First Robotics Competition 2020/2021

24 May 2021

ABOUT US

Hi, we are a group of 31 students participating in the 'First Robotics Competition' (FRC) which was founded by Dean Kamen and the late Dr. Woodie Flowers in 1989 to raise awareness about STEM and provide a platform for students to hone their technical skills and display them through a robotics competition. Our team (Wall-East #8540) shares that same mentality. Not only are we passionate about building robots, we consider ourselves privileged to be able to share and promote STEM amongst our communities. 

2020/2021 was our rookie year in the competition, however, the process to start the team began during early summer of 2020. UWCSEA students (current members of our team) participated in a skill-building session in Java programming and using Fusion 360 (Computer Aided Design software) organised by FRC team Elev8 in India. We also joined webinars on how to start FRC teams where we learnt how to approach the school, conduct outreach, and the design and development process for building the robot. Having garnered these skills, we presented the idea to Mr. Dunn from the activities department. We also spoke to DT teachers and received confirmation for the program at the school in late August after which we registered for the competition and finalised the team members (10 in construction, 15 in programming, and six for outreach). Having laid the groundwork for the team, we began tackling the competition’s challenges. 

As a rookie team, we interacted with numerous veteran teams in Singapore and India for advice regarding robot construction and team management. For the first few months, we mainly interacted with Team Elev8 from Dhirubhai Ambani International School in Mumbai. As the year progressed, we reached out to local teams: Beyond the Flames from NPSI and One Degree North from SAS. These partnerships were crucial as working with them allowed us to improve our technical skills, learn the intricacies of the competition, and develop a better understanding of how they organise their team. 

Apart from reaching out to other FRC teams, we required mentors to supervise and advise us from both technical and managerial perspectives. We had the privilege of working with our mentors: Mr. Zobrist (from DT), Mr. Dunn (from the Activities Department), and Ms. Majumder (from team Elev8). Throughout the year we faced hundreds of challenges ranging from technical issues (we blew a fuse and couldn't identify the problem for an hour) and problems setting up outreach. However, our mentors helped us with every step of this journey, which increased each member’s dedication towards the robot. 

CONSTRUCTION

Given our status as a rookie team, a lack of experience in designing and building robots was one of our major drawbacks. However, through a series of mishaps, iterative loops, and quite a bit of 'scuffing' we achieved what we had thought to previously be unthinkable. This was thanks to the unrelenting motivation of our team members to see the project through and the amazing mentorship from Mr. Zobrist who made the time to help guide us in the process. The journey was not without its struggles. From an inability to be decisive regarding the robot's design to an unfortunate, near-fatal fall of the robot from a table. That being said, we learned from the experience as a whole and with a new refined perspective, we look forward to next year's competition.

PROGRAMMING AND ELECTRICALS

We were mostly fumbling our way through the circuitry and programming at the start of the year. However as the competition drew closer, we had a major responsibility to get the robot driving. Our team stepped up to that challenge and overcame it, coming out the other side with a much deeper understanding of both the technical and collaborative skills required to make this competition successful. There are still many challenges we haven’t been able to overcome like pneumatics and autonomous control but we are excited to tackle those problems in next year’s competition. 

OUTREACH

Outreach is a significant aspect of the FIRST Robotics Competition. We as a team wanted to ensure that we do our part by spreading STEM awareness throughout our community as a continuous process during the off-season and build season. Members of our team were teaching assistants for courses in CAD and Java being taught to underprivileged girls in India. We helped them gain skills that enhanced their STEM education. We also provided them with mentorship when they entered the FIRST Tech Challenge and the girls designed and built their robots using the skills we helped teach them in the course. We conducted webinars about FRC with schools in Singapore, India, and Hong Kong, many of which are planning to start robotics programs in their school for next year with our help. To ensure girls are represented and aware of STEM opportunities we started a 'Girls for STEM' campaign during which we will conduct webinars with female industry leaders to empower girls, as well as plan activities, centered on robotics. Our outreach allows us to give back to the community and it is a cherished part of the competition. 

RESULTS

Team Wall-East has had an incredibly successful rookie year: we completed the construction of a robot that competed in several challenges listed by the competition, collaborated with other teams in Singapore, and conducted outreach within our communities. All the hard work from the team members and supporting teachers has greatly paid off as the team has been awarded the Rookie Game Changer Award among all FRC teams in the pacific region. This was the team’s goal for the season and fulfilling it despite the many challenges we faced has been rewarding for the team and the school. Additionally, the team captain Vedant has earned The Dean’s List Award across the pacific region. We now await the results of the world championships. 

FUTURE PLANS

As a rookie team, this year has been instrumental for learning. The experience of participating in the competition for a year has resulted in a highly organised and highly skilled team for the future. We laid the foundation for a successful and global robotics program at UWCSEA which will prove to be sustainable now that we have shown the significant positive experiences each member of the team and the school gains from FRC. For the future, we hope to expand our outreach beyond just our continent and build more efficient robots that can compete for the FIRST world championship.