Week 2

Jan 17 2026:

Another climb prototype in the works

First prototype of a carousel indexer

Jan 19 2026: MLK day

Students and mentors came in on their day off to continue working on prototyping, troubleshooting, and coming up with concepts

Students continued working on the second arm and also added a block inside the first to minimize wobbling, inspired by the 2024 climb. We also started block CAD for the fixed angle and elevator concepts.

Students were able to prototype a working "touch it-own it" intake

Key Design Decisions & Concepts

The team is utilizing a Design Matrix to guide their final concepts. A major priority for tomorrow is ensuring "smooth transitions" between sub-assemblies to speed up troubleshooting.

> Note: The "Alpha" prototype seems to be the current milestone for most teams to reach by tomorrow's session.

Preseason base / Shooter

Students attached a prototype turret onto the preseason base. Programming and Drive team members also worked on figuring out the best angles and speeds necessary for clearing the bump.

Jan 20 2026:

Fixed a major issue where the prototype was failing under power. System now runs reliably with no parts coming loose.

Surgical tubing rollers performed as well as wheels and showed less wear. They determined a kicker bar or polycarb plating is necessary. Simplified the intake prototype to reduce wasted material while keeping the performance similar.

Climb built two fully functioning extending arms and identified they need to add a few inches to clear bumpers. Next step is extending the arms.

Successfully ran two Kraken motors on the shooter. Shooter is accurate. Remaining work is dialing in the hood angle.

🎉Mentor Feedback / Shoutouts 🎉 1/20/26

Owen Howard;

Acknowledged challenges faced by Kit Bot.

Praised the team’s problem-solving and progress.

Mr. Bricka;

Learned more about wiring and robot configuration.

Commended the team’s persistence and teamwork.

Mr. Frank;

Praised the speed and success of rapid prototyping

Noted strong performance across all sub-assemblies.

Jan 22 2026:

6 inch Omni wheels two surgical tubing agitators in a moving base

Extended intake linkage prototype

Adjustable prototype frame with front and back driven wheels

Block CAD of a climb prototype

Assembly of a climb prototype

Overall multiple subsystems made solid progress with prototypes and CAD

Intake

Designed a 6-bar linkage intake
- Next steps:
  - - Buy more tubing to intake 3–4 game pieces at once.
    - Reinforce swing arms with aluminum for stiffness.
    - Goal: Prototype done by tomorrow, videos soon.

Shooter

- Completed angle testing.
  - Decided not to use pneumatics to save weight and simplify.

Indexer / Spandex

Omni-wheel prototype tested.
Issue found:
- Too fast and inconsistent funneling.
- Plan: Improve funneling so game pieces drop more reliably.

Indexer Redesign

Original indexer too large.
New concept:
- “Washing machine” style indexer.
  - Entire hopper floor spins to move game pieces via centrifugal force.

Manufacturing

Bearing blocks programmed and expected Saturday.
Bumper brackets done, one countersink remaining.
Base rails nearly complete, holes still needed.

Kicker / Turret

Reduced kicker size
- Removed one bar.
- Shortened by ~2.5 inches.

Climb

Worked on CAD and block diagrams.
- Level 3 climb math more complex than expected
- Extending climb prototype works for Level 1 only so far

Drive Base CAD

New belly pan design nearly complete.
Design includes:
- One center polycarbonate plate.

- - Two metal side plates.

Kitbot

Spent day:
- Reattaching intake shield.
- Rebuilding bumpers from scratch due to sizing issues.
- Robot can drive, but testing requires bumpers installed.

Week 1

2026 Build Blog Home

Week 3

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