About our Robot

Each year as part of the FIRST Robotics Competition, Team 228 must build an entirely new robot from scratch. Six long weeks of designing, machining, fabricating, wiring, and programming go into the creation of our team's robots. When the robot is shipped at the end of each build season, we are hardly done. We always seek to improve our robots, to add new features, to make our drive trains faster, our arms more powerful, and our programming more extensive during the official Fix-It windows or after the competitions during the post-season.

Learn more about Gus Seven

It is not often that a robot as simple and rock-solid as Gus 7 is built. Dominating on the playing field, Gus 7 was the latest of our team's upswing that started in 2003 when Ben "Bengineer" Piecuch, a mechanical engineer from a local fuel cell development company, came to our mentor our team. With his experience, our robots have been consistently been getting better and better, and our 2005 robot was no exception. Able to score up to six tetras per match, our team ranked higher than over 85% of all other teams across the world.

At the five events that we attended in the 2005 season, (UTC New England Regional, Archimedes Division - Championship Event, Beantown Blitz, Battle Cry 6, and Bash at the Beach) we ranked 6th, 14th, 9th, 4th, and 3rd respectively. During the course of the year, our robot was rock solid on the playing field. as tall as our robot was, it only tipped over twice throughout the entire year - and one of those times was because another robot's arm was stuck on ours and they pulled us over.

Strengths and Weaknesses:

All in all, this robot was as solid as a rock. Throughout the entire course of the season, we never had any technical problems with our IFI Single-Speed Transmissions. The only problems our arm ever had was when it had the two sprockets broke on it at Battle Cry and Bash at the Beach. Otherwise, it was more than powerful enough to hold two tetras at once (each weighing nine-pounds) at the end of it's three foot arm without backdriving at all. Our single-stage elevator made out of 80/20 and linear bearings was as simple as one could get. Besides smoking the Fisher-Price motor at UTC (which as a 6-volt one running on 12 volts) and having to restring the spectra-cord in the elevator a few times, the elevator worked like a dream.

Quick Stats

Drive Train

Offense

Defense

Drive Team