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. :) 

Update from Mike

Coming together...

In a push test both the Frisbee pickup and lift and dump worked successfully Thursday.

The majority of the electronics are mounted and wired.  We should be driving Saturday.

The shooter still needs work but should be testable Saturday, as well.

Goals for Saturday:

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.

We can make good headway on these goals IF there are enough students!

This will also be our first EXTENDED work day, if there are enough students willing to stay (and work :-).

If you can, plan to stay until 8 or 10... or longer?

Mike

Another Day for Progress

Today we worked on multiple things. The electronics board got more work done on it. The new chassis was worked on in the form of printed parts. The programmers worked on slight changes to the driver station. The prototype Frisbee pickup system was tested and worked very well, but the robot has to be moving forward as we expected. Michael McKean and Ginsen Shaffer CADed the CAD. Michael also looked on the internet for possible ways of climbing. The shooter was modified too.

John

The dreaded metal shavings.... to be kept out of the robot and it's electronics at all costs!!!
"The magic smoke must stay in the electronics!!!"

See, electronics! No metal shavings!!!

Here We Go Again

Today we spent quite a bit of time working on our various projects around here. The programmers made some progress developing a program for our robot this year. The CAD models also got some upgrades thanks to Matthew and Michael. Our scouting system is also being revived with the help of Steven. Anna was working on editing some of our video footage and taking pictures tonight. She said she would also try to put together another informational video for all of you this week, but she couldn't find her video camera so that may have to wait. Be looking for it here in the next week or so on YouTube though!!!

In the mechanical room our prototype bot is looking quite nice. Our actual robot chassis is starting to take shape now as well. The frisbee launcher still needs some work, but it's coming along slowly. We will get it eventually!!!

Enjoy the photos! :)

Sunday's Adventures.

Just a note, we are not meeting today (Monday). Or any Monday for the rest of build season as of right now. Here is the blog from Sunday though.

I’m back, I am not sure what happened, but other people do. They are looking at a new type of shooter. Instead of using two wheels, it might be belt thing. So yeah that thing that feeds the shooter now has that thing that runs the bands, and it works. And that thing that makes it works yeah, it's still not working right. But they have not given up yet. They will make it work! The robot will live! *Insert evil laugh here*. OK I am better now. So I will go now.

By: Zaz