Mechanical:
The mechanical team takes control of building the the robot from the ground up! Countless hours of designing, prototyping, and building go into each one of our projects. Whether it is assembling the drivetrain, tuning mechanisms, or troubleshooting motor errors, every member is quick to respond and able to contribute to the team in many different ways.
During build season, the mechanical subteam also splits into separate groups similar to other subteams. However, its structure is slightly different in comparison to how task division works.
Prototyping:
At the start of build season, every member split off into groups to prototype one design they believe will best fit the game best. Afterwards, all mech members will regroup and discuss which design is most rational and buildable with the short time frame. Whichever prototype works best will move on to the next stage, which is actually CADing the robot!
Credit: https://www.instructables.com/First-Robotics-Competition-Prototyping/
CAD:
Computer-Aided Design (a.k.a. CAD), is a 3D model made on a computer to design the robot before building it in real life! The reason why CADing is very useful among many FRC teams is because you can visualize and fix errors ahead of time online with all the components together in order to save time and resources later on in the build process, rather than needing trial-and-error assemblies.
Building:
After the CAD is quickly completed, all members begin collaboratively building the robot together, ensuring that all components are manufactured with high quality parts and assembly. After it’s all finished, it is transferred to the software subteam to further work on coding the individual components.
