Game Overview

The 2017 game, FIRST Steamworks, required alliances of three robots to ferry gears across the field to their respective airships, all the while collecting and scoring fuel in an 11 ft tall boiler. At the end of the 2 minute 30 second match, robots climbed ropes in order to be deemed ready for takeoff and garner an additional 50 points!

What we built

Our 2017 robot "Strafe" was designed to ferry gears with the best of them, as from the ground up (quite literally!) we focused on speed! We had a top speed of around 18.3 ft/sec, or 12.5 MPH, so we flew across the field on our custom swerve drive. Powered by 8 775 Pros and 4 9015 motors to steer, this drive train enabled us to move quickly in any and all directions. We had a gear ground pickup as well as a loading station gear mechanism. We also had a climbing mechanism which used Velcro to grab a rope and pull itself up in under 4 seconds.

Competition season

St. Louis Regional - March 8-11 - Not Picked

Rocket City Regional - March 22-25 - Eliminated in quarterfinals

Gateway Robotics Competition - October 7

Cow Town Throwdown - TBD

Featured: cyborg SWERVE

Our first year making a swerve drive, we machined and built it all in house. Like shopping cart wheels, all our wheels can rotate individually in addition to driving at high speeds, and they are even capable of turning while driving.