We are officially one month into the FIRST Robotics Competition program. In early January, 14 local teens and as many mentors gathered at Vector Space to watch the live presentation of the 2025 season challenge: Reefscape.
The Challenge
Played on a full-size basketball court, each match during a competition involves a total of six FRC teams from the Chesapeake District. In early matches three teams will be paired randomly to form an Alliance (either red or blue). Alliance teams work collaboratively to compete against another Alliance, attempting to score as many points as possible. In later matches, high scoring teams will be able to choose their Alliance partners to compete in the final matches of the event. At the end, three teams (one Alliance) will be crowned champions.
The scoring is a complex combination of direct points, points that are unlocked after certain skills are accomplished, and additional points available for cooperation between alliances. The goal is to put coral (4" PVC tubes) onto the reef; remove algea (rubber playground balls) from the reef and deposit them into a processor or a barge; and finally to have your 130lb robot "climb" a cage, suspending itself off the floor at the end of the match. For the details about coral and algea point values, see the Reefscape Scoring cheat sheet here.
The Robot
There are countless ways to approach this challenge. Team 10257 considered several robot configurations, eventually landing on a scissor lift with chute on top (to catch and distribute coral), and a pair of grabbing arms (affectionately called Wolverine claws) to pick up and distribute algea. The robot is split into components, each the focus area of one group of students and mentors.
Drivetrain is creating the chassis, and decided on holonomic drive system propelled by mecanum wheels.
Superstructure is tasked with the lift mechanism, creating an aluminum scissor lift.
R&D is working on the claws and the chute, ensuring that the robot can handle the algea and coral accurately.
Software is in charge of programming the robot, both during manual and autonomous driving periods. A specialized QR code called an April Tag is used in vision recognition.
Electrical is wiring the robot, also tasked with battery and cable management.
Subteams: in addition to these main robot building teams, additional subteam tasks include
- Construction (building the field elements to practice)
- Visual Communication (aesthetic of the robot and external communication)
- Outreach (spreading STEM education locally and preparing for judging at events)
- Project Management (budget, deadlines, logistics)
- Historian (notekeeper, recording progress for competitions and for future years)
The Team
Each member of 10257 plays an important role on the team. Here are a few of the projects each student has been working on:
Braedon Watson - A member of the Drivetrain team, Braedon created the cardboard prototype for the chassis. His focus right now is the bumpers; he built a sample cross-section of the bumpber, tested various ways of applying the team number, and is now building the full set of bumpers. Earlier this season he used his welding skills to create the reef game piece.
Enoch Tan - Enoch has been the main CAD contributor on the Drivetrain team. He has moved from virtual to physical work this week, cutting and milling mounting plates for the motor in the machine shop. On his subteam, Outreach, Enoch is scheduling visits to elementary STEM programs, including FIRST Lego League and Maker Faire Lynchburg.
Glorianna Breish - The third member of the Drivetrain team, Glorianna helped to lead the build of the kit-bot chassis, used for comparison and fabrication techniques. She has experimented with different fasteners for the frame and its parts, including rivet nuts. In her subteam, VisComm, she is researching aluminum anodization as an option for altering the robot appearance. Her focus this week is machining mounting holes for the chassis.
Ian Gill - While techinically a member of R&D, Ian has taken the lead on building most of the field components. He has spent hours in the woodshop following plans meticulously to create accurate game pieces for the team to test the robot. He has also tackled the skill of machine sewing in order to create the barge net.
Caleb Brammer - Caleb has logged many hours on the metal lathe, turning each of the aluminum rods for the scissor lift. As a member of the VisComm team he is also a passionate advocate for naming the robot, with no shortage of math puns and creative ideas. His teammates have yet to decided on a name for the robot.
Rohan Prabu - Rohan tells us that "math is kind of [his] thing", and he has proven this strength to do calculations for the input and output mechanisms of the robot. He is now turning parts on the metal lathe, and as the Project Manager he is also keeping purchases, budget, and deadlines organized for the team.
Knox Savill - Knox is a member of the R&D team, who have been learning a lot about CNC tools. They have used the CNC plasma cutter and the CNC router to cut aluminum for the algea claws, as well as plastic for the coral chute.
Henry Pratt - Henry is also on R&D, learning the ins and outs of CNC toolpaths, convertaing CAD drawings into CAM paths, and cutting different types of materials. Henry is also the team Historian, taking notes that will serve the team this year at competition and will also ensure the transfer of knowledge to future students of FRC Team 10257.
Bennett Eggleston - Bennett is on the Superstructure team, and has been creating impressive CAD models, tapping metal rods and milling slots in the machine shop, and 3D printing parts. In his role on the VisComm subteam, he has been working to create a team website and help to plan social media posts.
Skylin Ramirez - Skylin in on the Electrical team, whose first task was to layout all of the electronic components on a wooden prototype board to test the configuration. She has learned to use every crimping tool at our disposal to prepare all of the wires for the robot. As a member of the Outreach subteam, she is also scheduling social media posts and sharing photos of the team's progress.
Alec Stickle - As a member of the two-person Electrical team, Alec has been wiring components, testing motors and batteries, and is now working to attach the main components to the aluminum bellypan that will sit in the bottom of the robot. He is now working on designing and 3D printing custom mounts for the electrical components.
Josiah Martin - Josiah is a member of the Software team, working to program the robot. His focus has been on the computer vision subsystem to detect the April tags and control the robot's response. In his role on the Outreach team, Josiah crafted the team Communciations Plan which guides the Outreach and VisComm subteams in their messaging.
Benjamin Ziegler - One of Benjamin's contributions to the Software team has been to implementing a logging library to track the states of every component on the robot. He configured the hardware for the computer vision. He is also a member of the VisComm team.
Holden Hughes - Holden has taken the lead on programming the primary functions of the robot, such as actuating the motors. He recently configured the code for the 15 second Autonomous mode that happens at the start of the match. During this period the robot is not controlled remotely by a driver, but instead must perform all actions completely autonomously.
Swathi Prabhu currently works at Innovative Wireless Technologies, Inc as Director of Engineering. She has worked at IWT for over 20 years, designing and developing software for real-time simulation and mission-critical applications that have been deployed at hundreds of customer sites around the world. Prior to joining IWT, Swathi worked at TRAX International where she was the lead software engineer for developing real-time training simulators for use in power plants. A Lynchburg resident for 25 years, Swathi is committed to fostering technology and education within the community. She currently serves on the board of Virginia Episcopal School and has previously held leadership roles on the Board of Trustees and Executive Committee for James River Day School. 
