2025 Season Goals

Success in FRC isn’t about building robots – it’s about building a process. We believe that setting clear goals are essential for this process – and also because robots don’t build themselves (yet!). To set the tone for our 2025 season, we asked each of our sub-teams a few questions about the upcoming season:

1. What is one goal for your sub-team for 2025?
2. What is the biggest lesson learned from 2024? How will that shape your approach to 2025?
3. What is one thing from the 2024 season and/or off-season your sub-team wants to continue or expand for 2025?

Build Blog Goals

Although we started as a mentor-written blog for our first year, we fell behind on posting. This year, we’ve made it a goal to consistently produce informative, student-led content to serve as a valuable source of knowledge. Individual answers

1. Produce consistent, informative content that can become a knowledge source for our own team as well as our Chief Delphi audience.
2. We started this as a mentor-written blog for its first year. We fell significantly behind our posting schedule hopes. For 2025, we have a few students who will be writing much of the blog content.
3. Before 2024 kickoff, we did a series of deep dives on perennially useful topics. We hope to be able to share similar posts during the season.

Video Production / Media Goals

Last year we learned that short vertical media tends to do better on our socials, while longer videos don’t do as well. To fill some other gaps, we’re also planning to integrate some promotional videos for our team as well as cross-platform content to engage our sponsors, attract future team members, and expand our audience. Individual answers

1. Create an advertorial-style promotional video for the team. This video will be similar to the official FIRST video and will feature interviews with students, along with clips showcasing our activities, such as building the robot and competing at regional events. The video will be 2-3 minutes long, and we plan to film clips during the season. We can put it on our website, and share it with sponsors and those interested in joining the team. In addition to this promotional video, we will also create a robot reveal video and a season recap video.
2. The biggest lesson learned for 2024 is short, high-quality, vertical media typically receives more engagement on Instagram, while longer videos usually don’t do as well. In 2025, we plan to create four types of Instagram content: sponsor recognition, robot build clips, trends, and updates. These will be shared in two formats: short reels to reach a wider audience, and photo carousels to connect with sponsors and those close to the team. This strategy will help Instagram’s algorithm differentiate between the two types of content. If the photo carousels receive fewer views, it won’t negatively impact the performance of our reels.
3. We will continue to build relationships with other teams so we can create videos that we can tag them in, as well as being tagged in their videos. Additionally, we will continue to explore cross-posting our videos on platforms beyond Instagram, such as YouTube Shorts, to reach a wider audience.

Strategy/Scouting Goals

Looking back at last year, we realized how important it was to make our own unique scouting approach so our data collection fits our needs. We’re planning to continue creating our own unique app and data collection this year. We’re also planning to train our team to scout with comprehensive training on data interpretation and our scouting methods. Individual answers

1. Train our new students to scout and train our returning students to be even better. We are aiming to provide comprehensive training on how to properly scout matches and interpret data.
2. In the 2024 season, we tried multiple new scouting methods, including using other teams’ apps and the integration of schedules. However, we found out that these external processes and systems didn’t exactly line up with what worked best for our team. We learned that we needed to customize our own unique scouting approach so our data collection is properly tailored to the needs of our team.
3. Although we learned that customizing our scouting approach works best for our team, we recognize the value of observing other teams’ scouting apps. This year, we’re also planning to continue looking into other teams’ scouting apps to gain insights into features and methods that could improve our own customized data collection.

Business Team Goals

It’s quite easy to wait and be told what to do, but because a lot of what business does is organization and management, it’s important to be proactive. This coming year, we’re planning to give each member an area of expertise to take charge of and train others on simultaneously. Individual answers

1. Develop a system to split tasks into categories and have at least one experienced person and one training person in each category. For example, someone experienced in grant writing could be training someone else in grant writing while also being trained in event planning.
2. We learned that it’s easy to wait to be told what to do, but since a lot of what business does is organization and management, we all need to be proactive and take charge of different projects. So, in 2025, we plan to combine the previous two answers and give each business member an area of expertise to take charge of, learn for themselves, and then train others on. We also plan to have midweek virtual meetings to lay out a plan for the next workshop, so as to not waste time in the morning drawing up a new to-do list each week.
3. Last year, we began to focus on training students in grant applications and chasing sponsorships. Previously, that had been a mentor-led field with student assistance. Finding and applying for established grants could be a focus area for a particular student in 2025, while forming connections with potential sponsors who don’t have a grant portal could be another focus area.

Software Team Goals

We learned last year that fixing issues of unreliable hardware shortcomings is often more expensive than improving the hardware. This year, we want to efficiently use our time and focus on our use of autonomous systems and continue using logging and simulation tools. Individual answers

1. Improve and increase our use of autonomous systems, both in and out of the autonomous period itself. We want to incorporate advanced software solutions to optimize our tele-op periods alongside our autonomous software routines.
2. 2024 taught us that software can’t resolve issues stemming from unreliable or subpar hardware. Asking software to fix issues of unreliable or subpar hardware is often an infinite time sink without great results.
3. Last year, we appreciated the value logging and simulation provided to diagnosing robot performance efficiently. We want to continue using logging and simulation to minimize time necessary on the robot. We are also expanding our usage of Kraken X60 motors and the CTRE ecosystem, which significantly improved our performance last offseason.

Mechanical Team Goals

Last year we learned how important it was to design electrically-solid robots (sufficient wire slack, account for system vulnerability, etc.). Prioritize building a durable, impact-resistant robot with solid wiring and continue to employ advanced fabrication techniques. Individual answers

1. Build a durable robot that is capable of taking heavy impacts while not losing its high speed functionality. A robust build is essential for high performance.
2. In 2024, we learned how important it was to design robots that were easy to wire and had good cable management. Wire systems must include sufficient slack to prevent tension-related issues and account for the vulnerabilities of Ethernet systems to static discharge.
3. We want to continue to expand our usage of advanced fabrication tools like 3D printing, CNC machining, and polycarbonate prototyping. We used all three of these quite effectively in our 2024 season and offseason, and they enabled us to create precise components for all of our robots. Manufacturers like Fabworks will remain central to producing our robots, providing us the ability to iterate and put a solid robot out quickly.

CAD Team Goals

During the 2024 season, we fell behind schedule on creating the robot design, which set back the rest of the technical teams and delayed our robot production. Since most of these problems stemmed from design interferences and clearance, we’re planning on employing top-down designing through layout sketches to mitigate this. Individual answers

1. Design a simple and competitive robot within our given timeframe, as well as implement a new part-naming and BOM system, which will hopefully improve the transition between CAD and mechanical.
2. In 2024, we fell behind schedule, which set back the mechanical, and software sub-teams. Most of these problems stemmed from interferences and other clearance issues. To mitigate this, we have been working hard learning about layout, or “master”, sketches, which significantly helps with integration.
3. One thing the CAD team would like to continue utilizing in the 2025 season is top-down design. Top-down design is a CAD methodology where the overall structure of the robot is defined first, and the individual parts & subsystems are designed within the framework. This is achieved through a series of layout sketches, which are then modeled around in their respective part studios. This methodology improves subsystem integration and makes our design process more parametric.

As we dive into REEFSCAPE, we’re committed to growing and achieving new heights. We’re super excited to share in this with our sponsors, fellow teams and the ChiefDelphi community!