RAID 2537 Divisions 

        This year marked the beginning of a new team structure for RAID 2537. We added many new divisions designed to help fit the needs of our ever-growing team. We first divided the team up into three parts, hardware, integration, and game, each with their own subdivisions.

        The hardware division is made up of the drive train, which is responsible for the base of the robot, and three different groups called mechanism, each of which design for a specific part of the game. The mechanism divisions gets new jobs every year with the change in the competition.

        The integration division is made up of two subdivisions, software and electrical. The software team does just what you think it would, they designed and write the code that will be running on the robot. The electrical division is in charge of making sure all parts of the robot are communicating with each other and helping the software team with needed sensors.

        New this year is the game division, made up of the strategy and outreach & promotion subdivisions. The strategy divisions job is to make sure that our robot's design effectively addresses the challenges of this year's competition and to make sure that it does not break any of the regulations. They are also responsible for finalizing the robot's design and making sure that all the other divisions are on track with the design. The outreach & promotion division is tasked with effectively spreading the FIRST message. This comes in a variety of ways, ranging from maintaining this site, to keeping current blog entries, to providing a easy mailing system for all students, mentors, and parents to stay up to date on the robot's progress. They work with the business division to help get sponsors and encourage more students to join RAID.  

Drive Train:

        The drive train is the base of any robot and provides a solid base for a variety of manipulators.  Every division in a robotics team relies on a good drive base to provide a stable platform for all the other components of the robot, ranging from the electrical board to the sensors for the software team. This division designs the robot base to allow for easy access to all different parts of the robot.

Mechanism 1 - 3:

        Due to the fact that most of the FIRST games require many different parts to it, our team has 3 different mechanism divisions, each in-charge of one aspect of the game. In the past, one mechanism division would take on the main aspect of the game, one on the end game part, and another on a different aspect of the game. Each division comes up with a design for their part of the robot and presents it to the rest of the team to judge.

Software:

        The software division is exactly what it sounds like, they are responsible for all the programming involved in the robot. They take all the data from the sensors and drivers and design the robot to preform the desired outcomes. They work with the electrical division to ensure that the correct sensors are in place on the robot and everything will work as planned. 

Electrical:

        The electrical division designs all the electrical components of the robot. Every year they are tasked with creating the electrical board that will contain all the needed electrical components. They are also in-charge of connecting all the different parts of the robot. They cable together the wheels,  encoders, motors, etc. This division works extremely close with the software division to make sure that all the needed sensors are working on the robot.

Strategy:

        The strategy team designates all the robot's requirements and denotes overall game strategy for the team. They weigh each and every requirement for its overall importance on the robot, assisting in the design of concepts for various parts of the robot. They are responsible for ensuring our success at competitions and in the workroom.   

Outreach & Promotion:

        This team acts as our public relations department, providing the majority of funding by going out and getting sponsors for our team, so that we can actually build a robot and compete in competitions. This division also helps promote awareness of FIRST Robotics in the local community, enriching it with exposure to scientific and engineering innovation.

Business:

        The Business team is responsible for the majority of logistics that occurs behind the scene. They scavenge websites for parts and purchase said parts in order to supply the team with precious materials and components vital for construction and operation of the robot.

CAD:  The CAD team, also known as design team, is responsible for the specific design of components, as well as duplicating these in a virtual environment.  They document the design of components in easy to understand 3-D visual form.