Welcome back to the TerrorBlog! We apologize for the lack of updates, but a lot has happened since our last post. Kickoff 2023 has started, and the TerrorBytes have been working hard to solve the problems presented to us by FIRST’s new game, Charged Up. In this post, we’ll go through a few important things that have happened so far this season, as well as some interviews with team members in key positions.
First off, we interviewed our current Engineering Captain, Connor Burke, about his thoughts on the game this year and the various challenges presented.
Interviewer: What do you think of our progress this year, as compared to previous years?
Connor: We’re doing a lot better this year compared to last year, we have our drivetrain designed already, as well as a lot more strategies for this game.
Interviewer: A new addition to this years game is the charge station, a platform you can balance on to earn points. What is your opinion on it?
Connor: I feel like the extra points that it provides are not going to matter in the long run, but the charge station is a nice way to include rookie teams and allow them to gain crucial points.
Interviewer: There’s been some great energy this year, any last thoughts on the game or this year as a whole?
Connor: We are going to Worlds!
Next we interviewed an alumni from the team, Julien Berla, who is currently acting as a mentor for our team.
Interviewer: How do you feel about this year’s game?
Julian: I don’t know what to think of the game yet. I definitely feel like I need to see it played before I decide how I feel about it. Last year, I was skeptical of Rapid React but I came to enjoy it after seeing each teams’ take on the robot.
Interviewer: How do you feel about the heightened accessibility of the game for rookie teams through the removal of climbing?
Julian: I like the fact that rookie teams can contribute more to gameplay and the game definitely contributes more to general FRC equity. I am also excited about how much easier it will be to convert this game to a MiniFRC format.
Interviewer: How would you describe the team’s progress so far?
Julian: So far we have had lots of strategy discussion as we work to break down the game and determine how we want to play it. We started prototyping relatively on day 3 and delaying prototyping has allowed us to develop better direction. We have already started making the drivetrain with many parts in fabrication which I believe is the earliest we have ever started fabricating for the build season.
Julian: I think we might even be ready to go by the end of the week. Our progress is far better than last year and though I wasn’t at the early build season meetings last year because of my new job I can certainly tell that the team has more drive this year. Last year we were indecisive and often procrastinated but this year the team has been far better at making decisions and trusting their own ability to do good work.
Interviewer: For the final question, what are your general thoughts for the year?
Julian: I am very excited for the season to come. I want to see hardware as soon as possible because ultimately, I believe that it is necessary to break things to fix them. The sooner we start breaking things the sooner we can fix them.
Kickoff is still in full swing, and we’re hoping to put out some more blog posts before the season ends.
“I guess you could say we are Charged Up” – Gavin Clark
Rumble in the Roads and MiniFRC Kickoff