Engineering notebook entries
9-16-13
Brainstorming day. Today we are finally began to discuss our plans for our robot. For autonomous mode we know we want to scour with the blocks. We have to figure out how not to hit any walls during autonomous mode. We also have to figure what kind of wheels to use, which ones will slide; which wont? Then there's the matters of what to of program to use for autonomous mode.
We're thinking about putting hooks on the robot, but we don't know if that's against the rules; so we'll have to look into that. We were also discussing if we're going to use a mast can g up and down. We want add sensors; something we didn't have on our robot last year. We have to get the measurements for all the parts of the play field so that we can build a model arena to practice on.
At the moment our game plan is to land on the bridge, put the blocks in the baskets, and make the baskets even, that's easier said then done. We don't want to use a claw, hook, or anything else of the sort since that has not worked out for us in the past. We'll still use a claw if we cant do find or build something different, it's sort of a back up. We're think of using a lift, but how will that work and what will it look like? We have to buy a new textrix motors, since all of our older motors are no longer useable. We need the motors to install a motor on the back to lift the flag and we need motors for the lift. We also have to buy a new animation program since we have not made a safety animation for our competitions before. It's going to fun to be able to draw our first story board together as a team.
We've gained two more mentors. One who've we haven't met yet, and a teacher here at Normandy High School that used to teach robotics at another school. We also created our own website this year that your currently reading off of. Due to our members graduating , going to new schools , and band not allowing our members to come; we have faced the serious problem of having a storage of members. Normally we have a big team, but now we have to scout for new members.
9-18-13
Today we're drawing up our blue prints for the robot. one of our new members came in with a wonderful drawing of the robot we described at the last meeting. Though there's a few adjustments needed.
Today we're drawing up our blue prints for the robot. one of our new members came in with a wonderful drawing of the robot we described at the last meeting. Though there's a few adjustments needed.
9-19-13
Pros and cons day. What could go wrong and what will work, oh the options. Today we have to imagine all possible out comes from different thing. What will we do if the robot gets stuck? How do we fix it if it breaks or it's to flimsy? Do we make a back up robot if the other robot is in a state beyond repair? These are the questions racing through our minds as we figure out the best and the worst out comes. The only way we'll know is we build it and try it out.
We're going to need 5 motors and 2 servos. Two motors for the wheels, two for the lift and one for the back to lift the flag. The servos will be used to close.
Pros and cons day. What could go wrong and what will work, oh the options. Today we have to imagine all possible out comes from different thing. What will we do if the robot gets stuck? How do we fix it if it breaks or it's to flimsy? Do we make a back up robot if the other robot is in a state beyond repair? These are the questions racing through our minds as we figure out the best and the worst out comes. The only way we'll know is we build it and try it out.
We're going to need 5 motors and 2 servos. Two motors for the wheels, two for the lift and one for the back to lift the flag. The servos will be used to close.
9-23-13
Putting the room together. Since our supplies were moved at the end of last year into storage, we've had to move all work materials from west to north and begin to set our room back up. At the moment our room looks like a hurricane came through, though we're working on putting everything back together. The rest of this week we're going to work on the scissor lift and the mast. Starting next month we will being to build the body and our Prez is going to tech programing. Not much productive work is being done today, but the real work starts tomorrow.
Putting the room together. Since our supplies were moved at the end of last year into storage, we've had to move all work materials from west to north and begin to set our room back up. At the moment our room looks like a hurricane came through, though we're working on putting everything back together. The rest of this week we're going to work on the scissor lift and the mast. Starting next month we will being to build the body and our Prez is going to tech programing. Not much productive work is being done today, but the real work starts tomorrow.
9-30-13
The room is officially put together and the brainstorming season is over, for now. Parts are being found to assemble robot. Our actual computer for robotics projects is set up so we can do the work that's needed to be done.
The room is officially put together and the brainstorming season is over, for now. Parts are being found to assemble robot. Our actual computer for robotics projects is set up so we can do the work that's needed to be done.
10-2-13
Building the lift and the mast. We're going to start building the body soon. Our mentor is going to have to order parts, unless we find more parts. Since we have created our website we've gotten mentor offers, and more students began to join robotics. Oh by the way we now have an updated Facebook page and twitter account. Don't be afraid to follow and friend us. the real work will most likely begin by next week. With us having new members joining today we had to take time apart from the scheduled plan to have them sign up and officially join.
Building the lift and the mast. We're going to start building the body soon. Our mentor is going to have to order parts, unless we find more parts. Since we have created our website we've gotten mentor offers, and more students began to join robotics. Oh by the way we now have an updated Facebook page and twitter account. Don't be afraid to follow and friend us. the real work will most likely begin by next week. With us having new members joining today we had to take time apart from the scheduled plan to have them sign up and officially join.
10-3-13
Manual day. Our copies of the manuals came in so now we are going over the rules and regulations. Most of the members are not here today, so not much work will get done. We just discovered that we can turn animations in on the 12th of December so we now have time to create our animations. Tomorrow one of our mentors is going to look around for animation programs we can use, the artist of said animation and I went over what was actually needed in the animation since our esteemed mentor didn't read it thoroughly. She can now being to draw out the animation play board.
Manual day. Our copies of the manuals came in so now we are going over the rules and regulations. Most of the members are not here today, so not much work will get done. We just discovered that we can turn animations in on the 12th of December so we now have time to create our animations. Tomorrow one of our mentors is going to look around for animation programs we can use, the artist of said animation and I went over what was actually needed in the animation since our esteemed mentor didn't read it thoroughly. She can now being to draw out the animation play board.
10-10-13
Sorry about the lack of updates had a bit of technical difficulties. During the absences of updates we mange to find a fundraiser we can use and vote on, we have half of the robots frame built, we just have to wait for the rest of the parts to be ordered, and coming in. We are also started drawing the play board for our safety animation. We managed to get a lot of work done these past few days(or what we call a lot of work).
Sorry about the lack of updates had a bit of technical difficulties. During the absences of updates we mange to find a fundraiser we can use and vote on, we have half of the robots frame built, we just have to wait for the rest of the parts to be ordered, and coming in. We are also started drawing the play board for our safety animation. We managed to get a lot of work done these past few days(or what we call a lot of work).
10-16-13
Today we want to finish the frame of the robot and begin teaching programing to those who wan t to do programing next year. We also have to find the dimensions for the ramp which luckily our coach had a video recording of the opening that explained all that. We painted our robot parts red, unfurtunaly some of them and by some i mean all the parts are stuck to the paper they were laying on. Hope it dosent mess up the paint job. We alsohave to check motor strength today. I have pictures but the camra died so not pictures of todays work. We'll post them tommwor when the camra is charged.
Today we want to finish the frame of the robot and begin teaching programing to those who wan t to do programing next year. We also have to find the dimensions for the ramp which luckily our coach had a video recording of the opening that explained all that. We painted our robot parts red, unfurtunaly some of them and by some i mean all the parts are stuck to the paper they were laying on. Hope it dosent mess up the paint job. We alsohave to check motor strength today. I have pictures but the camra died so not pictures of todays work. We'll post them tommwor when the camra is charged.
10-17-13
Todays Work.
Todays Work.
10-21-13
We are finishing the prototype to our robot since the actual parts we need have not arrived. It's not a busy day and we cant do much for now witch is frustrating and setting us back.
We are finishing the prototype to our robot since the actual parts we need have not arrived. It's not a busy day and we cant do much for now witch is frustrating and setting us back.
10-22-13
Work on the prototype has gone a tad bit slowly . The parts for the actual robot has still not come and may not be here in till next week some time. But on the bright side our team Prez created a building schedule so that everyone can have equal time building the robot, last year we had the problem of not everyone understanding what was going on in the building processes, this plan should help some. He also came up with the plan that those that aren't working on a certain day will work on clean and/ or work on any backed up school work since education is our main priority. I also have pictures of our prototype from the work done today.
Work on the prototype has gone a tad bit slowly . The parts for the actual robot has still not come and may not be here in till next week some time. But on the bright side our team Prez created a building schedule so that everyone can have equal time building the robot, last year we had the problem of not everyone understanding what was going on in the building processes, this plan should help some. He also came up with the plan that those that aren't working on a certain day will work on clean and/ or work on any backed up school work since education is our main priority. I also have pictures of our prototype from the work done today.
Today's not much of a busy day for us. We gotten more work done on the prototype. Now we just have to wait till next week to get the parts to build the actual robot. We're setting up our little man made trophy case now that we have it back out of storage. Other team members are organizing the tools and the room. I have pictures from some of the work done today under here.
10-30-13
Today's a good day. Want to know why? We finally got the parts for the robot. How glorious the day is. We can now build the actual robot, thought the time when we didn't have our parts was not really bad; we got time to think about what the robot would need to look like. Sadly our Prez is not here with us today to approve the prototype and say we can start the actual build. Plus we have to take the day to look at our parts and pick which parts we want to use; now that we have a more options to pick from.
Today's a good day. Want to know why? We finally got the parts for the robot. How glorious the day is. We can now build the actual robot, thought the time when we didn't have our parts was not really bad; we got time to think about what the robot would need to look like. Sadly our Prez is not here with us today to approve the prototype and say we can start the actual build. Plus we have to take the day to look at our parts and pick which parts we want to use; now that we have a more options to pick from.
10-31-13
Not much to be said about today. We got another package in the mail full of parts, and the build team is finishing off the prototype, that may be used as the actual robot because it's coming out well; but we still haven't tested it yet. The builders have to fix the screws on the robot, got e'm backwards. They have to put on the convertor belt on the robot too. Plus they've begun to work on wiring, but that's about it for today.
Not much to be said about today. We got another package in the mail full of parts, and the build team is finishing off the prototype, that may be used as the actual robot because it's coming out well; but we still haven't tested it yet. The builders have to fix the screws on the robot, got e'm backwards. They have to put on the convertor belt on the robot too. Plus they've begun to work on wiring, but that's about it for today.
11-7-13
Today we are going to start of the final product. We have to replace the old parts with the new painted red parts. We also have to replace the robot drive train with the redone drive train, add in gears and taking back the wheels an inch. We got work to do today.
Today we are going to start of the final product. We have to replace the old parts with the new painted red parts. We also have to replace the robot drive train with the redone drive train, add in gears and taking back the wheels an inch. We got work to do today.
11-15-13
Today is a hard day, teachers are in a big uproar and many students are sad about what is going on around the school . we are going to loose teachers and our entire team is depressed. We feel for our teaches and our mentor. we are wondering if there will even be a team anymore. She is w/ us but we can see that there is something weight heavy in her mind and we just don't know how to ask if we are going to loose her in December. IT is really hard for us and seeing all the bad things that we see in the news. we are Vikings we will survive this!!
11-18-13
We haven't had many school days in the past few days, so now we have to get back on track with our work and catch up. Not only that, our thanksgiving break is coming up so that's going to take up more work days. Today our work team has to rebuild the robot with new painted parts. It's going to be based off the prototype with some minor fixes. The rest that's here that can't help with the robot get to help clean up the room.
Today is a hard day, teachers are in a big uproar and many students are sad about what is going on around the school . we are going to loose teachers and our entire team is depressed. We feel for our teaches and our mentor. we are wondering if there will even be a team anymore. She is w/ us but we can see that there is something weight heavy in her mind and we just don't know how to ask if we are going to loose her in December. IT is really hard for us and seeing all the bad things that we see in the news. we are Vikings we will survive this!!
11-18-13
We haven't had many school days in the past few days, so now we have to get back on track with our work and catch up. Not only that, our thanksgiving break is coming up so that's going to take up more work days. Today our work team has to rebuild the robot with new painted parts. It's going to be based off the prototype with some minor fixes. The rest that's here that can't help with the robot get to help clean up the room.
11-20-13
Unfortunately and with much distress the prototype that the robot was being based off was token down by two of our younger members. The prototype was are only model besides the pictures we token that will have to use to do the actual robot. This is going to set us back quite a bit. And now with the old robot to look at the builders don't know which mistakes they made before to fix on the new robot. We are also having some problems with the soft ware for the computer downloading. Students are in much better spirits our mentor/coach/mom is not leaving us in December. yes it is true that we have lag behind in our work but we will survive and get this robot finish hopefully on time
Unfortunately and with much distress the prototype that the robot was being based off was token down by two of our younger members. The prototype was are only model besides the pictures we token that will have to use to do the actual robot. This is going to set us back quite a bit. And now with the old robot to look at the builders don't know which mistakes they made before to fix on the new robot. We are also having some problems with the soft ware for the computer downloading. Students are in much better spirits our mentor/coach/mom is not leaving us in December. yes it is true that we have lag behind in our work but we will survive and get this robot finish hopefully on time
11-22-13
Not much work has gotten done to day. The computer still refuses the soft ware disc for the robot programming. Most of the builders could not show up today due to other after school clubs and jobs. and it is so close to the turkey day break leaving us with such small time to get all that we have to get done . well at least it look like the final product is coming along yey!!
Not much work has gotten done to day. The computer still refuses the soft ware disc for the robot programming. Most of the builders could not show up today due to other after school clubs and jobs. and it is so close to the turkey day break leaving us with such small time to get all that we have to get done . well at least it look like the final product is coming along yey!!
12-2-13
Okay were back for our break and behind in our work. Because we were so far behind we decided to scratch our old idea, and made a lift and spinier to score with, or were going to any way. The spinier will be used in the end game score, while building the converter belt we ran into technical issues and had to use a scilcon spray.
Okay were back for our break and behind in our work. Because we were so far behind we decided to scratch our old idea, and made a lift and spinier to score with, or were going to any way. The spinier will be used in the end game score, while building the converter belt we ran into technical issues and had to use a scilcon spray.
12-4-13
12-8-13
We've remodeled our converter belt style. Instead of the original design we had of metal bars moving up and down with a lift we now have different gears set up on the robot. Notice from the picture from a few days ago, the one in the middle. But sides will have the belt that will lift blocks. On the inside there will pieces that holds the blocks and lifts them up.
12/12/13
Our robot seem to be looking as it has taken better shape we are facing a problem that finals are around the corner the robot is not finish and our coach has been bombarded w/ personal and work issues that is cutting our working time so sad.... now what to do??? eek
1/13/14
it has been 3 weeks since the team met and it is not a pretty sight. we had an extended Christmas break that has put all our work behind and on top of all this, we now are faced w/loosing one week on our FRC robot due to all the snow. Our mentor is having serious issues that we are not prepared for competition sad face :-( She works so hard w/ us and for us that is stressing her now that we competition is upon us and we are not done. it looks like we will be working really hard this last week of work and hopefully we will have a robot that we can present at the competition and place well :-)
We've remodeled our converter belt style. Instead of the original design we had of metal bars moving up and down with a lift we now have different gears set up on the robot. Notice from the picture from a few days ago, the one in the middle. But sides will have the belt that will lift blocks. On the inside there will pieces that holds the blocks and lifts them up.
12/12/13
Our robot seem to be looking as it has taken better shape we are facing a problem that finals are around the corner the robot is not finish and our coach has been bombarded w/ personal and work issues that is cutting our working time so sad.... now what to do??? eek
1/13/14
it has been 3 weeks since the team met and it is not a pretty sight. we had an extended Christmas break that has put all our work behind and on top of all this, we now are faced w/loosing one week on our FRC robot due to all the snow. Our mentor is having serious issues that we are not prepared for competition sad face :-( She works so hard w/ us and for us that is stressing her now that we competition is upon us and we are not done. it looks like we will be working really hard this last week of work and hopefully we will have a robot that we can present at the competition and place well :-)