The theme of this year's competition was hinted at in a 52-second competition trailer released in September. The trailer depicts a teenage girl walking into a basement and finding a game machine, much like Pac-Man machines found in arcades. The game powers up and prompts her to insert a coin. When she does, the machine scans her into the game and she transforms into a pixel-style version of her on the screen. No one really knows for sure what the game's rules will be or what it will be about, but we do know for sure is that the competition will be called POWER UP, and its theme will probably revolve around 80's or 90's vintage games or pixels.
The mecanum wheel is a wheel that can move in all directions due to the unique angle of its treads. Originally designed for use in military warehouses by cranes and similar machines, the mecanum is now often used in robots. For our robot design, we are using both mecanum wheels and smaller traction wheels. This compound design is called the Octocanum Drive. While not the most efficient of systems, we have found that it is the most reliable.
We chose to not participate in the Ra Cha Cha Ruckus this year due to unpreparedness. Instead the projects were changed to assemble a test drive train, participate in the Xylem Let's Solve Water competition, and to construct a telescope stand for the Earth Science teacher.
The Let's Solve Water this year had the toughest competition yet. Unfortunately, for the first time since the competition's creation, we did not win a prize.