Build Season 2025
In REEFSCAPESM presented by Haas, FIRST® Robotics Competition teams will use their engineering skills to strengthen one of the ocean’s most diverse habitats. Watch the game animation to see how you can make waves.
Week 1
With the start of the 2025 FIRST game “REEFSCAPE”, MARS/WARS students are excited this year to dive deep in this competition. The deep ideas the team had after the kick-off were brilliant. With the success of last year, parents are here to help again to build the field. This gives more time to plan strategy & designs for the robot. This year the team was able to acquire competition grade trusses for the recreation of the game field. The construction with the trusses will bring more accuracy to our field. Our new field system will allow us to accurately record the start of matches and game scores. Control systems have switched to a new program path planner named Choreo. Modeling has started with the alpha bot and the master sketch is close to being done. Modeling divided their team into four different subteams, each of these subteams are assigned to a certain part of the robot. Our Junior Variety team has completed the base of the kit bot and are working on the top frame. The Junior Variety team decided to name their robot “Nemo”. Business Services have been laying out dates for the season and just started the super bowl squares.
Week 2
The team has finished the frame and started to construct the elevator parts. One of our sponsors made Reefs for us and two other local teams. The prototype coral placing mechanism is as been modeled, 3D printed and is assembled. The modeling for the alpha bot is finalized and parts have started to be manufactured. Programming has started to tinker with the their new auto planning software and they have begun the development of the software subsystems.
Our JV team has finished the kit bot and will soon start to iterate to add to the design of the kit bot. Using the kit bot, our JV team performed time trials this Saturday, while the performance was exciting, it shows that improvement is needed. They are also starting to look into auto plans for their robot.
Business Services has been working on updating and adding to the website (check out the Mentor page) and they have started working on the layout for Trivia. The field is being marked to ensure accurate dimensions and locations for field elements. Students are going to be eagerly studying the game manual for the written drive team test that will take place next week.
Week 3
The team has assembled the Coral Reef gifted to us by one of our sponsors. It stands tall in the field bringing morale to the team. Programming has been working on adding automation to the robot’s functionalities. They have also been working on computer vision updates for the robots. Modeling has been working on the rotator on the robot’s pivot as well as figuring out the wiring attachments. The group also has been working on adjusting the clearance for the bot. The drive team test officially took place today with many students eagerly taking it.
The JV team’s name had been decided based on a teamwide vote. MARS’ Minions won as the new name for the team. The team had been working on building up their gearboxes.
Business Services has been working on the website. Our fundraising efforts are in full swing with our Super Bowl squares. They have been gathering more volunteer opportunities for the team and working on our upcoming trivia night. The whole team will be submitting their fun shirt designs to be voted on by mentors and fellow members.
Week 4
The team has started to modify and iterate the new coral/algae shooter made on Thursday. The JV group continues to work on the kitbot, making modifications and improvements to increase its ability. They are even working to add an algae scoring mechanism.
The Design team is planning to add the climber to the competition bot soon. They have started to wire the new batteries and began testing them for quality. Modeling is updating existing designs to attempt to reduce weight and add space for new mechanisms. Programming was busy tuning closed loop control for the mechanism to allow for fast automated scoring. The test robot had its demo on Saturday and it was an exciting first showing.
Business Services presented the fun shirt designs for the team to vote on. Our Trivia Night (April 12th) is quickly approaching and the planning for this event is keeping them busy. The next big event for Business Services is our Open House on March 8th.
Week 5
The team has started to make Bering blocks for the competition bot along with shafts and poly pieces. The final touches on the model of the competition bot are in the works. Software Systems has been doing general cleanup of the robot code. Two projects they are working on is the game state and the algae pickup code.
MARS’ Minions are planning to have a tournament to see how the bots stack up against each other. Some additional projects they are working on are an algae stick, side panels for their bot, and repairing the encoders. The repair work on the encoders will help during the autonomous phase of the game. Business Services is finalizing the Super Bowl Squares for tomorrow's Super Bowl. The Reveal Video is currently in the development stages.
Week 6
The varsity team has wrapped up the major designs for Alpha bot and has begun working on the Beta bot. Mechanical is working on the assembling the swerve drives and elevator. Programming continues to fine tune closed loop control for the implements. They also have successfully implemented auto alignment for scoring on the reef. Modeling continues to iterate on the the robot subsystem designs with the climber being the main focus (currently 3 major revisions in).
JV has been working on fixing a camera and putting panels on the sides of the JV bot to protect from rogue game pieces. They have also began design and prototyping of a algae removal stick to help alliance partners clear the reef for coral.
Business Services is showing their creative side with hand made Valentines that they plan to deliver to the Snyder Village residents at a luncheon on Monday. Other projects they are working on is a social media project, open house presentations, and finalizing trivia work. Make sure to be on the lookout for Trivia Night!
Week 7
Saturday morning started with the driving portion of the drivers test...and we are happy to announce the 4143 Drive Team - Eli Reutter (Driver), Aiden Tauke (Operator), Jax Bequette (Human Player) and Nathan Evans (Technician) and the 4423 Drive Team - Ben Shoff (Driver), Elijah Gerkin (Operator), Jacob Haley (Human Player), Amelia Reutter (Human Player) and Brennan Tabor (Technician)
As the team concludes it's final "official" week of build season before competitions start they are starting to see both robots coming together. Luckily they still have a few weeks to do some tweaking before the first competition. Mechanical has been working on bumper brackets, making modifications to the field and machining new parts for the 4143 and 4423 bots. Electrical has been wiring the 4143 bot’s elevator and swerve drives. Modeling has been designing the servo so it will lock the climber in place and prototyping a new coral intake for the competition bot.
JV has been designing and machining a support bar for the JV climber and working out a space claim to allow all systems to fit on the bot.
With both the 4143 and 4423 bots mostly completed, programming has been working on vision, autos and other forms of scoring automation. In addition they have been developing the scouting app, using new software to make it easier to design the app.
Business Services has been preparing for the open house and trivia night. We hope to see you at both. This weekend they were able to distribute this year's team shirts and spirit wear.
