It's SATURDAY!!!!

Today is a another work day for us. We have quite a list of things to get done today and tomorrow. We have to get this prototype done so we can start programming and drive testing it while we build the actual robot so we can "ship" it by the 18th. Here is what we have for this weekend:

Test the drive train.  Is the speed/torque ratio workable?

Test the pickup while driving.  Does it pickup at any speed.

Complete the prototype shooter.

Test the shooter.  Does it shoot far enough and consistently enough to make a full court shot?

Mount sensors for automatic pickup and storage of Frisbees.

Mount the wheels on the final chassis.

Mount the shooter.

Start mounting electronics for final chassis.

Start building the final tower.

So.... we have a long day ahead of us, but we can do it!!!

*Update from later in the day*

The actual robot chassis is coming along nicely today. Towards the afternoon more of our students showed up so we were able to get more things done and have people working on more things at once. The prototype bot is still a work in progress, but it was worked on quite a bit today.

Oh we also have a system now that will keep our snack area a little neater. We now have a rack for mugs that we will keep here with all of our names on it, so we don't have to keep using so many plastic cups.

The shooter has also been worked on quite a lot today. After going through two different prototypes we found one that we think will work. So we have been updating that one and working to get it to work.

The prototype bot hopped some today too!!! We have wheel movement and a little bit of forward motion now!

*Update from the end of the day*

Thing we got done....


Test the drive train. 
We got that covered, it works alright for the first time using mecanum wheels.  
Is the speed/torque ratio workable? 
Check, but that could still use some tweaking.
Test the pickup while driving.  Does it pickup at any speed.

Not quite on this one, we tried testing it from a stand still but our pick up bar was catching to much on the carpet.

Complete the prototype shooter.
This one is still in progress too.

Test the shooter.  Does it shoot far enough and consistently enough to make a full court shot?
We can't really test it to much when it's not quite finished.

Mount sensors for automatic pickup and storage of Frisbees.
To be finished later

Mount the wheels on the final chassis.

Yes!!! We did get this one done, and there is even a guard added to keep the frisbees out from under our wheels this time. Hopefully we won't end up on top of any game pieces like we did somehow last year!

Mount the shooter.
Not today...

Start mounting electronics for final chassis.
We are really close to being able to do that, but it didn't get done today.

Start building the final tower.
Not quite... We have to have a lot of Lexan to do that, and I think it is still being shipped here.

The mug rack was attached to the wall and is now ready to use! *Team members please bring a small mug with a handle and your name on it so you can leave it here and use it instead of a plastic or styrofoam cup.

Prototype bot is running, and moving!!! :D

As far as programing goes, they had to do quite a lot to get the mecanum wheels working. Which, I am told, includes doing a lot of hard math.

Other than that.... it was a really good day. Until tomorrow!

And we have pictures by Anna and Ashley!!!! :D You can also see the videos they have made lately by visiting YouTube!!! Then this blog, brought to you by me, Jessica B. :)