Latest News

Build week three has come to an end and much has been accomplished.  We printed and tested a hook for our hang mechanism (held up a 200lb. mentor so we are confident).  Our three printers are hard at work producing various spacers as well as a gear wheel for our shooting mechanism. 

The controls team has finalized their design, created shop drawings as well as started mapping out the controls for the robot. 

T shirt design is nearing completion and work on the back should begin this week.  Chairman’s essay is very nearly complete, and work has begun on the executive summary. 

Rally is now 4 weeks away!  The VIP invites have been sent out, the program is 80% finished and discussion has begun on concessions all while work progresses on the field.

On to week 4!

Week two is in the bag as they say.  Drive team tryouts have happened and drive team 1 and 2 have been selected.  Progress is happening on our Chairman’s essay and interviews have taken place for our presentation team.  From all I have heard it will not be an easy decision to narrow down the field.  The robot Drive base has been decided on and fabrication has begun.  Our mechanism sub teams are working hard on Design and CAD as well as getting a jump on manufacturing.  For more detailed information on design and build click our wiki link.  Work is progressing on our scouting app and field build for rally is progressing and the plans are coming together for another successful preseason event. 

A shout out to Chris Sowden and Katie Hastings 2 alumni that have come back to help mentor the team that brings our total active alumni mentors to 5!

Build season week one has come and gone.  Strategy has been discussed, mechanisms debated, prototypes and proof of concepts shared.  CAD has begun and our robot vision is slowly taking shape. Chairman’s essay writing is going full swing and video blocking and storyboarding has begun and our incredible field crew has been hard at work building a field for this year’s Rochester rally.  Interwoven with all this work are shared meals, laughing, learning, bonding and just having a good time.

Join us tonight at Cobbles Elementary for their annual science night from 6pm to 8pm.  We will be driving our 2018 robot and talking to the kids about what we do.

On Wednesday February 27 Rolling Thunder departs for Montreal.  This marks the beginning of our 15th competition season and the last year (unless FIRST changes their mind ) that we will have celebrated a stop build day.  We are all looking forward to competition with anticipation!