Event floor non-technical talking points 2020
Triple Helix student captain Glenna Gomez shares these talking points which were used when discussing non-technical aspects of the team with volunteer judges and other visitors at FRC events in 2020.
NMIR correspondence
In constantly striving for an improved FIRST experience for Triple Helix students, team administrators share partially redacted Non-Medical Incident Reports (NMIR) and supporting documentation submitted to FIRST Chesapeake and FIRST headquarters.
Diversity/inclusion failure – March 17, 2023
Re-submission of 2018 report – March 5, 2020
Safety volunteer at offseason event – February 2, 2018
Accessible archery
This spring, Triple Helix once again partnered with a Virginia Commonwealth University occupational therapy doctoral student to develop assistive devices for people in the Hampton Roads region. The team created this accessible bow mount for Camp Bruce McCoy, a residential summer camp for adults with a brain injury in Chesapeake, Virginia. This device will enable single-arm operation of a recurve bow which will be mounted in the shooting gallery at the camp. The team provided both right-handed and left-handed versions of the bow mount to the camp.
The bow mount is fabricated from laminated sheets of 1/4″ clear polycarbonate. Triple Helix cuts this material on our 80-watt laser cutter, but these parts can alternatively be fabricated with more common shop tools (e.g. jigsaw, hand drill). The bow mount enables the user to aim the bow in both the azimuth and elevation directions before shooting an arrow. The bow can be installed at any height, enabling archery practice for both standing and seated users.
Newsletter: Triple Helix: Finalists and EI Award winners in Northern VA!
Triple Helix Robotics were two-time medalists at the FIRST Chesapeake district tournament held this weekend in Haymarket, VA.
Of the 38 teams competing, Triple Helix was ranked 4th at the conclusion of qualifying rounds, demonstrating top-tier Power Cell scoring capability in both the teleoperated and autonomous modes of play, as well as the ability to balance out alliance partner robots when hanging from the Generator Switch. Triple Helix was proud to be the first overall pick of the alliance selections, where the top 8 ranked teams choose their two partners to play with in the elimination rounds. Together with partners 623 and 686, our alliance proceeded through to the final rounds, where we eventually lost to the high-powered 2nd seed alliance of 4472, 1895, and 2421.
Our team was awarded the Engineering Inspiration award, which FIRST considers a 2nd highest honor, but Triple Helix considers a top honor. The award recognizes our team for our work advancing STEM in our community in interesting and effective ways. The judging process for EI is somewhat inscrutable, but it’s probably reflective of an overall impression that the entire corps of judges got from their interactions our entire team over the course of the event, including our Chairman’s Award and Dean’s List interviews as well as many many visits to our pit.
Based on our great performance in Haymarket, we have clinched our berth at the District Championship at the Hampton Coliseum in early April.
For the first time in the team history, Triple Helix can now say that we’re entering somewhat of a home stand, as we look forward to playing our next two events close to home, starting with our next event at Churchland HS in Portsmouth on March 14-15. We invite everyone to come visit the event to cheer us on!
Nate
Genome Mu (2020) reveal video
Reveal video for Genome Mu, the Triple Helix robot for the 2020 FIRST Robotics Competition game, Infinite Recharge.
Genome Mu (2020) BOM
This Bill of Materials (BOM) is a partial accounting of the costs of Genome Mu, our robot for the 2020 FIRST Robotics Competition game, Infinite Recharge. While not representative of actual robot development costs (see our organization’s FY2019-2020 budget), this BOM satisfies the FRC inspection requirements, and will be presented to the team’s Robot Inspectors at our official events in 2020.
Woodie Flowers submission 2020
Triple Helix students are proud to publish this Woodie Flowers Award nominating essay for our mentor Wendy Bretton.
Wendy Bretton first joined Triple Helix four years ago as a software mentor, but her impact on the team has been much larger than that. As a professional software engineer for over 20 years, Mrs. Bretton has an incredible amount of knowledge that she is willing to share with both students and mentors alike. She has created an atmosphere on the software subteam where everyone’s input is valuable. Because of this, it is rare to see Mrs. Bretton without at least one or two students by her side. She is constantly encouraging members to take on different tasks and learn more.
Mrs. Bretton has always been devoted to promoting STEM, even long before she joined Triple Helix. As a mother of two, when her kids were in elementary school she heard about FLL, and after finding out that no one at their school wanted to start a team, she started one herself. This FLL team has been to state championships countless times and is still going strong. Mrs. Bretton even has her own website that shares a variety of STEM topics, activities, and ideas. She is often contacted by new parents asking how to get their children involved in STEM. Her devotion and dedication to promoting STEM has had a tremendous effect on those around her.
Interestingly enough, when Mrs. Bretton first joined Triple Helix, she was not expecting to become the software lead, however, she quickly became an asset to the team by taking over the lead position when the previous software mentor left. Not only did she keep the software subteam afloat, but she implemented a structured, well-documented framework that allows students to begin contributing from day one by following procedures shared in Google Keep notes. Mrs. Bretton focuses on ensuring that every student has an equal opportunity to participate. Carson, one of the youngest members on the team says, “Mrs. Bretton makes sure everyone has a task regardless of their experience level.”
Mrs. Bretton strives to ensure that all students are able to express their creativity. She encourages teamwork throughout the subteam, and because of this, students are often found working together on the code. Long after a meeting ends, Mrs. Bretton will be looking over all of the altered code and integrating it into a stable baseline so that testing can start at the next meeting. This system guarantees that all the students can actively participate in writing the code. She even managed to implement this practice with last year’s robot – the most complicated robot the team has made.
In conclusion, Mrs. Bretton is more than just the team’s software mentor. She not only works alongside the students, but also provides life advice, support, and even rides to meetings. Liz, one of the team’s alumni, states, “Her positive energy truly bleeds out into everything that she does.” To sum it up, Mrs. Bretton’s passion for promoting STEM has created many lifelong learners, gracious professionals, and thoughtful citizens who continue to be active in the STEM community.
Standard roller end configurations
The game piece handling mechanisms within Triple Helix’s 2020 competition robot employ rollers of various shapes and sizes. This brief slide deck outlines the team’s 4 standard configurations for the ends of these rollers. We classify idle rollers, driven rollers, and two types of driving rollers.
Case for wide angle VGA USB camera module
A generic camera case for a VGA USB Camera Module (640×480). Includes flexible mounting points. Camera can be oriented as desired and includes a connection port on the back with two small slots for a strain-relieving zip-tie. Secure camera board with M1.6 screws.
Latching switch adapter for arcade button
Arcade pushbuttons normally use standard miniature snap action microswitches to provide momentary input to an electrical device. When latching push-on/push-off switch functionality is desired, use this adapter to install a low-cost latching pushbutton switch in place of the microswitch.