Fundraising
    • Marketing
    • Finance

Expectations of Team Members

• We expect that all team members are active within the team and helping out to the best of their ability.
• We expect you to participate on the team – You signed up for it and agreed to make the time commitment.
• We will be holding fundraising and outreach events – you will be expected to attend most if you can.
• You will also be expected to attend at least 60% of all team meetings and/or team training sessions.
• You must be an active member (attend meetings, workshop, training and contribute) to be allowed to attend competition.
• However, we still believe in having fun while doing all of this!

Communication

• We operate a Google Group for email purposes.
  • To join, send a blank email to frobotics+subscribe@googlegroups.com
  • You need to check this often!
  • If you are a parent or a mentor, join the froboticsparents and froboticsmentors Google Groups!
• We also have a Slack for other communication.
  • To join, go to bit.ly/4150slack (If it is not working, contact Michael Cao)
  • We send daily updates and communicate with each other using this. Check it often!
• You need to fill out the Member Application.
  • Yes, even old members.
  • To fill it out, visit bit.ly/frobotics
  • This is so we have your contact information and a little more information.
• Our team blog: team4150.wordpress.com
  • Check this for team updates!
  • Our team calendar is there, too.
• Twitter/Facebook
  • Go follow them! We post about outreach and fundraising there.
  • facebook.com/team4150 and twitter.com/team4150

Team Events and Outreach

• Our team does a lot of fundraising events and outreach throughout the year.
• Events that we have demoed at or participated in:
  • The Mahoning Valley Robotics Competition
    • This is an offseason robotics competition we participated in this year.
  • Franklin Regional Relay For Life
    • We usually have a team here and lead the first lap of the Relay.
  • Science Nights
    • We usually do a demo at the Science Nights.
  • Maker Faire: Pittsburgh
  • Boyce Park Movie Night
  • Paintball
    • This is more of a social event than anything else.
  • Bonfire
    • We usually have a booth at the bonfire to raise some money.
  • Corn Maze
    • This is also a team social event.
  • Library Computer Take Apart @ Murrysville Library
    • This is an example of community outreach.
  • Library Demos
    • This is also community outreach and spreading the word about FRobotics.
• FIRST Lego League Mentors
  • We help mentor a FIRST Lego League team.

2016-2017 FRobotics Season

• Kickoff
• Build Season
• Bag and Tag
• Competition
• Off Season

Today the FRobotics team went to Sloan Elementary for their Science Night. We did a demo for the kids and let them shoot. Thank you to everyone to attended, we did a great job!

Today a few of our FRobotics Team 4150 (FRC) members joined FIRST teams Droids Robotics (FLL) and Giant Diencephalic Brain STEM Robotics Team 8393 (FTC) at an outreach event in Fox Chapel, PA. We showed off our robots to approximately 100 kids and adults. Thank you Droid Robotics for including us in this great event!