On January 3, 2015 Team Dave gathered at the University of Waterloo to attend the UW FIRST Kickoff event. Along with 16 other teams, Dave was introduced to this years game, Recycle Rush. Recycle Rush is a recycling-themed game played by two Alliances of three robots each. Robots score points by stacking totes on scoring platforms, capping those stacks with recycling containers, and properly disposing of pool noodles, representing litter.
The team spent Sunday afternoon brainstorming preliminary robot design, as well as narrowing our vision on how we wish to approach this year’s game. We looked at how the robot would be able to pick up totes, as well as this year’s drive train. After a hard day’s work, the team went home to sleep on it and come up with new ideas. Monday, team Dave continued to brainstorm new ideas, prototype, and work with the new electronics to create a simple chassis. With our stomachs filled from a delicious meal provided by a Team Dave family, the team worked long into the night continuing to work on our designs and ideas.
On Wednesday, the team continued with its design process, working on more prototypes for the pickup mechanism and the overall robot. The team also worked on its chairman’s award presentation and worked on our business plan for the coming year.
Overall, the team is feeling great and looking forward to this years game and continuing to work on the robot.