Mentor Mention: Gary

We are so thankful for all the mentors who have helped PhyXTGears over the years. Recently we cornered Gary and asked him a few questions about FIRST and working with our team.


 

One quote from the clip:

 "FIRST team program helps the students learn a lot of things that they would not learn in school. I've helped young people use the electric drills, drill presses, band saws, table saws--- these are thing that don't often get opportunities in the school systems to learn how to use. And they're scared to death when they walk up to it or when I hand them a drill and say, "Drill this hole."  But I'll drill one or two holes and then I'll say you drill hole 3 and 4. And they'll do it and in the future I can give them a drill and they can take care of the holes without any problems. Giving them the opportunity to overcome those fears of the equipment has been a real plus mark-- it is a growing experience for them."

Thank you Gary for all you do!

Week 3 Aerial Assist Build Week

I am the head programmer of team 1720, and I have been setting the controls of various parts that the robot will have. Today, The programming team researched robotic vision that our team hopes to use in autonomous to determine whether the target we are aimed at is "hot," ultimately deciding when we will shoot. More research shall be conducted at our next meeting.


~Madeline

We are working on the motor for the reflector tape for part of the playing field. Still trouble-shooting the flap of the retro reflective material.

-Asher and John

A short video of this week's updates:

Week 2 - PhyXTgears Build Season Progress

January 16th 2014 we began building prototypes and parts of the Aerial Assist arena.

We built the low goals to test our kicking prototype for the robot.

This is the kicking mechanism we had come up with.

Constructing The chassy for the robot.

Small weekly chores:

-Lots of CAD drawings

-Lots of videos/interviews

-Lots of progress with the robot design

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Week 1 - Aerial Assist Robot Build

On January 4th, 2014 we found what our new challenge would be -- Aerial Assist! We spent the rest of that day reading through the manual trying to get a good grasp of the game rules, possible strategies, and what type of robot we might like to build. Just as we were getting inspired to start working--- a snowstorm hit. After being delayed a few days, we started build season week 1.

Highlights from Week 1:

- Sloppy Joe's for lunch  on Saturday

- Good progress on the game field

- Good progress on the prototype

Ringing in the New Year 2014 ~ Muncie New Year's Eve Ball Drop

For over five years, Team 1720 has built and maintained the ball that drops in Muncie's New Year's Eve celebration. This year we added a GoPro camera to the ball to get an aerial view of the crowd. The ball was dropped from a crane timed with the New York City Times Square celebration. The event went smoothly even though it was cold. :)