Team Structure

Welcome back readers!

I realized that in my most recent post I described the various positions members held in the group, but I haven't really explained what they do or what the team structure of the group is. That will all be explained in today's post!

The head of our club is the President, who is Stuart McCrorie. His job is to supervise all of our operations during the season. All the other Leads report to him throughout the build process. Our Vice President, George He, is his right hand man and aids with a lot of the planing that goes on. The next slightly lower level in our team are the Leads. The Leads are a group of students in charge of different fields of the build process. They collaborate with each other to make sure everything will work together smoothly when we put the different components of the robot together.

First, we have our Mechanical Lead. Charlie Depew, our Mechanical Lead who has had two years of FRC experience, is in charge of the Mechanical Group. His responsibility is to make sure everything mechanical gets done correctly. He will be assisting and guiding the students of the Mechanical Group in the actual construction of the robot.

Second, we have the Electrical Lead. Vasu Maheshwari, this years Electrical Lead, will be in charge of the Electrical Group. Their task is to get the motors all wired correctly, have all the fuses in working order, and make sure all the electrical systems are a go. Vasu will be there to make sure all of those tasks are getting done.

Our Software Lead will have the next important task. Jaidev Bapat, our Software Lead, is obviously in charge of the Software Group. He will make sure we will have code or a program for our robot to function properly. We also hope to have an autonomous mode set for the matches.

Next is our Quality/Safety Lead, Annam Quraishi, who has a fairly simple and straightforward task that is fairly important. She will enforce the safety rules we have in place at our build area and this will be extremely important to have in the pit area at a regional competition. Her job as this lead also includes making sure our robot has been made well.

Then you have me, Hailey Sanidad, the PR/Business Lead. My job is fairly general and covers a variety of tasks. Spirit, website, blog, sponsoring, and things like that. The only real difference about my position in comparison to Mechanical, Electrical, Software and Quality/Safety is that those groups only really apply to the build season while PR/Business is year round.

There are students in the different groups I have named above, except for Quality/Safety because that task is general enough for everyone to be a part of and we only need one main person to maintain it. If you have ever heard of anything robotics or FRC related, you're probably wondering "where are the mentors in this pyramid scheme?". Well my dear reader, let me tell you. The mentors this year are in a weird middle ground. They are here to help and give suggestions, but it is the students have the final say. It may need to be discussed with the Lead of the particular group or with the President before a decision is reached.

Finally, we have our master mind. She is the main mentor and in a way the head of this whole operation. Our President Stuart is pretty high up there, but Sohini Stone is standing right next to him in this team structure. We owe a lot to her for all the planning she has put into the team this year, especially since she has also helped put this team structure in place.

I think covered everyone for the team structure and what roles are being played. If you have any questions, please email me or comment and I will answer to the best of my abilities!

Sincerely,
Hailey Sanidad
PR/Business Lead

Specialized Learning

Good evening readers!

Tonight's meeting was more specific in the various fields we would be breaking off into for the build season. Twenty two of our thirty two members came to this very important meeting. Lenore and Windell, two helpful parents who manage their own workshop, gave a presentation to us about the various materials we will be encountering during the season. Afterwards, we split off into the three main groups that will be focusing on different aspects of the robot. Sean (also known as Mr. Stone and who is our main Mechanical Mentor) and Charlie Depew (our Mechanical Lead) took the members interested in the construction of the robot. Mr. Dobervich (our main Software Mentor), Jaidev Bapat (our Software Lead), and Vasu Maheshwari (our Electrical Lead) took charge of leading the students interested in the programming and wiring of the robot. Everyone worked really well with each other and I look forward to kick-off. I just have 22 days 8 hours 5 minutes and 32 seconds left to go!

Sincerely,
Hailey Sanidad
PR/Buisness Lead

Windell (on the left) and Lenore (on the right) present the different  uses of various materials.

Our team remained respectful and listened to them speak.

Luckily for us, they had brought physical examples of the various materials we  would be encountering later in the season.

Each material was very intriguing.

This is the specialized bit that the member in the above picture is examining. 

We were sure to pass along the various examples being given to us.

We remained on task, whether it be looking at the materials or listening to the presentation.

The team migrated to the build area for a quick review from Mr. Depew. From there, we separated into Mechanical and Electrical/Software.

Many students were interested in the Electrical and Software aspect of  the robot.

Vasu Maheshwari aided in the presentation for the Electrical and Software group by relying on his knowledge from last years game/ 

A group picture of the members interested in the mechanical aspect of  the team.

Updating Blogs

Salutations!

I have tried to keep this blog up to date with everything that has been happening with my team. I am glad to say we will be having another meeting this Thursday, December 13th. There is not much to report other than what I have been working on individually. I have no knack for website or blog design, but I kept wondering to myself if there was anything I could do to improve the blog. I thought it would be cool to add a countdown under the title, slowly letting the days slip away until the start of Kickoff. It would also be cool to have one counting to the end of Build Season and then to our Regional Competitions. Unfortunately, I had no idea how I was going to bring my idea to fruition. I searched under the pre-made gadgets yet Blogger did not supply the countdown I was searching for. The websites I found did not aid me, most were only able to supply me with code for a website. I had not idea how to use that so I did the next best thing I could think of. I managed to find a website that would allow me to design a countdown that fit my needs. I then linked it to the blog. I know it isn't as cool having the numbers directly under the heading saying "25 days 13 hours 33 minutes and 33 seconds" until January 5th, but I must say I am happier knowing I have it linked to the blog. I have also linked our actual team website right next to the countdown. Even though these additions are minor, I'm glad to have improved the blog little by little. Here's to new ideas and for more of them in the future!

Sincerely,
Hailey Sanidad
PR/Buisness Lead

Build Area

Our team got a new build space for the upcoming season! It was really good news to hear we would have a larger place to work, but there was a sad bit of news that came with it. All of our belongings (the tables, tools, parts and robot) were going to have to be moved. Today was the appointed day of transition and it was very successful. Ten of our thirty two members came under the supervision of Mr. Dobervich to move everything. Some could not stay for the full four hours, but they did arrive and help at some point during the designated time of 1pm to 5pm. New and old members worked well to move the supplies in an organized fashion. I am really looking forward to the next season, especially when our work area is both larger and better organized. I would especially like to thank Sitar Harel, Stuart McCrorie, Logan Howard, William Billy Nadzam, Rishab Redia, Rajat Walie, Amy Pham, Chris Brookfield and Charlie Depew for helping today!

Sincerely,

Hailey Sanidad

PR/Business Lead



All of our tools, whiteboards, tables, spare parts and robot in our old build area.

This is the new area we were permitted to use and it is much larger than the previous one.

Thus the transport of our materials began, everything had to be moved.

Our members worked together to move the larger supplies over.

Teamwork was especially important when transporting all the large and heavy power tools

Many parts and materials were put in boxes for easy labeling and transport.

Our president started an inventory list and guided where things should be placed to maintain organization.

But not everything was put on shelves, we also gave back a little bit of life to our build area.

We continued to maintain order as we moved over everything. Especially our scrap metal storage system has greatly improved.

We got a lot of work done and got a well deserved break. Here, two members goof off responsibly with a much needed Noodle Fight.

It appears we have a winner.

Unfortunately, people arrived and left at various times so  this group photo is rather incomplete. My thanks goes out to all of them for helping today and making the build area ready for the new season!

Our shelves with various labeled boxes and separated into two distinctive sides. The left being Mechanical and the right being Electrical, a new system of organization that should be very successful this year.

We do have some miscellaneous things we have to sort through, but this can easily be dealt with.

This is the after photo of what we had started out with in the beginning. We moved everything!

PHOTOS!!!!

 

Here is a group picture of our team in it's first year in 2011 with all the original members.

Our team and mentors gathered in the pit area at the Silicon Valley Regional in San Jose. The game year was Rebound Rumble, 2012.

 

Once the pit work was complete, our human player, driver and coach prepared for our turn in the rink.

 

A few last minute adjustments before our match began.

 

Our robot is the one on the far left, proudly numbered 3501.

 

A couple of our Robotics members relaxing in the time between our matches.

Our second year in at the San Jose Regional Competition for the 2012 FRC game.

Before we packed up for the Madera Regional, we reconstructed part of our robot in the pit area.

 

At Madera, we continued work on our robot before we go into competition.

 

Our main mentor discussing a problem during some free time before the matches began.

We worked hard in the qualifying matches, and were later asked to join an alliance with team 973 and team 1662.

 

Our alliance aided in improving our robot for the remaining matches.

 

Our alliance made it decently far in the semifinal matches and managed to triple balance multiple times.

 

After the end of the regional, our team had accomplished so much. Proud of you guys!

 

Electrical and Mechanical Meeting

Today was another glorious day for preseason festivities!

Our team meeting focused on the two main groups or factions our members would break into when the actual build season starts. Mr. McCrorie went over a majority of the basics in the Electrical department while Mr. Stone explained the Mechanical aspect. I found that this evening's meeting to be one the more important and helpful that we have had so far in  the preseason. I say that because the basic knowledge of the two groups will be invaluable during build season. This was also a great learning experience for our new members who have never participated in anything similar to Robotics. I too learned a lot from the presentation today. I had only participated in the Mechanical last year and I was glad to be able to learn more about both fields before we go into the next build. I also have some pictures I took during the night so please enjoy and continue reading our wonderful blog!

Sincerely,
Hailey Sanidad
PR/Business Lead

Mr. McCrorie giving us a visual demonstration of how the battery impacts the rest of the robots and the systems involved in the Electrical focus of the meeting.

Mr. Stone goes over the Pros & Cons of basic structural designs for a robot in his Mechanical Overview presentation.

Many of our members gather around as our Club President, Stuart McCrorie, shares a video demonstrating the use of Mecanum from Mr. Stone's presentation.

Group photo of the members of the Robotics club who had attended the meeting, including student members and all present mentors. I look forward to more fun meetings in the near future!

First Post :)

Hello all readers!

I am pleased to say this is the first official post on my school's Robotics Team Blog!

Team 3501, Fremont Firebirds, is a fairly new team to the whole FIRST program. This is going to be our third year involved and we're already headed off to a great start. The build season doesn't start until January 5, 2013 but my team is still meeting in preperation for that. Like today for instance, all the leads of the Mechanical, Electrical, Software, PR/Business and President met for planning the season. Because of that meeting this blog was born! I shall be uploading photos from our previous two seasons and keep updates as we continue on from here. I hope you my dear reader shall subscribe and watch as our season progresses!

Sincerely,
Hailey Sanidad
PR/Business Lead