Neil Arm-long (FRC 2023)

Scoring L3 during Auto

Highlights:

• 6-ft, 3-jointed arm

• Pneumatic claw with motorized wheels

• Won Chesapeake District Championship and several awards

• Qualified for the World Championship purely on robot performance (a first for our team)

I am proud to say 2023 was my rookie year on FRC team 2199. Despite my lack of experience, my abilities allowed me to do so much. I was promoted to design lead and a member of the drive team.

The game (Charged Up) was focused on cycling cones and cubes from across the field to the 3 levels of "nodes". Additionally, the robots would climb the "charge station" (a tilting platform) in the autonomous period and at the end of the match.

Scoring L3 during Bethesda playoff match (I'm the one in blue on the left)

Neil was one of the most unique robots in the world that year. He featured a 6ft arm with 3 independently controlled joints. Neil had a 24"x24" frame (one of the smallest in the world), which drove the decision to make such a complicated mechanism. Between the wonky way the arm deployed and our trademark LEDs, Neil was a joy to watch (and drive) on the field.

CAD Rendering of the Final Iteration

My CAD abilities allowed us to design the entire robot digitally before physical assembly, a first for our team. This was essential as the components of the arm needed to be precise as possible. Simulation was also vital to develop the software to control the robot.

While I can take credit for the design and operation of the robot, I cannot for the software that made it so successful. I honestly do not know everything that went into it's programming, but I do know our software lead wrote a custom inverse kinematics program to position the arm, and used several PIDs to control its motion. Additionally, the autonomous balancing on the charge station was one of the best in the world, only failing twice due to interference from other robots.

Scorecard from our World Record setting match

Our team did fantastic in competition. In qualifiers, we were event finalists, and won the creativity (highest design-based) and automation (highest software-based) awards. We then won the Chesapeake District Championship and qualified for the World Championship in Houston. We even set the World Playoff Record at 191pts (which was broken by the world champions 20 minutes later by 1pt).

By a metric called EPA (similar to ELO in chess), we ranked extremely well. We were 249th in the world overall (of >3,000 teams), 9th in the Chesapeake district, and 2nd in Maryland. We also ranked 56th best for in scoring the "Charge Station" points.

Team Picture at the FIRST logo sign in Houston

The World Championship in Houston was one of the coolest experiences of my life. Being able to compete with the best in the world was incredible. I was able to learn so much and got to talk to many cool people. One conversation I will never forget was between us (an American team), a team from the UK, and a team from Australia. The different world views we all brought in, and the different English dialects, was very interesting to experience.

The View from the Stands of "Einstein" Finals

2023 was quite the season. I met more amazing people than I ever thought I could, and I learned more than school ever did. The experience I gained has helped me every day since. The success of that season made me more confident and helped me break out of my shell, allowing me to accomplish even greater things.

Thanks for reading,

Austin