Four mentors from the Cedar Falls High School Robotics Team traveled to Shenzhen, China in December, 2013. The purpose of the trip was to provide training for new FRC teams in China. The mentors conducted various sessions that focused on team organization, robot design, robot construction, sensors and programming. The sessions lasted for four days and were attended by mentors and students from seven rookie teams and one returning veteran team. The sessions were hosted at the home school for FRC team 4830.
The sessions provided valuable training information as well as plenty of opportunity for discussions and question and answer times. A highlight of the training was the “suitcase bot” that was designed specifically to transport to China for the event. This robot base was designed to fold into a size that could fit inside a suitcase to travel as luggage during the trip. The “suitcase bot” provided hands on interaction with basic electronics components and control systems. Additionally, the robot could be fitted with different kinds of wheels to demonstrate multiple drive systems. A favorite of the Chinese teams was the mecanum wheel option. This was demonstrated for teams during driving practice sessions on the schools outdoor basketball court.
