C.A.A.T.S. FTC is an all-girls team comprised of middle and high-schoolers from five schools in the Minneapolis area. The team’s initial week of competition took place at Burnsville High School on October 7th. Actuonix spoke to coach Pam Hockenberry about the team’s success and what they’re working on in the coming weeks.“The team was very happy to have had success with their autonomous program. Their program resulted in sampling the correct mineral during a few matches. The program always samples from the same mineral location so they have a chance of it being the gold piece. From week zero we changed from a color sensor to a distance sensor which made the landing portion of autonomous consistent and reliable every time.”
“For week two, they have added marker placement and refined two of three autonomous programs. They now have the ability to land, place a marker and park on either side of the lander.”
“Next steps will be to look at a mechanism to manipulate the minerals in tele-op and intentional mineral sampling in autonomous. The team is also interested in doing more outreach such as visiting companies with their robot.”
With a 1st place finish already under their belts, we’re looking forward to more updates from the C.A.A.T.S. team this season. To follow their progress and learn more, visit http://caatsftc12735.weebly.com/ and check them out on Instagram @ftc_caats.
For more information on the FIRST program and an introduction to this year’s Rover Ruckus game, check out the video below:
