Recycle Rush is Here!

The 2015 FRC game, Recycle Rush, is here – and we couldn’t be more excited.  This is a vast departure from recent years, both in terms of robot design and strategic goals – a perfect opportunity for Build Blitz to dive into some of its key elements. After spending kickoff with their associated FRC teams, the Build Blitz leadership met today to discuss our priorities for this week. In addition to Karthik’s Strategic Analysis (and his livestream Monday night at 9pm Eastern time), we have decided on seven different aspects of the game to focus on for Build Blitz 2015. We want to provide educational information that will help guide teams through some of these items. This should help to eliminate some frustrations from the game – without removing the challenges.

  1. Drivetrain Design Guide & Philosophy: This game is VERY different from previous years. There are many new design considerations for teams to take into account, even for something which used to be very “cookbook” – like drivetrains. Our team will provide some detailed information on how to design the perfect drive for YOUR team’s needs.
  2. AM14U2 Upgrade: We’ll be providing detailed information on how to upgrade your AM14U2 drivetrain using VEXpro drivetrain components. We know many teams want to take the base level functionality provided by the kit and improve it to suit their team’s needs. The Build Blitz team will be showing you detailed options for these adaptations.
  3. VEXpro 2015 Specific Drivetrain: After discussing the possibility of creating a 2015 Drive in a Day, our team decided it would be more beneficial for teams to use the lessons learned from the Drivetrain Design Guide & Philosophy and apply them to a few examples. We’re going to provide you with some drivetrain designs which are specifically tailored for the 2015 game.
  4. Simple Game Piece Manipulation: This year’s game has large opportunities for “simple manipulation” of the game pieces on the ground to SIGNIFICANTLY contribute to alliance success. We’re going to provide some detailed education guides and examples for how to handle all three of the 2015 objects. Methods like Plowing, Pulling, Tipping, or even Sliding may be investigated. There are tons of subtle things that teams should take into account, and we’ll help to get a jumpstart on your learning.
  5. Simple Stacker: Lots of teams are looking at ways to place one tote on top of another. We think we have some cool ideas on how to lift totes, stack totes, place totes on scoring platforms, and put totes onto the step for “coop-ertating”.
  6. Linear Elevator: Teams want to lift heavy things high in the air. We know why. We can help! We’re going to provide some guides on designing a simple linear elevator, one of the most efficient and simple ways of doing so. We may even design some new VEXpro products specifically to help with this aspect of the game!
  7. Claw Designs: Teams are interested in grasping and manipulating the Totes and Recycling Containers. We’ll be providing some educational resources and examples for doing so.

We’re excited by this list and can’t wait to get started. Keep watching www.BuildBlitz.com and @BuildBlitz for updates!