Dreadbots Sail to Finals at Chelsea

By Dreadbot reporter Elliot McMichael

Each year, FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) challenges thousands of high school teams to design a robot to compete in a new game. During matches, alliances made of three teams work together to score points during an autonomous period—when robots operate on their own—followed by a driver-controlled period.

The Dreadbots, Dexter High School’s FIRST Robotics Competition team, sailed their way through an exciting performance at the Chelsea District Event held March 6-8. The Dreadbots took second place in the hotly contested event, an achievement that helped vault them to a state ranking of 25^th out of 500 teams.

After countless hours of designing, building, and testing their robot, the team arrived at the competition geared up and ready to put their creation to the test. The team faced off against teams from all over the district, adapting to new strategies and slowly climbing up the ranks while showcasing their hard work and engineering skills at the event. “It’s cool, being a part of spreading STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), and showing what STEM really is. I’m really excited we got this opportunity,” said Landon St. Romain, Safety lead & Programming Subteam.

Though the Dreadbots now meet year-round with multiple outreach events, the formal competition season starts in January with the annual game reveal video where teams across the world learn what objectives this season has in store for them.

The team then split into subteams and began working to design and prototype different robot mechanisms. Many of these designs were developed using computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) systems. “We can fabricate a lot quicker and use our materials a lot more efficiently, which drove us to incorporate CAD a lot more in our designs,” said Ella Walsh, Mechanical Subteam.

The team also used their CNC (Computer Numerical Control) mill, nicknamed Candice, to manufacture many of the robot’s parts. As lead CAD Subteam Darren Cronstron jokes, it helps get parts made “without as much freshmen suffering.” Parts are cut much more accurately and several times quicker without human error on a CNC mill than on a band saw.

Once the team settled on the different mechanisms of the robot, components were put through several iterations of testing and refining. Parts were made, strategies were adjusted, and the team worked toward creating a competitive robot for the Chelsea event. “We’re good at learning from our mistakes,” said Emily Weiszhaar, Mechanical Subteam.

“Sue-Rexie” (the name of this year’s robot) had several strengths that helped the Dreadbots succeed during competition. One of the robot’s biggest advantages was the smooth coordination between its intake, ball storage, and shooting systems, allowing the team to score quickly and efficiently. “I would say that our storage, intake, and spindexer-to-shooter system is really well tuned,” said Isabel Martinez, team co-captain & co-mechanical Subteam lead.

Another standout feature was the robot’s turret control system, which allowed it to aim and shoot from a wide range of field positions. “Our turret is unique because it can shoot from almost anywhere while the robot is moving,” said Keegan Mahoney of the mechanical Subteam.

The robot’s electrical systems also contributed to its reliability throughout the event. “The power chain works very well, so we can shoot consistently,” said Matthew Wheeler of the electrical Subteam and the team’s human player (humans are allowed to help score points by throwing balls in this year’s game).

The Dreadbots couldn’t have built such a strong robot without assistance from their wonderful sponsors, generous local and national companies that have provided invaluable support over their sixteen-year history. The Dreadbots would especially like to thank new sponsors Bendix, who provided a grant for much needed pit and competition travel equipment, and PBC, who donated linear bearings that the team intends to integrate into future robots.  Dexter also thanks Switchbox, a Dexter based engineering consultancy specializing in system design for energy mobility, and Leidos, a national security and health company, both of whom donated generously.

The Dreadbots were excited to attend the inaugural district FRC competition held at Chelsea High School.  Even though this was Chelsea’s first time hosting the event, 39 teams from all over Michigan were able to participate fairly and gained valuable experience at this nice venue.  Dexter and all other participants were very appreciative of how smoothly the matches ran.

However, the competition didn’t start smoothly for the Dreadbots. Starting with a robot inspection, the team was quickly informed of an accidental radio violation. The issue stemmed from Rule R616 (of the FIRST Game Manual). This rule was recently added because “If you power the radio both directly and through the radio power module, it can give it too much power and could cause the radio to stop working or even become a fire risk,” said Matthew Wheeler, Electrical Subteam.  The team responded by removing the POE (Power Over Ethernet) wiring in time for the first match.

Unfortunately, the problems didn’t stop there. During the Dreadbots’ first match, the robot dramatically collided with another robot which caused Sue-Rexie’s expandable storage panels to almost completely separate during the match. Luke Baur, driver & team co-captain, was unhappy that it happened but added “we pushed through and won the match.”

After that match, the Dreadbots were able to quickly identify what went wrong and swiftly repaired their robot. The expandable ball storage sub-system is made from  flexible polycarbonate material. During the match, it flexed so much that the slider joints separated, causing partial bin failure. The Dreadbots added bracing along the polycarbonate panels to limit the amount of flexing during matches. This solution worked perfectly, keeping the storage intact for the rest of the competition.

The stands were electric during the exciting 2-minute and 40-second-long matches, with hundreds of people cheering for their teams and alliances. “I think team spirit is very important. It builds morale. It keeps the team tightly knit together. Overall, it’s very good for people and teams,” said Max Rogers, Spirit captain.

The Dreadbots climbed in the standings over the two-day event, ultimately advancing to 3rd place before alliance selection, where they became captain of the #2 alliance for finals competition. Working closely with teams “The Dragons” (Lake Orion high school) and “F.A.S.T” (Fowlerville Area Scientific Technicians), the #2 alliance pressed through the competition, using competitive strategy and teamwork. Dexter’s #2 alliance cruised through finals, winning every match except against the #1 alliance, ultimately placing second overall for this inaugural Chelsea event.

The Dreadbots had a great competition. Not only did they finish in second place, they also won the Judges’ award for the team’s Green Alliance website. This was concrete recognition of all the hard work by this student-driven team. The Green Alliance is a Dreadbot-created website for teams to implement machine vision coding themselves without off-the-shelf software. It gives teams good experience and understanding of what goes into machine vision, rather than buying costly software.

Team co-captain Isabel Martinez summed up the event, saying “I think we did great. The effort we put into the robot really paid off. This competition showed us that dedication, hard work, and the effort put into doing something you love—like building a robot—can really pay off. There will always be room for improvement, and that drive to better ourselves and make the team the best we can is why we will be successful this year.”