For the first week of build season, our efforts have brought about some impressive feats. In past years, most of our first week was spent with mentors and students discussing ideas and concepts. This year, we've really made some tough decisions and all of our subteams are actually on schedule or ahead of schedule because of it. If we can keep the pace, we should have sufficient time to debug our software and give our drive team some much-needed driving practice.
The mechanical subteam divided into several different groups at the beginning of the week. The amazing Ryan and his sidekick Jeremiah managed to put together a complete chassis that will soon house our robot innards. The bulk of the rest of the team finished a mechanical catapult that can launch the basketballs for this year's game from one wall to another. The device still has to be perfected, but with the team's head start I have little doubt the device will be through the next stage of testing within the near future.
The programming/electrical subteam spent the vast majority of the day working on a sensor that will allow our robot to "figure out" if there is a ball within its collector mechanism. If there is, the robot will push the ball into its hopper so that said ball can be shot into one of the many goals on the field. In addition, the programming team spent some time on the Kinect. After the breakthrough on Thursday that allowed the team to control various motors on our robot with hand and other body motions, the team is optimistic about its use and, if all goes according to plan (it never does, but we can always hope) we will have a working autonomous incorporating the Kinect.
A great week. Good job team. Go gears!
Andrew Rhine
Programming/Website Team
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