First Meeting of the 2025 Season

By Nalin, Fernando, David, Anda, Elm, Alyssa, Nirjha, and Pavit

This Saturday we had our first official meeting of the season where we welcomed back returning members and several new recruits who were excited to start their journey with Iron Reign.

We started off by going over the game reveal video and discussing initial insights and questions everyone had about the DECODE season. What was going to be the most important task to accomplish? What subsystems would we need to complete the challenges? After watching our Robot in 2 Days video, everyone brainstormed ideas to questions like these so the new recruits could see how our initial ideating process works and could get some first ideas before they went to discuss within their groups. We also went over key components of the game manual, covering important sections like the awards criteria, specific rules including different types of fouls and penalties, and crucial dimensions to know such as the maximum robot size and the sizing of various game elements. Understanding these specifications early helps everyone make informed design decisions as they move forward.

After our introduction to Iron Reign and the DECODE season, returning members broke out into a separate group to start drawing out ideas and working with the starting chassis Iron Giant used last year. This gave them a chance to build on what they already knew while exploring new possibilities for this season's challenges.

With all the new recruits, a couple of Reign members taught them the basics for a robot to work, including the Control and Expansion hub, driver station, game controller, and the batteries. We demonstrated how the mecanum wheels on Iron Core's starting chassis work and showed them how to operate the driver station so they could get comfortable with the fundamental components.

We then facilitated a discussion about different ways to intake and shoot the artifacts, helping them draw out possible solutions like a counter rotating wheel design and a ramp intake design. After teaching them how to draw out their ideas in a way that makes sense and follows proper documentation, we showed them a rubber band belt mechanism from a previous season that could help them get started creating a physical prototype. We helped them test the belt system by rotating it using a drill and testing it at different angles to see how it performed. This gave them hands-on experience with prototyping and testing, which are crucial skills for successful robot development. We then taught them the importance of recognizing both the pros and cons to any design approach, so we created a pro and con table together to evaluate what changes the belt would need to function better for this game. This exercise helped them understand that every design involves trade-offs and that good engineers need to think critically about their solutions. We also assisted them with creating individual to-do lists that would help them start the season strong and stay organized as they take on new responsibilities and learn new skills.

Afterwards, we took a break from prototyping and building to show them the advancement structure for the new season. We also showed them Iron Reign's portfolio from last season to give them a taste of the other side of FTC - the documentation, outreach, and presentation aspects that are just as important as building a good robot. This helped the new members understand that FTC is about more than just mechanical design and that successful teams need to excel in multiple areas including engineering documentation, community involvement, and strategic planning.

Next Saturday, we plan to start teaching some of the people interested in coding the fundamentals and get them started with Github and Android Studio. We will continue running the Bootcamp and further teach them skills that will help them succeed throughout the season, but we will also let them explore robotics by themselves and let them develop their own problem-solving skills through hands-on experimentation.

The meeting showed great energy from both returning and new members, and we're excited to see how everyone develops their skills throughout the season. With our mix of experienced members and fresh perspectives, we hope to set ourselves up for a strong season in DECODE!