FIRST Values

Gracious Professionalism®
This term, coined by Dr. Woodie Flowers, shows that FIRST teams are competitive and strive to win, but respect their competitors in the process. You should not throw or cheat in a match or fake being happy for the winners, but instead play fairly and be kind whether you win or lose.
Coopertition®
Coopertition is a combination of cooperation and competition. Similarly to Gracious Professionalism, this philosophy encourages teams to help others in the midst of competition. You should always try your best to win, but you should also assist others whenever possible.
FIRST Core Values
FIRST teams express the philosophies of Gracious Professionalism and Coopertition through these Core Values:
  • Discovery – Exploring new skills and ideas
  • Innovation – Using creativity and persistence to solve problems
  • Impact – Applying our skills to improve our world
  • Inclusion – Accepting everyone and embracing differences
  • Teamwork – Working cooperatively to reach new heights
  • Fun – Enjoying and celebrating what we do
    • Crevolution and FIRST Values
    Our team strives to embody these philosophies and values throughout the season. Every year, we build a practice field and invite local teams to play with us. This allows our team to practice driving and get a better feel for the game while providing the opportunity to connect with other teams and let them do the same. Additionally, we send out a “Robo Rescue” team at competitions to assist other teams facing mechanical issues.

    WEEK 1 BLOG

    Team Captain
    In the week since kick-off, we have had the opportunity to work on our strategy and prototyping. In our first week of the build season we have continued as planned for our timeline and met our set goals with prototyping and plan on finishing the final designs of the mechanisms and start building our robot in the next two weeks.
    Build
    In the past week, all of the members of our build sub-team have worked on prototyping. The mechanisms focus on the following functions:
  • Intaking Cargo
  • Hanging + Climbing between bars
  • Shooting
  • Moving (Drivetrain)
    Programming
    The members of our programming sub-team worked on prototyping the shooter, climb and intake mechanisms. After improving the shooter prototype, programming plans on going back to training in JAVA to get ready to program the robot in the upcoming weeks.
    Design
    This past week, the members of our design sub-team have worked on the intake, climb and drivetrain mechanisms. In the coming week design plans on finishing prototyping and working on the final designs of the mechanisms with CAD.
    Business
    In the past week, the business sub-team worked on prototyping the through-bumper intake mechanism. In the coming week, business plans on working with the team members for sponsorships and finalizing STIMS, the student information management system which allows out members to participate in competitions once fully completed.
    Website Development
    The members of our website development sub-team worked on prototyping the catapult and climb mechanisms. In the coming week web-dev plans on putting the team’s contact information on our website along with other minor fixes.
    Outreach
    The members of our outreach sub-team worked on taking pictures and videos of kickoff and the past meetings to showcase our full team strategy and prototyping processes. Next week outreach plans on working on the awards that our team plans on submitting.
    Marketing
    The members of our marketing sub-team worked on prototyping the catapult this past week. In the coming week marketing plans on finishing vectorizing sponsor logos which are used for both the website and on the backs of our team t-shirts.

    WEEK 2 BLOG

    Team Captain
    The members of our team have been working hard and have managed to keep on track with the schedule that was made at the beginning of the build season. Now, as design is finishing up the finalization of their drawings of the mechanisms, we are starting to focus on outreach as the deadlines for the award submissions are closing in.
    Build
    This week, build plans on continuing to organize the site through taking inventory, and in the past week, the build sub-team has finished:
  • Prototyping all the mechanisms
  • Getting people familiar with the tools
  • Teaching the new members how to read calibers
  • Cleaning and Organizing the Build room
    Programming
    Since the programming sub-team has finished prototyping, they have been focused on training once again by:
  • Reviewing Java concepts
  • Discussing the Timed Skeleton Framework
  • Working on Vision Processing
    Design
    In the past week, the design sub-team has started to design the final mechanisms. In the following week, Design plans on:
  • Finishing the final designs for all the mechanisms
  • Getting the parts sent out and ordered
    Business
    After finishing prototyping, the business sub-team is continuing to:
  • Finalize Sponsorships
  • Take Attendance
  • Finalize the Newsletter
    Website Development
    After finishing prototyping, the website development sub-team has been working on:
  • A timer which counts down to our competitions
  • Uploading and formatting the weekly blogs
  • Updating the Sponsors on the website
  • Working on the Contact Us section on the website
  • Changing the tier images to text in the Sponsorship Tiers section
    Outreach
    For the time being, Outreach is focused on working on the Chairman’s Award essay and video.
    Marketing
    The marketing sub-team is currently working on:
  • Vectorizing the sponsorship logos from the companies that our members obtained
  • Creating monotone versions of those logos to put on the back of our team T-shirt

    WEEK 3 BLOG

    Team Captain
    This year, our team has been doing an excellent job at staying on schedule for the build season. Additionally, this past week our team has given organized assistance and resources for a rookie team that is being housed in our building. This is shaping up to be a good season and we are looking forward to seeing how it turns out!
    Build
    As build is waiting for the final drafts from design, they instead have been working on the following:
  • Inventory
  • Organization of the build room
  • Familarizing the newer members on the team with equipment
    Programming
    During the past week, the newer members have been learning how to program the previous robot’s subsystems. While they are doing this, the other members of programming have been working on:
  • Vision Processing
  • PID Controls
    Design
    This past week design has continued working hard on the finishing the final drafts for all mechanisms which are:
  • Drivetrain
  • Shooter
  • Climber
  • Indexer
  • Intake
    Business
    This past week Business has been continuing working on the following:
  • Finishing the first sponsor newsletter
  • Finishing sponsorships
  • Finishing STIMS
  • Starting to edit the business plan which required for competitions
    Website Development
    For past week, Website Development has been working on learning Java to start developing a scouting app and has continued working on the following:
  • Changing the sponsorship tier images to text
  • Making minor improvements to website
    Outreach
    Over the past week, outreach has researched the Chairman’s Award extensively by looking at exemplars from previous winners and has been working on the following:
  • Working on the documentation needed for the Chairman’s Award
  • Planning Robo Rescue
    Marketing
    In the past week, marketing has continued working on the following:
  • Vectorizing logos for both the Website and the T-shirt
  • Starting to make 2000 pins for competitions

    WEEK 4 BLOG

    Team Captain
    This week we diligently worked on making up for the time lost to snow days. We are also looking forward to hosting the robotics teams Knight Vision and Parkway Robotics.
    Build
    This past week Build focused on:
  • Organizing the build site
  • Sub-team bonding
  • Working on the Drivetrain and Climber
    Programming
    This past week Programming continued in their respective groups and worked on a CNC machine, along with the pneumatics of a robot.
    Design
    This past week Design has finalized the CAD design for the Climber, Shooter, and Drivetrain. Currently, Design is continuing to work on Intake as well as integrating the completed mechanisms.
    Business
    This past week Business has started working on the annual newspaper and the business plan for competition. Business has also finished:
  • Sponsorships
  • STIMS
  • The Newsletter
    Website Development
    This past week Website Development has worked on uploading:
  • The Blog
  • Sponsorship logos
    Outreach
    This past week Outreach is finishing up the Chariman's Award.
    Marketing
    In the past week, marketing has:
  • Finished vectorizing and formatting logos for the Website and T-shirt
  • Continued to make 2000 pins for competitions

    WEEK 5 BLOG

    Team Captain
    This week we have been catching up to to our original timeline after our setbacks. We are currently finishing up our awards, thanks to our Outreach lead, as well as transitioning from the design period to the build phase.
    Build
    This past week Build has:
  • Finished making parts for the drivetrain and climber
  • Started moving to shooter and intake parts
    Programming
    This past week Programming continued to work in groups. The newer members started working on the command base. Some of the more experienced members have aligned the distance and angle for the limelight, which is our vision processing for the robot. The others have begun to program the robot for the autonomous period.
    Design
    This past week Design finished the Intake design, thus completing our initial robot CAD. They also have begun sending designs to build to be constructed.
    Business
    This past week Business continued to work on the annual newspaper and business plan.
    Website Development
    Website Development has continued to upload sponsor logos to the website. They have also started to rehaul the sponsor logo display on the website.
    Outreach
    This past week Outreach started the recording and editing of Chairman’s Award video. They have also submitted the Woodie Flowers Award Essay.
    Marketing
    Marketing has finished the final T-Shirt design for our team. They have also continued to work on pins and vectorizing the sponsor logos for decals that go on our banner.

    WEEK 6 BLOG

    Team Captain
    Our sheet metal from Accu-rite came in, and our focus this week shifted to assembling our subsystems for our robot.
    Build
    This past week Build has been working with design to fix a few drawings and worked toward the final robot assembly.
    Programming
    This week programming has:
  • Finalized Auto program
  • Worked with PID program
  • Continued with vision processing
    Design
    This past week Design has:
  • Edited a few drawings at build’s request
  • Helped build assemble robot
    Business
    This past week Business has been:
  • Working on our team roster
  • Finishing Newspaper
  • Writing our Business Plan
    Website Development
    This past week Website Development has been:
  • Working towards making a new page for our sponsors
  • Continuing to make our members only page and fix mobile page errors
  • Updating the blog
    • Outreach
    This week Outreach has:
  • Completed and turned in both the outreach essay and executive summary
  • Continued editing Chairman’s video
    • Marketing
    This week Marketing has had a large focus on making our 2,000 pins for competitions.

    WEEK 7 BLOG

    Electrical
    During this week, Electrical has started to wire our robot, which is close to completion.
    Build
    Since Build is now mostly done assembling the essential components of the robot, they have now started to work on finishing the important subsystems. Additionally, over the past week Build has finished:
  • The Disc Brake
  • The Shooter
  • The Belly Pan
    • Programming
    Programming is currently working with the Build and Electrical sub-teams to ensure that the code will be integrated properly when the robot is finished. In addition to this, they are working on:
  • Optimizing the code for the command-based framework
  • Robot commands during the autonomous period
    Design
    Over the last week, Design has worked with the Build sub-team to help speed up the construction of the robot. Additionally, they have been working on the final integration drawing for the robot.
    Business
    In the past week, Business has been working on:
  • The bi-weekly newsletter, which is sent to our sponsors and parents
  • The annual sponsor newspaper
  • The business plan which is presented during all our competitions
    Website Development
    During the past couple weeks, Website Development has been working on:
  • Fixing minor bugs
  • Creating a new page to present the logos of our sponsors
  • Updating the blog
    • Outreach
    During this past week, Outreach has continued working on:
  • Editing the Chairman’s video
  • Making the Chairman’s presentation for competitions
    • Marketing
    Over this past week, Marketing has finished the final t-shirt design and has been working on:
  • Designing the logo for our robot, Daedalus
  • Making sponsor decals for our robot and banner
  • Making pins which we hand our during competitions.

    WEEK 8 BLOG

    Electrical
    This week, Electrical completed the wiring and pneumatics of the robot and started to test their work.
    Build
    This week Build finished constructing our robot and started to troubleshoot minor issues.
    Programming
    This week, Programming has:
  • Worked on square autonomous encoding
  • Tested shooter, intake, and drive programs
  • Rewired firmware
    Design
    This past week, Design finished writing the engineering notebook for each of their sub-systems.
    Business
    In the past week, Business:
  • Handled attendance
  • Continued writing the annual sponsor newspaper
  • Worked on the business plan to present at our competitions
    Website Development
    This week, Website Development has:
  • Completed the new page dedicated to our sponsors
  • Updated the blog
    • Outreach
    This past week, Outreach continued to create and edit our presentation for the Chairman's Award during competitions.
    Marketing
    Over this past week, Marketing has:
  • Created the robot and sponsor logo decals by hand
  • Designed the Daedalus logo and pins
  • Started distributing the team shirts to our members and sponsors

    COMPETITION 1

    Our 1st competition took place at FIM District Rochester Event on March 11th and 12th. For many of our members it was their first competition experience, and this was shown through our enthusiasm. Our energy carried throughout both days and added an eagerness to the entire event.
    We entered the event with some issues with our intake and shooter. For example, our intake wouldn’t, as the name suggests, intake cargo. Our drive-team adapted quickly and efficiently to act as a defense bot, and our dedicated pit crew worked to fix these issues throughout our competition. Our robot came out of the tournament much better than it came in. Throughout our pool play games our improvement was clear and was amazing to see. At the end of the pool play the top teams chose their alliances, which are created by teams in the top 8 seats selecting two other teams to be together on a team. Crevolution was selected by team 7769 and 6120, to make up the 8th seat alliance. We were defeated by the 1st seat team, which later won the competition.