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2022-2023
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Season Overview
Season Overview
Powerplay was probably our best season so far. Competitions were back in person meaning we were able to fully commit to robotics without any interruptions from the pandemic. We made lots of progress towards expanding our outreach, and we put a lot of time into designing a new logo, creating pamphlets about our robot, and creating a presentation for judging.
We participated in four competitions. This included coming in qualification rank #1 twice, captaining a winning alliance, being the first pick of a winning alliance, winning the motivate award, and having Emily chosen as a Dean's List Finalist.
Competitions
Competitions
Southern Alberta Round 1A
Southern Alberta Round 1A
November 18-19, 2022 - Joane Cardinal Schubert High School
November 18-19, 2022 - Joane Cardinal Schubert High School
Going into this competition, we weren't too confident about how well our robot would do since we hadn't been able to practice too much. We even needed to replace our claw right before inspection because it had snapped. Luckily, we ended up doing really well.
By the end of the competition, we had learned a lot about different strategies and were able to develop our own.
We won all six of our matches, and landed in qualification rank 1, winning us a banner to take home.
Southern Alberta Round 2
Southern Alberta Round 2
December 17, 2022 - William Aberhart High School
December 17, 2022 - William Aberhart High School
We did really well again in this competition. Our autonomous was able to read april tags to park correctly, and could also place one cone. We made 3D printed beacons which were shaped to let us place our beacon and a cone at the same time for extra points. One of them got run over by robot at one point, but we were able to fix it with tape. We also made pamphlets about what our robot did so other teams had an easy time scouting.
We had five wins and one loss, ending up in qualification rank two.
Alberta Southern Championship
Alberta Southern Championship
February 11, 2023 - Nelson Mandela High School
February 11, 2023 - Nelson Mandela High School
To start off, for qualifications we were part of the Finning division. We won all five of our matches in qualifications which let us be the first seed captain in the Finning division. Then, we chose #16932 Webber Wildcats to be part of our alliance. We were able to win the semi-finals, finals, and then finally, we won against the winning alliance of the Dow division to become the overall winner of the competition! We were super exited about our victory and had a lot of fun as well!
This competition also had judging, and we were the winner of the motivate award!
Alberta Championship
Alberta Championship
March 4-5, 2023 - St. Joseph's High School
March 4-5, 2023 - St. Joseph's High School
Going into this competition, we were super exited because it was our first competition outside of Calgary since Skystone. We thought it could be possible for us to win a spot in Worlds because of our excellent performance in the Southern Alberta Championship. Unfortunately, we had some bad luck with alliances and robot issues which placed us in qualification rank #13. This definitely lowered our spirits, but we had been talking to many different teams and knew that we'd have a good chance of being picked for an alliance.
For the finals, we were the first pick of the second seed alliance captained by #10544 Cyber Eagles - Silver, along with the second pick #14023 SCHS Robotics Team - Phoenix Fire. Winning every match in both the semi-finals and finals, we were crowned the winning alliance! Even though we were disappointed we didn't make it to worlds, we were still super happy with our performance!
Finally, during the awards ceremony of this competition, Emily was chosen as a Deans List Finalist! This means that even though our whole team didn't make it to worlds, she was still able to go!
Robot Design
Robot Design
This season, our robot was named Kevin which stood for:
Knowledgeable
Efficient
Valiant
Intelligent
Nifty
Kevin focused on placing cones as efficiently as possible using a elevator and 3D printed claw. Kevin also had a camera which allowed him to read April tags and park in the correct zone during autonomous.
Elevator
Elevator
This year, we put a lot of effort into improving our elevator. Last year, we used the REV robotics lift kit and extrusion with a continuous stringing system. It was very slow and wasn't able to slide downwards by itself. This year, however, we changed to using industrial drawer slides with a cascading stringing system. This was much faster and was a main reason for Kevin's success. We also programmed preset positions that matched the junction heights for quicker cone placement.
3D Printed Claw
3D Printed Claw
At the front of Kevin, attached to the elevator is a 3D printed claw. One part of the claw is stationary, while the other opens and closes to pick up cones. This claw was designed to have the same slope as the cones so it had the largest surface area possible to grip the cones. We also added foam padding to ensure the claw was gripping the cones well.
Odometry Pods
Odometry Pods
Originally, we programmed Kevin's autonomous codes using timers. However, we found that this was extremely inconsistent and largely depended on Kevin's battery levels. So, we decided to add odometry pods. These measure the distance Kevin travels during autonomous and allows our program to be much more accurate without relying on consistent battery levels.
Compact Drivetrain
Compact Drivetrain
On Kevin's drivetrain, we decided use 90 degree bevel gears which allowed the motors to sit perpendicular to the wheels. This way we could make the robot smaller and more manoeuvrable around junctions while still allowing for space in the centre of Kevin for the elevator. However, these gears did slip a lot through the season, and caused some inconsistency in the driving of the robot.
Mecanum Wheels
Mecanum Wheels
Like our previous years, we used mecanum wheels on Kevin. This allowed for greater manoeuvrability around the field and more consistency during autonomous.
Hub and Battery Mount
Hub and Battery Mount
On the back of Kevin, there is a vertical hub and battery mount that we 3D printed. It keeps all of our wires more organized while taking up less space.
AprilTags
AprilTags
Kevin has a webcam facing forwards so it is able to read our signal sleeve. Each section of the sleeve has an AprilTag (which basically functions as a mini QR code) that indicate where Kevin needs to park during autonomous.
Beacon
Beacon
Both of our beacons are 3D printed, and designed to fit on top of a cone. They are also designed so Kevin can place a beacon and a cone at the same time for extra points.
Robot Aligner
Robot Aligner
On both sides of our robot, there is a small bar that can extend outwards and indicate where to line up the robot in reference to the edge of a foam tile. Originally we used an external item to line it up, but we learned this was against the rules.
Meet the Team
Meet the Team
Our team consisted of seven students and two mentors. Only two people stayed from the previous year, and we had a mix of people who were new to FIRST, people who were a part of ATAA's FLL team, and people who were on different FTC teams from our organization.
Top row (left to right): Chris, Sam, Emily, Nyra, CaitlinBottom Row (left to right): Edmond, Anderson, Logan, Kael
Emily
Emily
This was Emily's fourth year on Strike Bots, and seventh year doing robotics with FIRST. She was 16 years old at the time. Her main roles on the team were coach, engineering portfolio, builder, strategy, and CAD. She was also selected as a Dean's List Finalist this year. Her hobbies outside of robotics include art, design, programming, and video games.
Nyra
Nyra
This was Nyra's first year on Strike Bots, but she was on one of our FLL teams for one year before this. She was 12 years old at the time. Her main roles on the team were design and human player. Her hobbies outside of robotics include art and air cadet.
Edmond
Edmond
This was Edmond's first year on Strike Bots. He was 13 years old at the time. His main roles on the team were building and human player. His hobbies outside of robotics include video games, reading, and coding.
Logan
Logan
This was Logan's second year on Strike Bots, and fourth year doing robotics with FIRST. He was 14 years old a the time. His main roles on the team were programmer and driver. His hobbies outside of robotics include math and programming
Kael
Kael
This was Kael's first year on Strike Bots. He was 13 years old at the time. His main role on the team was builder. His hobbies outside of robotics include video games and PC building.
Anderson
Anderson
This was Anderson's first year on Strike Bots, but he was on another FTC team from our organization for two years before that. He was 15 years old at the time. His main role on the team was builder. His hobbies outside of robotics include video games and lawn bowling
Sam
Sam
This was Sam's first year on Strike Bots. He was 14 years old at the time. His main roles on the team were builder and driver. His hobbies outside of robotics include sports.
Caitlin
Caitlin
This was Caitlin's fourth year as a mentor for Strike Bots. She works as a mechanical engineer. Her hobbies outside of robotics include crafting, piano, and running.
Chris
Chris
This was Chris' fourth year as a mentor for Strike Bots. He works as a mechanical engineer. His hobbies outside of robotics include golf, soccer, and car mechanics.
Outreach
Outreach
Maker Faire
Maker Faire
After the end of the Freight Frenzy season, we participated in the 2022 Calgary Maker Faire to spread awareness about first robotics. We were also there with the FLL, FRC, and other FTC teams from our organization (Alberta Tech Alliance Association).
We let people drive our Freight Frenzy robot and try to place blocks on the wobble platform (a game piece from Freight Frenzy). This gained the interest of many people, even if they weren't within the age range to participate in FTC. Some adults even commented they wished there was something similar to this for adults. If a kid was interested, but were too young for FTC, we prompted them to look into our FLL teams.
We also invited people to our open house which we were planning on hosting at our buildspace in a few weeks.
Open House
Open House
Along with the other teams in our organization, we hosted an open house at our buildspace to show of everything our FLL, FTC, and FRC teams do to anyone who was interested. In the end, over 100 people came through the doors and over 20 students were added the the FTC wait list.
Beakerhead
Beakerhead
At the very start of the season, we had another opporunity similar to Maker Faire called Beakerhead. We again were sharing a booth with the other teams in our organization where all of the teams were showing off their robots.
Unlike maker faire, there was enough room at Beakerhead to set up a field. We had two of our robots driving around, our main robot from last year, and a blank robot chassis.
Logo and Team Name
Logo and Team Name
This year, we decided to change up our logo because no one on the team really liked our previous one. After brainstorming how we could improve it, we ended up changing the logo to an alternate meaning of the word "strike". Instead of focusing on electricity, we changed to a sword which was striking.
Emily's Trip to Worlds
The following is written from Emily’s point of view.Emily's Trip to Worlds
TL;DR - Although we didn't make it to worlds as a team, I was chosen as a Dean's List Finalist so had the opportunity to go to worlds. I had an amazing time talking to and learning from other teams, and highly recommend going to worlds if you are able to. Even if your team didn't make it, worlds is an amazing experience and opportunity to learn from teams all around the world.
This is a video she made showcasing her time at worlds.
What Happened
What Happened
I flew in a day early and before it had even started, I was already amazed by the amount of robotics everywhere. The teams I saw walking around and a sign in our hotel immediately made me feel right at home with so many people who have the same passion for robotics that I have. There was even a FIRST sign that I got a picture of that night before it got too overcrowded.
On the following days the amount of people just kept growing to the point where one day in the morning when me and my mom wanted to get starbucks, the line at the hotel was at least a thirty minute wait because of all the robotics teams. So, we decided to walk fifteen minutes to a random starbucks inside an office building. We felt incredibly out of place until we noticed that there were still at least ten people from the robotics competition at this starbucks, in the middle of an office building!
I don’t think I’ll ever be in another place that has so much robotics happening absolutely everywhere.
How I got to Worlds
How I got to Worlds
It all started when Chris and Caitlin (our mentors) decided to nominate me for the Dean’s List Award. If you’re unaware of what the Dean’s List is, in the words of the first website: it is an award “to recognize the leadership and dedication of FIRST’s most outstanding secondary school students.” I was extremely grateful of course, but I honestly didn’t think it would progress any further than this. There’s just so many amazing people who I was sure were much more qualified to be chosen as a finalist.
However despite my doubt, I was chosen as one of the two finalists from Alberta! This meant that I had the chance to go to worlds, even though my team didn’t qualify. This left me in a small dilemma, since the championship was on the exact same weekend as my school's band trip to Los Angeles. After thinking about it for a while, I decided to choose going to worlds, and I am not exaggerating when I say that this is by far the best choice I could have possibly made. Although my band teacher wasn’t the happiest when he had to switch around all the percussion parts last minute because I wasn’t going on the trip, I had a much better and more impactful time at worlds than I would have on my band trip.
What I Expected
What I Expected
So going in, I didn’t really know what to expect for what I would do at worlds. I mean, I wasn’t competing, so I figured there would be a lot of down time. I’d probably sign up to volunteer, maybe I’d explore the space centre one day, then I’d go to the banquet on Friday and that would be it. I wasn’t even sure if I’d be let into the FTC pits since I wasn’t competing. But I still chose it over my school band trip since it was a once in a lifetime experience—I could only be nominated for the Dean’s List Award once.
But I will say that I was completely wrong about this. There were so many things to do from watching matches, from FLL, FTC, and FRC, talking to all of the teams in the pits, and looking around the Innovation Fair. I didn’t even get close to doing everything I wanted to do.
When I walked into the convention centre the next day and headed to the place where I was supposed to receive my ribbon for being a Dean’s List Finalist. I realized that the desk where I received these items was right in the middle of the FTC pits. That means I was able to go to the pits after all! After almost immediately finding the other Dean’s List Finalist from Alberta (whose team had also made it to worlds [#10544 Cyber Eagles - Silver]) I started talking to different teams about their robot, outreach efforts, and much more.
Every team I talked to was super enthusiastic and kind about answering basically any question I had. Before I knew it, I had spent almost the whole day talking to all 192 FTC teams! I was amazed by not only every team’s unique approach to the challenge and complex engineering of their robot, but the incredible outreach initiatives each team was a part of. This opened my mind to the possibilities of the types of outreach and innovations I could make to our team’s robot. It’s practically impossible to express the extent to which these teams inspired me to improve my own team.
There was also the Innovation Fair which had many companies and universities to talk to. It was super interesting to see all of the innovations and ways different companies make use of STEAM.
I also had an amazing time following team #10544 Cyber Eagles - Silver’s matches and talking with them a lot through the Championship as they were the captain of our alliance at provincials and one of their members was the other Dean’s List Finalist from Alberta. They did really well, and ended up finishing in qualification rank #2 in their division. This meant that they made it into the semifinals as a captain, and although they didn’t make it to finals, I was super proud of them!
The Dean’s List Banquet was also super fun. It was a little short as they had to let the students get back to competing, but it was amazing to hear from Dean Kamen, and some of the other speakers there. I wasn’t one of the ten winners, but I still had a great time!
Top Two Lesson Learned
Top Two Lesson Learned
As much as I can express how beneficial it is for people to go and learn from other teams at worlds, I know it's definitely not possible for everyone to do this for themselves, so here’s the top two lessons I learned from this experience.
The Importance of Branding
The Importance of Branding
I’ve been in charge of my team’s logo for three years now and I’ve already changed it twice. At first I never considered the importance of this logo; I never saw it as anything but a design we put on our t-shirt. When I changed it the second time, it was simply because I wanted to update it after my skills with logo designing had improved. The colours were chosen for the logo and nothing more. This was the extent of my team's branding for four years; a logo and a team name. We didn’t have any social media, a website, or any branding whatsoever. And you may be thinking “well it’s just a robotics team, how much does this really matter?” That’s what I thought too.
However, my opinion on this completely flipped after worlds. From the teams there, it was clear to see who had spent a lot of time on branding because it showed. They were much more noticeable and memorable.
I think one of the best examples of this was team #19044 Peppers. Their name is short and memorable, their logo is simple yet memorable, their shirts were instantly recognisable, their robot matched the team's logo making it easy to spot, they have the cutest red panda as a mascot, their pit looked amazing and was super recognisable, and even their instagram account and website looks amazing. I honestly can’t stop complimenting them because everything that they did made them super memorable to me.
Photos taken from @cyliispepp on instagram
You might be wondering how being memorable helps your robotics team, which I agree, at first glance it doesn’t seem that useful. But, from pure speculation here’s how I think it can help.
It makes you more memorable to other teams. This could generally improve the impression your team makes and could increase your chance of being chosen as an alliance partner.
It makes you more memorable to judges. I don’t exactly have any evidence of this, but I think having a memorable team that stands out to the judges could help towards winning an award if two teams are equally deserving of it.
If your team is looking to gain sponsors, a welcoming and memorable brand could make them more likely to take interest in your team.
Overall, talking to all of the teams at worlds inspired me to work on my team's branding a lot for next year. It's the reason I'm working on a new logo (for the third time) while focusing on consistent team colours, starting an instagram, and even making this website!
The Possibility of Outreach
The Possibility of Outreach
This year was the first year that my team really started working towards expanding our outreach. We went to maker events (such as Maker Faire and Beakerhead) to show people our robot and inspire younger kids to take an interest in robotics, or even STEAM in general. These were impactful, and we reached a lot of people. But our outreach was always focused around our robot. It wasn’t until talking to many of the teams at worlds that I realized outreach can be much more than just our robot.
One type of outreach I never ever considered was teams using skills they had learned through robotics to help others. For example, team #18317 Steel Eels made switch adapted toys which were donated to local Elementary Schools to help make toys accessible to kids with disabilities. Another example was team #10544 Cyber Eagles - Silver who organized an easter egg hunt for visually impaired children using custom 3D printed eggs that beep so they are still able to participate in the fun. Both of these examples aren’t focusing around robotics but instead using STEAM skills and resources learned from robotics to help the community.
Another type of outreach I never considered until worlds was connecting with different experts such as engineers, business owners, and program directors for various topics related to STEAM. Teams who did this would both learn about what they do and sometimes show them a little about their robot.
Finally the third main type of outreach I found was mentoring or helping other robotics teams. This was one that we had considered, and done a bit of this year but not to the extent of many of the teams at worlds. It made me realize the extent to which helping other robotics teams was possible.
All three of these outreach types opened the possibility of robotics outreach much further in my mind and made me realize it’s not limited to just our team’s robot. This will undoubtedly affect our outreach in the future.
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