Spooky Robotics

Team 7170 students are a diverse bunch, but they’re remarkably amazing at working together to achieve success. Teamwork is vital when working on a project as intricate and complex as creating a full scale working industrial robot and complete that immense undertaking in under six weeks.

These students are learning skill sets that are fundamental to a wide variety of  professions and corporate positions. As an management level team builder know, the ability to perform on a team is a vital aspect of a job candidate’s qualifications. First Robotics Competition Team 7170 have acquired skills in  project management, leadership, team building, marketing,as well as their individual robot building talents.

A functioning robot requires not only meticulous and intricate planning, but also requires someone to design and draw all those ideas into virtual working animations, ensuring accurate concept as well as ensuring all clearances and tolerances.

As the designer works on his CAD computer, the concept builders discuss and plan and begin building key components using wood. This provides the team with conceptual working models of concepts brought forth from team design meetings earlier. Meanwhile, others are already writing what will become countless lines of code; perfect code,and  code that will ensure that the robot performs as successfully as was the original plan.

Others build the chassis the robot will run on, turning wrenches mounting wheels, motors, and gears, carefully belting in the drivetrain that will deliver fast responsive motion and tracking. Machinists and fabricators work hard in the shop to bring the CAD designs into tangible and functional reality thereby making the conceptualized plan turn into the actual robot. It is the hard work of everyone, together that makes everyone successful.