Build Week 1:

 

The first Build Week held great opportunities for us. We had assessed our skills in each technical aspect and joined respective teams, under the coordinators. While the construction and the electrical stream was unable to do work until the arrival of the kit on the 9th of Jan, the design and programming teams under Madhav and Arush got straight to work. 

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For the week before we obtained and completed the assessment of the condition of the kit of parts, the programming team busied themselves with learning the different programming languages and types of code best suited for our robot. The design team came to decisions on several mechanisms to use for each of the different tasks our robot had to perform at Sydney, including climbing and throwing. Our team began work, day in and day out, waking up at the crack of dawn and going to bed at the darkest hour, to ensure maximum efficiency in this critical time of the FRC. 

 

Build Week 2:

 

The second Build Week opened the doors to several opportunities for us. Construction began and completed the chassis, electrical teams worked on securing a polycarbonate sheet for the roborio and other electrical components, and the design and programming teams continued their work to set future guidelines. All in all, the completion of the drive base seemed imminent, and the week was an overall success. 

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However, setbacks included the general lack of productivity caused by several upcoming events such as our school annual day and other extra-curricular competitions. Despite this, we leapt at opportunities provided for extra help, including Mr Mitov, a head of staff at NPS, whose expertise in robotics was deemed magical by our team after certain, appreciated events during construction. 

 

 

Build Week 3:

 

The third build week started strong with the polycarbonate sheet being implemented into the constructed chassis, and the electrical components being attached as per our needs. Our robot had begun looking like a true FRC competitor robot! The drive base had been finished! 

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The design team has successfully completed the CAD and integrated the mechanisms into one primary blueprint of the robot. Programming team completed the code for the drive base, and our robot’s base is good to go! 

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We faced several obstacles this week - the annual day, an annual school event in which all students participate in a mega-play, was scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday evening (the sheer population of the school required 2 different timings for the same show, with different students each show). Daily practice for hours on end at the Republic Polytechnic in Woodlands caused several difficulties in arriving at school on time. The other major issue was the upcoming Chinese New Year Weekend, during which the school, our build venue, would be closed for four days in a row. This would prevent work directly with the robot since it is housed in our school’s innovation lab. Despite this, we made time to compensate partially for the loss of time and made use of this in the most efficient way. 

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Build Week 4:

 

Upon our return to school following the long weekend, we got down to work. The programming team had finished the entire code sequence for the drive base - we just had to connect it and get the robot up and running! Construction team began work on the grey tote, measuring the lengths to be cut for the scissor lift mechanism, and completed ordering all remaining parts required internationally. With the design completed, it wouldn’t be long before construction began to mould the robot that would take us Beyond the Flames. 

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On the third day of the week, the ripsaw arrived - we were able to efficiently cut the grey tote into a clean, perfectly-measured compartment for the storing of power cells for the first task of FRC (storing and depositing balls into set targets). With Mr Mitov’s invaluable help, and a call from an Indian mentor, we were continuing through. 

On the fourth day, programming work continued as usual, like a well-oiled machine. Construction work began the modifications to the aluminium stock that would be vital to the support system of our robot. We faced a setback, however - the grey tote had been cut incorrectly, and we needed to change the design to accommodate this unforeseen issue. 

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The Fourth Build Week ended with a group meeting involving all students as well as their parents, with Principal Kris Bhatt. It gave an update on our progress over the past month, a unanimous decision to increase speed and efficiency in construction and programming, and an overall summing up of all our tasks and duties at hand. It also covered some of the logistical aspects of our trip to Sydney. 

 

Build Week 5:

 

The fifth build week began quite haywire - in a desperate attempt to improve efficiency, and promote STEM and boost outreach, an article detailing our team had been written for the newspaper ‘Tabla’, and was yet to be submitted. Over the next few days, it was worked on and completed. Other developments on the first day included the measuring and cutting of polycarbonate sheets to fit the grey tote, further research and programming, and the purchase of more advanced saws to help with the aforementioned tasks. 

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The second day consisted of continuation in construction work, as well as programming. New parts were obtained from Teck Cheong and other hardware stores, and our principal even came to help us with drilling the aluminium stock for the mechanism skeleton. 

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The next two days consisted of continuous drilling, measuring, and cutting of aluminium stock to ready it for its purpose in the scissor lift mechanism. The labour done by programming has shown its fruits - the code is correct, and the robot is close to a stage of motion! We have also updated our social media pages and website to increase our publicity and further influence robotics in our followers, bringing us closer to our ultimate aims.

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Build Week 6: 

 

Following the EV3 Workshop over the weekend, our hopes high following the success of our robot moving, we began further construction work on the mechanisms. With the drive base finally complete, our robot ready to develop, and our roles in Sydney close to being decided, the first day of this build week opened a door to plenty of opportunities in the near future. The first day also held our driver’s test - Aadit and Prashant’s scores tied first (21.56 secs). The other results have been published and put up on a separate sheet. 

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The second day included further construction, including the completion of the grey tote, and the filing of aluminium stock and rods for the scissors lift. As that work went on, the guidance of Mr. TG, our mentor, allowed us to make further decisions on the roles at Sydney. 

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The third day involved heavy construction, with the drills perpetually on to file the rods and drill holes in the aluminium. Electrical components for the mechanisms began being put into place, while the programming team debugged their code to allow for smoother running of the drive base. In the evening, a vacuum cleaner was also purchased to make the job of clearing up the particulate waste easier. 

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The fourth day continued the filing of the rods, the construction of scissors lift mechanisms, and programming developments. With several minor burns and thumb injuries already occurred, the team decided it best to purchase some protective gear including durable gloves and sandpaper. 

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By the end of the fifth day of the highly productive week, everything started falling into place. The scissors lift construction was close to completion, the grey tote compartment had been completed and was awaiting attachment, and the general drive base was being adapted to accommodate these new implementations. 

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The last day of the week was critical - it was now that we set our priorities for the final week before our final exams began. Not only did we complete the scissors lift mechanism’s construction, we made great progress on the programming for our robot’s autonomous period and depositing mechanism. We also worked on the technical maintenance of the robot and formulated plans for future outreach events, a vital aspect of a rookie team’s well-roundedness. By the end of this laborious week, we had completed nearly the same amount of work as we had in the previous 5 weeks, partly due to an increase in working hours from 2 to 4 after school per day, but mostly due to a skyrocket in efficiency. 

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Build Week 7:

 

Our team was running out of time - we had just two weeks to complete our robot, of which significant portions of our time would be taken up by the upcoming exams. Yet, our hopes hadn’t dwindled. There was work, indeed, but nothing our team couldn’t handle if we worked hard for the next week! The first day involved our obtaining of the plywood required to make the bumper of the robot, some drilling work, programming of the autonomous period, and a large proportion of scouting and reaching out to other teams coming for the regionals, in an attempt to stem our relations. 

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We have a target - and we are trying our best to reach it. The construction on the scissors lift remains tireless, the debugging and fixing of several aspects of existing code continues, as more code is researched for the autonomous period and other mechanisms. The grey tote is being refined, and with the new shipment of motor and screws, work should continue more smoothly henceforth. 

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Work was to go fast on the third day of the week. The drawer slides and grey tote were close to completion - it would not take more than a day to complete them. The scissors lift mechanisms were worked tirelessly upon, the programming team continued work to an extent, and the greatest development was the completion of the bumper - a regulated wooden front to the hard metal to prevent serious damage to our robot or others’ robots from taking place. Not only this, but three members of our team went to financial corporations in an attempt to raise funds and awareness about STEM. 

 

A second meeting of the week, this time with representatives of OCBC, occurred on the fourth day. Work was accelerated - the bumper’s construction, the completion of the scissors lift, significant progress on the drive base in terms of both electrical and program aspects, and above all, our hopes were high, for despite our exams looming just a week ahead, our trip to Sydney and completion of robot were near. 

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The last working days for construction - everything was complete by the end of them. The drawer slides, grey tote, scissors lift, all attached and secured. 8 hours of pure, raw work had completed our goals. Sparse breaks for football and quick snacks. Now all that was left was the programming of the robot before test runs began.