Robotics team prepares for FRC Competition

Senior Rod Jafari works with some odd equipment in robotics.

For members of the MSET robotics team, Jan. 7 is a date marked on their calendars.
On that day, all of the teams in the area will learn what type of robot they need to build in order to complete the given task. The FIRST Organization (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) allows for teams to complete their robot in six weeks.

As a tradition, FIRST announces a hint one month before the kick-off date. This year, the clue reads, “The GDC is mulling over this right now.”
“A mentor has theorized that this year’s game may involve Microsoft’s kinect technology, but who knows,” MSET president Michael Zuccarino said.
MSET plans to attend the Silicon Valley Regional (SVR) which will be held at San Jose State University, and the Central Valley Regional which will be in Madera.
Another plan for the team is to attend to the St.Louis National Competition, which they are currently wait-listed for.
Usually, a team that wins at least one regional is automatically permitted to take part in the national competition, but teams are also allowed to pay an extra entrance fee if they would like to attend without the prerequisite of winning one regional.
After taking part in the CalGames event at Archbishop Mitty this fall, the team is getting to know one another, training, gathering funds and planning their six-week building season.
As the FIRST Robotics Competition nears, MSET (Saratoga Robotics Team) continues to train its new members and gather funds from sponsors.
“Workshops, safety training and engineering challenges help get the new members used to working in a team and applying their ideas. We are currently scheduling pneumatics workshops with one of our oldest sponsors, FESTO,” Robotics Club president Michael Zuccarino said.
The FIRST Organization always releases a clue one month before the kick off date. The clue was recently released and kick off starts on Jan. 7
“A mentor has theorized that this year’s game may involve Microsoft’s kinect technology, but who knows,” Zuccarino said.
FRC will announce what the game play will be like on Jan. 7. Kits and parts will be sent out on the same day, in which teams will immediately start planning and proposing different ideas.
“We receive all the materials we need to play the game. From there we take the materials and prompt back to the room and begin the brainstorming, construction and completion of the robot which by the way it isn’t that hard to understand the components,” Zuccarino said.
As of now, the team plans to take part in two Regional Competitions: the Silicon Valley Regional and Central Valley Regional. This year the Silicon Valley Regional will be held at San Jose State University and will span two days. According to MSET, the Central Valley Regional will be held in Madera.
The team is currently on the waitlist for the St. Louis National Competition.
Outside of the build season, the team is focusing much of its attention to obtaining sponsorships and grants which are necessary to fund the team’s equipment. The team has raised over $5,000 in the past two months and has shown great success.

Extra
The FIRST organization seeks to create the next generation workforce that will serve in the fields of technology and science. Its mission is to pull the US from its educational slump and intrigue students through friendly competition. Leading the organization is inventor Dean Kamen who is known for the transportation device known as Segway, and the break through insulin pump. The mission is to pull US from it’s educational slump and intrigue kids through this friendly competition which is known as the Annual FRC Competition.
During the building season, many teams use a software called Solidworks. It provides a 3D interface which can accurately map out where each part will be placed, and provides users and an easy way of “blueprinting” their concepts and designs for their robot.