September 10th marked the beginning of the 2022-23 game for FTC teams, POWERPLAY. Hosted at Heartfield Academy in Flowood, Trial and Error Robotics attended the season kickoff that revealed the new game to central Mississippi FTC teams. POWERPLAY, presented by Raytheon Technologies, has teams navigating their robot between poles called “junctions” and stacking cones vertically upon them. Along with unveiling the game and giving teams a first look at the field we will be competing on, season kickoff also hosted a variety of introductory classes for participants. Here’s what our team members had to say about those classes, the new game, and the event itself.

Shayne: “I took the 3D printing class, engineering notebook class, and the class that covered preparing for a qualifier. The engineering notebook class specifically gave me a lot of insight as a new member into how to write, organize, and format a notebook. The game itself is interesting, a unique spin on a simple concept. To best navigate between junctions, we decided that a Mecanum drivetrain would provide the most maneuverability because of its strafing abilities. We programmers also discussed utilizing multi-threading, a technique that would allow us to drive forward and manipulate game elements with a claw simultaneously.”

Jackson: “I took classes on outreach and preparation for qualifiers. The game this year is a bit simpler than previous seasons, which I like, but it also provides a challenge for teams willing to undertake it. The main systems I identified as being necessary as a builder are simply a lift mechanism and a claw to pick up cones, specifically, I want to use a pincer design.”

Lucas: “The presentation was very good, this season’s game is interesting. The autonomous portion of the game is going be a fun challenge to figure out, but the driver controlled period should be easy to program. I enjoyed learning about the notebook in our engineering notebook class, and I learned about different filaments in our 3D printer class. As far as the design of the robot goes, I was just thinking a scissor lift with a rubber claw on the end that would extend to place cones would be most effective”

Thanks to Heartfield Academy for hosting our kickoff and all the volunteers that made it possible. We at Trial and Error Robotics are looking forward to a season of success and the new challenges that we will inevitably face when designing a robot for a unique set of parameters. Until next time, we will see you on the game field!