2017 STEAMworks

2017 saw the Friarbots reach new heights with one of the most advanced Friarbot machines to date. Vulcan was designed to play all aspects of STEAMworks: score fuel, collect and place gears, and climb aboard the airship during the end game. The “turntable” indexer in the 100 “fuel unit” capacity hopper integrated with the sleek turreted single wheel flywheel to allow for high-efficiency scoring at around 7-8 balls per second. The “dustpan” gear collector allowed Vulcan to pick up gears from the floor and place them onto the airship. On the programming side, the robot used a Nexus 5 for vision tracking giving Vulcan the ability to track the high efficiency boiler at almost any angle. With Vulcan, the Friarbots were able to reach the finals of the Los Angeles Regional, win the OC Regional, rank 2nd in the Hopper Division at the FIRST Championship, and reach the finals of Chezy Champs 2017.

2016 Stronghold

2016 

2015 Recycle Rush

2015 tested the mechanical ingenuity of the Friarbots in order to devise a mechanism designed to stack plastic totes scattered around the field.

2014 Aerial Assist

2014 required intense teamwork as the robots passed a large exercise ball back and forth and into a 7ft goal.

2013 Ultimate Ascent

2013 represented the greatest engineering effort for the Friarbots to date.  Our 2013 robot was named in honor of Servite priest Father Ed Penonzek who passed away in March. Ed featured a 50 point climb-and-dump system that allowed us to win the Industrial Design Award sponsored by General Motors at the Los Angeles Regional and the Innovation in Control Award sponsored by Rockwell Automation at the Las Vegas Regional.  Our robot played all aspects of the game, including autonomous scoring from the back of the pyramid, tele-op cycle-shooting, climbing to the top level of the pyramid, and dumping into the pyramid goal.  We reached the Los Angeles semi-finals as the #1 overall pick and Las Vegas as the #4 alliance captain.

2012 Rebound Rumble

2012 was a year of major improvement for the Friarbots. This year’s game, Rebound Rumble, required a robot to get styrofoam basketballs though hoops in addition to crossing a bump or bridge in the middle of the field. The team continued its use of mecanum wheels in this year’s competition. Pneumatics were used on the robot’s bridge deployer. The scoring mechanisms consisted of a conveyor up the middle of the robot and a shooter, placed on a turret, at the top of the robot. This season’s robot participated in the Los Angeles Regional (Semi-Finalists), the Central Valley Regional (Finalists), and the SCRFF Off-Season Classic (Finalists).

2011 Logomotion

2011 was Team 3309’s sophomore attempt in the FIRST Robotics Competition. In this year’s game, Logomotion, the team used CAD to design its first fully sheet metal sheet chassis. The robot, named Juliana, used a motor-driven arm to grab and lift Logomotion pieces onto scoring pegs. This was Team 3309’s first year using Mecanum Drive (8″). The robot also featured pneumatics on its minibot-deployment system. The minibot, named the Kraken, was fully mechanised and used a magnet to grip the pole. This season’s robot participated in the Los Angeles Regional.

2010 Breakaway

In 2010, our rookie year in FIRST Robotics, Team 3309 acquired the foundation and ideas which lead to its current status. The 2010 game, Breakaway, was similar to soccer. For the game, the Team used FIRST-provided C-Channels for the chassis and a sheet metal with plexiglass cover. The robot used a tank drive system consisting of 4 wheels mounted at the corners and had a basic autonomous program with a fully functioning teloperated program. This season’s robot participated in the Los Angeles Regional.