FTC Year 2016-2017
Team Captain and Programmer: Madeline C.
Builder and Programmer: Joshua L.
I'm Joshua and I'm 13 years old. I'm in 7th grade and am homeschooled, and this is my first year in FTC. I love robotics, playing outside, and reading. My favorite kind of chicken is BBQ.
Builder: Jackson C.
Builder: Audrey C.
SOFTWARE FOR THIS YEAR:
December 20, 2016
This year we will be using MIT App Inventor, although we may learn Android Studio along the way. We already have the robot driving and pushing balls, but we are going to make an autonomous mode in the near future.
January 12, 2017
We have a Modern Robotics color sensor and are currently working on programming with it in MIT App Inventor. Even though we've had lots of problems, it's possible. We are planning on making several different autonomous programs, one of which will hopefully sense the color of the beacon and press the corresponding button. We have a couple of simple autonomous programs already, and we're excited to see how far we can get with the color sensor program.
February 6, 2017
We are finalizing all of our programs for the competition. We have many autonomous programs, and a tele-op program that works wonderfully. We can score two balls in the autonomous period most of the time, as well as pushing the large ball off of it's base. We have a color sensor program that works most of the time, but it's not quite perfected yet. In tele-op we can score balls all throughout the two minutes. We can also push buttons in the end game. We are able to push the large ball up the ramp to get it off the floor.
2016-2017
Resources we found helpful for FTC robotics:
Building with Tetrix:
- Textric Parts: http://www.tetrixrobotics.com/
Parts:
- Industrial Erector Set: https://8020.net/
Programming in Java:
- AP Computer Science
Fundraising:
- AP Computer Science
Programming:
- MIT App Inventor tutorials via intelitek - http://ftc.edu.intelitek.com/
- MIT App Inventor autonomous programming - http://ftc-team7621.tumblr.com/post/133242563220/heres-something-that-may-be-a-bit-more-useful-i
This Year:
At the Vermont Farm Show this past January 2016, we exhibited our robot and told the general public about our robot and FIRST. We talked to several potential sponsors, but got no funding that day. We met lots of different people, including an FRC team. Here is a video that Lynn M. took of our team and the robot.
Previous Year:
Article of Our Robotics Team in Lake Champlain Islander
Date of Article: December 23, 2014
On Saturday, December 6, the Aluminum Avian Antics 4-H Robotics Team, a subgroup of Grand Isle’s Champlain Shamrocks 4-H Club, participated in the first FTC scrimmage of the 2014-15 FIRST season. The scrimmage was held in UVM’s Votey Engineering Building, which hosted seven teams from the surrounding region as they tested and evaluated their current robot designs and programs. FTC stands for First Tech Challenge, and is a part of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) program. Participants are youth in grades 7 to 12 who design, build and program robots to compete in a game, which varies year to year. The competitions are held at local, state, national and international levels. Our team is the only team representing Grand Isle County. The Aluminum Avian Antics Team’s robot is made of Tetrix parts and is programmed using Labview. Their robot performed well at the scrimmage, even without its attachment finished. They were the first team to perform the initial challenge of knocking down the kickstand and releasing the cascade of balls; they successfully completed this portion of the challenge four times! The robot is still being built and programmed, but what they have accomplished to this point works admirably. The team is excited about the local sponsorships they have received thus far, with a special thanks to Buermann Engineering, IC Haus, Cedar Ledge Builders and DC Energy Innovations. The team continues to meet regularly to build and program their robot in anticipation of the March 14, 2015 tournament at UVM. They welcome all donations or sponsorships and would be happy to show their robot to interested groups and share about the First Tech Challenge! For more information about this 4-H Robotics Team, visit www.team8526.blogspot.com, and they may be contacted at aaa.robotics@gmail.com.
Article of Our Robotics Team in Burlington Free Press
Date of Article: January 15, 2015
Not your grandmother's 4-H Club
Read the article here:
This Year:
At the Vermont Farm Show this past January 2016, we exhibited our robot and told the general public about our robot and FIRST. We talked to several potential sponsors, but got no funding that day. We met lots of different people, including an FRC team. Here is a video that Lynn M. took of our team and the robot.
Previous Year:
Article of Our Robotics Team in Lake Champlain Islander
Date of Article: December 23, 2014
On Saturday, December 6, the Aluminum Avian Antics 4-H Robotics Team, a subgroup of Grand Isle’s Champlain Shamrocks 4-H Club, participated in the first FTC scrimmage of the 2014-15 FIRST season. The scrimmage was held in UVM’s Votey Engineering Building, which hosted seven teams from the surrounding region as they tested and evaluated their current robot designs and programs. FTC stands for First Tech Challenge, and is a part of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) program. Participants are youth in grades 7 to 12 who design, build and program robots to compete in a game, which varies year to year. The competitions are held at local, state, national and international levels. Our team is the only team representing Grand Isle County. The Aluminum Avian Antics Team’s robot is made of Tetrix parts and is programmed using Labview. Their robot performed well at the scrimmage, even without its attachment finished. They were the first team to perform the initial challenge of knocking down the kickstand and releasing the cascade of balls; they successfully completed this portion of the challenge four times! The robot is still being built and programmed, but what they have accomplished to this point works admirably. The team is excited about the local sponsorships they have received thus far, with a special thanks to Buermann Engineering, IC Haus, Cedar Ledge Builders and DC Energy Innovations. The team continues to meet regularly to build and program their robot in anticipation of the March 14, 2015 tournament at UVM. They welcome all donations or sponsorships and would be happy to show their robot to interested groups and share about the First Tech Challenge! For more information about this 4-H Robotics Team, visit www.team8526.blogspot.com, and they may be contacted at aaa.robotics@gmail.com.
Article of Our Robotics Team in Burlington Free Press
Date of Article: January 15, 2015
Not your grandmother's 4-H Club
Read the article here:
FTC Year 2015-2016
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| Robot Inspection |
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| Before Robot Inspection |
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| Our robot on the field |
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| Our robot climbing the mountain |
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| Madeline with the robot |
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| Our team, from left to right: Madeline, Trent, Liam, Grace, Josh, John, and Jack |
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| Our team with the Rockwell Collins Award, members from left to right: Trent, Liam, Grace, Madeline, Jack, Audrey (sibling), Josh, and John |
2015-2016 Season
Members from 2015-2016
Team Captain and Software Facilitator: Madeline C.
Team Captain and Software Facilitator: Madeline C.
I am 15 years old and in 10th grade. I have been homeschooled since 5th grade. I am starting my 7th year of 4-H and I really love it. I really like chickens and learning about them. I also enjoy making videos: filming, taking photos, editing them and finding the right music for the video. I have a dozen laying hens and a rabbit named Buddy. I really like holding and playing with him. I love to do anything outside: kayaking, swimming, hiking, biking, camping, and fishing. I am excited to be doing robotics this year and hope to learn a lot. I had an amazing time last year in FTC. My favorite breed of chicken is the Silver Laced Wyandotte because they are so beautiful and colorful.
Software and CAD Specialist: Trent Y.I am 13 years old and am in the 8th grade. I like figuring out tasks. An important thing to me is to have fun. I like climbing and playing video games. This year I learned to use CAD software and to model the robot. My favorite foods are pizza and tacos. My favorite breed of chicken is any breed that tastes good with barbecue sauce.
Hardware Facilitator: Josh G.
Hardware and CAD Facilitator: Liam S.
I am 15 years old and in 10th grade. I have been homeschooled all my life. I have been in 4-H for 10 years. I enjoy soccer, hiking, cross-country skiing, swimming, robotics, shooting sports, animal science (sheep, goats, horse, poultry, llama, beef cows and dairy cows) and 4-H activities. Our family has a small farm. I am currently learning to play the double bass. I started learning robotics in FLL. I really enjoy building robots and working out design challenges. My favorite breeds of chickens are Welsummer, heritage Rhode Island Reds and Jersey Giants. I am also passionate about my guinea fowl and Sebastopol geese.
Hardware Specialist: John B.
I am 13 years old. I am in 7th grade at Saranac Middle School. This is my first year in robotics. I like playing outdoors and playing indoor soccer. My favorite rabbit I have is a Lion Head. On my farm we also have cows, sheep, guinea hens, and an Indian Blue Peacock. My favorite breed of chicken is the Golden Lace Wyandotte.
Attachment Specialist and Treasurer: Jack C. I am 13 years old and am in the 8th grade. I am homeschooled. Some of my favorite things to do are hunting, fishing, trapping, swimming, biking, camping, canoeing, kayaking, 4-H and fixing our boat, lawn mower, rototiller, car, and truck with my dad. I like my rabbits (I raise meat rabbits), dogs, cats, and chickens. I also like playing piano, guitar, and backyard football. We have woods that I like to build forts in. My favorite breed of chicken is the Buff Orpington.
Attachment Specialist and Document Lead: Grace S.
I am 13 years old and in 8th grade. I am homeschooled. I enjoy spinning wool, horseback riding, playing the flute and piano, training my sheep, and reading horse books. My favorite subjects are French, music, and writing. I have been in 4-H for 8 years. I learned to program in JAVA this year and found I like doing it. I also liked keeping the engineering notebook up-to-date. My favorite breed of chicken is the Black Tailed Buff Japanese Bantam.
SOFTWARE
SEPTEMBER 2015
This year we are using App Inventor and Android Studio. We are using App Inventor for the basic controls. We decided to use Android Studio because we have a mentor that knows it well. We also have been trained in PTC Creo and we use it to design our robot. We have not decided what software we are going to use yet.
UPDATE - FEBRUARY 2016
We are using MIT App Inventor since it has been easier to program in and easier to make a simple, driving program. We have now written over 50 MIT App Inventor programs for driving. We have found MIT App Inventor to be an easy way to create programs. We have found that the tutorials through intelitek to be very helpful. Check them out here: http://ftc.edu.intelitek.com/.
UPDATE - MARCH 2016
We are using MIT App Inventor to program different autonomous programs, and we recently learned how to combine the teleop and autonomous programs into the same program. We learned how to write our autonomous programs from the Dowling Catholic FTC teams blog, http://ftc-team7621.tumblr.com/post/133242563220/heres-something-that-may-be-a-bit-more-useful-i , it was a really helpful tutorial. We have currently written over 60 just teleop programs, 15 combined programs, and about 20 just autonomous programs. We are aiming to have an autonomous program for Super-Regionals.
HARDWARE
The base of our robot is made with TETRIX parts.
Here are pictures of our robot at various stages of development:
PHOTOS
PHOTOS
November 4, 2015
This is the day we built the playing field. It was much bigger than we imagined and we realized it would not easily transport.
January 9, 2016
This was at the FTC scrimmage.
February 27, 2016
These were pictures from the FTC competition.
2. Vermont Farm Show
On Tuesday, January 26 and Wednesday, January 27, we exhibited our FTC robot as well as several of our smaller EV3 robots at the Vermont Farm Show. We had a small arena with our robots driving around in the arena. We told people who watched our robots about FTC and 4H, and just about how we build and program our robots. We let the public drive the EV3 robots, we then explained how to work the joysticks and buttons. We had several people ask about 4H and FTC and had a great time letting everyone who visited our booth know about robots. We had a great time both days and hope to go again next year. Here are some pictures of our days!
At the Vermont Farm Show this past January 2016, we exhibited our robot and told the general public about our robot and FIRST. We talked to several potential sponsors, but got no funding that day. We met lots of different people, including an FRC team. Here is a video that Lynn M. took of our team and the robot.
Click here to see our robot video.
Article of Our Robotics Team in Lake Champlain Islander
Date of Article: December 23, 2014
http://lakechamplainislander.com/assets/islander122314.pdf
On Saturday, December 6, the Aluminum Avian Antics 4-H Robotics Team, a subgroup of Grand Isle’s Champlain Shamrocks 4-H Club, participated in the first FTC scrimmage of the 2014-15 FIRST season. The scrimmage was held in UVM’s Votey Engineering Building, which hosted seven teams from the surrounding region as they tested and evaluated their current robot designs and programs. FTC stands for First Tech Challenge, and is a part of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) program. Participants are youth in grades 7 to 12 who design, build and program robots to compete in a game, which varies year to year. The competitions are held at local, state, national and international levels. Our team is the only team representing Grand Isle County. The Aluminum Avian Antics Team’s robot is made of Tetrix parts and is programmed using Labview. Their robot performed well at the scrimmage, even without its attachment finished. They were the first team to perform the initial challenge of knocking down the kickstand and releasing the cascade of balls; they successfully completed this portion of the challenge four times! The robot is still being built and programmed, but what they have accomplished to this point works admirably. The team is excited about the local sponsorships they have received thus far, with a special thanks to Buermann Engineering, IC Haus, Cedar Ledge Builders and DC Energy Innovations. The team continues to meet regularly to build and program their robot in anticipation of the March 14, 2015 tournament at UVM. They welcome all donations or sponsorships and would be happy to show their robot to interested groups and share about the First Tech Challenge! For more information about this 4-H Robotics Team, visit www.team8526.blogspot.com, and they may be contacted at aaa.robotics@gmail.com.
Article of Our Robotics Team in Burlington Free Press
Date of Article: January 15, 2015
Read the article here:
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/local/vermont/2015/01/15/grandmothers-club/21766559/
2. Vermont Farm Show
On Tuesday, January 26 and Wednesday, January 27, we exhibited our FTC robot as well as several of our smaller EV3 robots at the Vermont Farm Show. We had a small arena with our robots driving around in the arena. We told people who watched our robots about FTC and 4H, and just about how we build and program our robots. We let the public drive the EV3 robots, we then explained how to work the joysticks and buttons. We had several people ask about 4H and FTC and had a great time letting everyone who visited our booth know about robots. We had a great time both days and hope to go again next year. Here are some pictures of our days!
Click here to see our robot video.
Article of Our Robotics Team in Lake Champlain Islander
Date of Article: December 23, 2014
http://lakechamplainislander.com/assets/islander122314.pdf
On Saturday, December 6, the Aluminum Avian Antics 4-H Robotics Team, a subgroup of Grand Isle’s Champlain Shamrocks 4-H Club, participated in the first FTC scrimmage of the 2014-15 FIRST season. The scrimmage was held in UVM’s Votey Engineering Building, which hosted seven teams from the surrounding region as they tested and evaluated their current robot designs and programs. FTC stands for First Tech Challenge, and is a part of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) program. Participants are youth in grades 7 to 12 who design, build and program robots to compete in a game, which varies year to year. The competitions are held at local, state, national and international levels. Our team is the only team representing Grand Isle County. The Aluminum Avian Antics Team’s robot is made of Tetrix parts and is programmed using Labview. Their robot performed well at the scrimmage, even without its attachment finished. They were the first team to perform the initial challenge of knocking down the kickstand and releasing the cascade of balls; they successfully completed this portion of the challenge four times! The robot is still being built and programmed, but what they have accomplished to this point works admirably. The team is excited about the local sponsorships they have received thus far, with a special thanks to Buermann Engineering, IC Haus, Cedar Ledge Builders and DC Energy Innovations. The team continues to meet regularly to build and program their robot in anticipation of the March 14, 2015 tournament at UVM. They welcome all donations or sponsorships and would be happy to show their robot to interested groups and share about the First Tech Challenge! For more information about this 4-H Robotics Team, visit www.team8526.blogspot.com, and they may be contacted at aaa.robotics@gmail.com.
Article of Our Robotics Team in Burlington Free Press
Date of Article: January 15, 2015
Not your grandmother's 4-H Club
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/local/vermont/2015/01/15/grandmothers-club/21766559/
2015-2016
Gold Level Donations:
PTC Creo
iC-Haus GmbH is a leading independent German manufacturer of standard iCs (ASSP) and customized ASiC semiconductor solutions. The company has been active in the design, production and sales of application-specific iCs for industrial, automotive and medical technology since 1984 and is represented worldwide. The iC-Haus cell libraries in CMOS, bipolar, and BCD technologies are fully equipped to realize the design of sensor, laser/opto, and actuator ASiCs. The iCs are assembled either in standard plastic packages or using chip-on-board technology to manufacture complete microsystems, multichip modules and optoBGA™, the latter in conjunction with sensors.
Gold Level Donations:
PTC Creo
iC-Haus GmbH is a leading independent German manufacturer of standard iCs (ASSP) and customized ASiC semiconductor solutions. The company has been active in the design, production and sales of application-specific iCs for industrial, automotive and medical technology since 1984 and is represented worldwide. The iC-Haus cell libraries in CMOS, bipolar, and BCD technologies are fully equipped to realize the design of sensor, laser/opto, and actuator ASiCs. The iCs are assembled either in standard plastic packages or using chip-on-board technology to manufacture complete microsystems, multichip modules and optoBGA™, the latter in conjunction with sensors.
FTC Year 2014-2015
SOFTWARE 2014-2015
We are using LabView this year for our software program. We chose it because it allowed for dynamic programming, and it had a nice, open layout.
Check out LabViw here:
https://decibel.ni.com/content/community/academic/student_competitions/ftc
This is what a program can look like on LabView, there are many different tools and sensors and commands that must be put in a specific order.
This is a program for a basic controller.
This is a simple program where the robot will go forward, turn, and go forward again.
This is another loop that is called a 'while loop'.
You can program your robot to do virtually anything, but it is a bit difficult to figure out the exact numbers and commands, but there is always a way.
Here is a video of an autonomous program that I wrote. It uses an ultrasonic sensor so it can "see" the tube. An ultrasonic sensor uses something similar to bat's and whale's and dolphin's echolocation. It sends out a signal and by how fast it bounces back it can "see" how far away and object is.
The program uses a series of commands that are triggered by each other.
So here is the video!:) Enjoy!:)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEq06tO9b_M
Check out LabViw here:
https://decibel.ni.com/content/community/academic/student_competitions/ftc
This is what a program can look like on LabView, there are many different tools and sensors and commands that must be put in a specific order.
This is a program for a basic controller.
This is a simple program where the robot will go forward, turn, and go forward again.
This is another loop that is called a 'while loop'.
You can program your robot to do virtually anything, but it is a bit difficult to figure out the exact numbers and commands, but there is always a way.
Here is a video of an autonomous program that I wrote. It uses an ultrasonic sensor so it can "see" the tube. An ultrasonic sensor uses something similar to bat's and whale's and dolphin's echolocation. It sends out a signal and by how fast it bounces back it can "see" how far away and object is.
The program uses a series of commands that are triggered by each other.
So here is the video!:) Enjoy!:)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEq06tO9b_M
Outreach:
2. Vermont Friday School
On Friday February 13, one member did a seven minute presentation to the whole school of approximately sixty students plus additional teachers and parents. He talked about the competition, different parts on the robot, and about programming. At the end he drove the robot around. He also demonstrated it to the electrical class.
3. Champlain Shamrocks Sub-Group
Members of the group started another sub-group of the Champlain Shamrocks to foster an interest in robotics. There were ten youth who joined this group. Only two had a little background in robotics. We wanted to start them in NXT programming. Vermont 4-H lent us seven kits with four NXT minds. We spilt up into four groups and gave each group a kit. Each group had to build a robot. We taught them how to program robot to move forward, backwards, and make a sound.
Photos:
September 6th 2014
Worked on wheels and attachment ideas
October Meeting
Worked on robot base design, attachment, and programming
January 10th, 2015
Building our attachment
February 16, 2015
Fine tuning our autonomous program and continued on attachment
Sponsors:
2014-2015
Gold Level Donations:
iC-Haus Corp
iC-Haus GmbH is a leading independent German manufacturer of standard iCs (ASSP) and customized ASiC semiconductor solutions. The company has been active in the design, production and sales of application-specific iCs for industrial, automotive and medical technology since 1984 and is represented worldwide. The iC-Haus cell libraries in CMOS, bipolar, and BCD technologies are fully equipped to realize the design of sensor, laser/opto, and actuator ASiCs.
The iCs are assembled either in standard plastic packages or using chip-on-board technology to manufacture complete microsystems, multichip modules and optoBGA™, the latter in conjunction with sensors.
9 Dodge Terrace,
Grand Isle VT 05458
(802) 372-8340
Buermann Engineering
"Buermann Engineering provides timely and cost-effective civil engineering services for cottage/home conversions, subdivisions and residential/commercial site development. From initial feasibility investigations through plan preparation, permitting, and construction-phase inspections, our 20+ years of experience will guide your project through the complex requirements for water supply, wastewater disposal, stormwater treatment, roads, wetlands and Act 250."
107 Allen Road
Grand Isle, VT 05458
(802) 372-9966
Cedar Ledge Builders
"Cedar Ledge Builders strives to bring integrity, quality, professionalism and craftsmanship to every project. We specialize in new homes, additions, remodeling, kitchens, baths, roofing & more. Our design/build process provides the opportunity to explore design options, value engineer project details and streamline construction to stay within the desired aesthetic, function and budgetary goals"
328 U.S. Route 2
P.O Box 610
South Hero, VT 05486
(802) 372-6500
Visit Cedar Ledge Builders on facebook
Silver Level Donations:
DC Energy Innovations is a full-service electrical contracting firm based in North Hero in the beautiful Champlain Islands of Vermont. We are staffed almost entirely by licensed electricians and apprentices working under the supervision of those with a license. DC Energy Innovations was started by Dwayne Cormier, the company owner, ten years ago, in 2002. Dwayne has been a master electrician for 16 years and is fully experienced in all phases of electrical work.
North Hero, VT 05474
802-372-9514
Bronze Level Donations:
Grand Isle Sheriff, Ray AllenGold Level Donations:
iC-Haus Corp
iC-Haus GmbH is a leading independent German manufacturer of standard iCs (ASSP) and customized ASiC semiconductor solutions. The company has been active in the design, production and sales of application-specific iCs for industrial, automotive and medical technology since 1984 and is represented worldwide. The iC-Haus cell libraries in CMOS, bipolar, and BCD technologies are fully equipped to realize the design of sensor, laser/opto, and actuator ASiCs.The iCs are assembled either in standard plastic packages or using chip-on-board technology to manufacture complete microsystems, multichip modules and optoBGA™, the latter in conjunction with sensors.
9 Dodge Terrace,
Grand Isle VT 05458
(802) 372-8340
Buermann Engineering
"Buermann Engineering provides timely and cost-effective civil engineering services for cottage/home conversions, subdivisions and residential/commercial site development. From initial feasibility investigations through plan preparation, permitting, and construction-phase inspections, our 20+ years of experience will guide your project through the complex requirements for water supply, wastewater disposal, stormwater treatment, roads, wetlands and Act 250."
107 Allen Road
Grand Isle, VT 05458
(802) 372-9966
"Cedar Ledge Builders strives to bring integrity, quality, professionalism and craftsmanship to every project. We specialize in new homes, additions, remodeling, kitchens, baths, roofing & more. Our design/build process provides the opportunity to explore design options, value engineer project details and streamline construction to stay within the desired aesthetic, function and budgetary goals"
328 U.S. Route 2
P.O Box 610
South Hero, VT 05486
(802) 372-6500
Silver Level Donations:
DC Energy Innovations is a full-service electrical contracting firm based in North Hero in the beautiful Champlain Islands of Vermont. We are staffed almost entirely by licensed electricians and apprentices working under the supervision of those with a license. DC Energy Innovations was started by Dwayne Cormier, the company owner, ten years ago, in 2002. Dwayne has been a master electrician for 16 years and is fully experienced in all phases of electrical work.
The specialty of DC Energy is complex electrical work involving controls. In the past 7 - 8 years, DC Energy has diversified into security alarm work and renewable energy. Both give us the opportunity to get involved in more complex forms of electrical work.
5072 US Route 2North Hero, VT 05474
802-372-9514
Bronze Level Donations:
