Goodbye Robot!

Our robot, Sam Shark, has officially left our hands! We got a lot of practicing done during our last day of Crunch Weekend, but sadly Sam Shark had to leave us at 4:30 to be crated up and shipped away, just waiting to meet us at the Baltimore Convention Center for the Chesapeake Regional.

So we can all rest, our next meetings aren't until March. We will have a meeting on March 1 and March 3 from 5:30 until 8. We will go to the New Jersey Regional on Saturday from 7am until 7pm to observe and get a feel for what this year's game is played. It will also give the veteran students a chance to introduce our rookie members to the pits and to the competitions before we actually are in the middle of our own.

The students have some homework between now and Tuesday:
- The pre-scouting information must be completed and emailed to Sam.
- The robot book must have the different sections completed.
   * Jaw - Rachel and Dana
   * Ladder - Ally and Christian
   * Drive System - Mat and Jakob
   * Electronics/Pneumatics - Sam and Gain
   * Programming - Nick
   * Minibot & Deployment - Christian and Mike
   * Bumpers - Issa
   * Safety Features - Rachel

The robot book is useful when a judge comes to talk to the students because if they are unsure of an answer, they are able to grab the book to use as a reference or as a quick reminder. Plus, it'll show the judges that the team is prepared with a helpful guide.

There is Sam Shark on our last day! We are all very excited to be back with Sam Shark soon!

24 days until Chesapeake! 52 days until Philadelphia! 64 days until Championships!
-Sam

Team Update: February 20, 2011 (Sunday of Crunch Weekend)

Hi everyone!

Safety Contact: With all the visitors today, watch your surroundings and make sure you and our visitors are being safe.

We changed from the omni wheels to the slick wheels we used in 2009 for Lunacy to help with traction.

While practicing today, we managed to flip the robot on its side and when we did that, we broke the plexiglass connectors that held the jaw on the robot. We had to take the robot back to the workshop to make a set of replacements.

We practiced all afternoon (minus when we had to fix the robot) and have a record of 6 tubes hung (Rachel driving and Sammy operating). We are close to our goal of 9 tubes in 2 minutes! Tomorrow we are just driving.

At the end of the meeting, the robot weighed in at 110.2 pounds without the bumpers, battery, or minibot things.

Thanks Mrs. Danner for breakfast and lunch today! Our next meeting is tomorrow from 9am til 5pm.

1 day left until we ship!
-Sammy

Team Update: February 19, 2011 (Sat. of Crunch Weekend)

Hi everyone!

We solved one of our problems today by adding an additional motor to each gearbox on the robot, making it much more drivable.

-We practiced driving in Davidow

-Electrical Team: cleaned up wires, worked on mounting new motors, labeled the PD board

-Minibot Team: finished the minibot with a solid frame; it now climbs in under 4 seconds, but will be sped up; the deployment mechanism is almost complete

-Programming Team: changed code to use four motors, worked on fixing bugs, tested autonomous

-Shark tooth handouts were made, and the paint job on the robot was touched up

Thanks to Issa for breakfast and Sam for dinner. We will be meeting again tomorrow from 10 AM to 5 PM.

2 more days till we ship!
-Nick

2011 Build Season Teasers

Here are some teaser pics for some people out there...

Holding the square tube...

Scott and Jakob working on the 2010 robot so we could see whether the 2011 robot could be toppled easily

It looks different now...

A LOT different.

There is our driver's station during practice one day

The jaw!

Blue with yellow polka dots??

The Minibot looks different now too.

More pics to follow in a couple days! And maybe even a video or two...Stop by Saturday, Sunday, or Monday to see the robot before it ships if you are in the area of Salem Community College!

Team Update: February 18, 2011 (Friday of Crunch Weekend)

Hi everyone!

Today was a long day for those who were in the workshop all day. The rest of crunch weekend will be the same way due to the amount of time we are in the workshop each day and the increased amount of stress with the due date looming closer. Which leads us to our Safety Contact for today.

Safety Contact: If at any point during the weekend you feel tired or overworked, take a break and drink some water, sit and relax for a few minutes, or do something to get back up to the level you need to be at to work safely. We don't want anything to happen to anyone due to being tired or not feeling right.

Programming team: added a "travel" mode that is used to set up for a match and for playing defense and cleaned up and commented code.

Minibot team: worked on the gearing system and is attempting to make the minibot faster.

Electrical team: cleaned up wires and wired up new sensors.

We did get some time to practice driving tonight. There were some few problems with a delay from the driver's station to the robot near the end.

The plan is to go to BCIT tomorrow to practice with a few other teams. Students must have a permission slip in order to go. We are wearing our black practice shirts (plain black shirts for anyone who does not have a practice shirt). If any of the veteran students have an extra black practice shirt, please bring it tomorrow for a new student to wear.

Tomorrow we meet from 9am - 9pm with a planned trip to BCIT from 11am - 3pm.

4 days til Build Season is over!
-Sam

Team Update: February 17, 2011

Hi everyone!

Safety Contact: When moving field equipment, take your time and be careful about your actions and surroundings.

Issa: made shark and template for bumpers.

Electrical: cleaned up wires and will continue to tomorrow.

Minibot: the minibot was modified with two motors. Appropriate fittings were made to run the minibot by itself. The minibot ran up the pole in 3.7 seconds today. There was a plan to make a gearing system to have it run in 1.8 seconds. The deployment system is ready to use with a pole release system. The total time will be around 2 seconds total.

Programming: software updates, reimaged the cRio, tested autonomous, and finalized the mounting of sensors and camera.

The robot has been painted! Our robot is named Sam Shark this year, so we designed our robot to look like a shark. We modeled Sam Shark off of the Whale Shark, however we modified it to fit our ideas. The robot is all blue. Here is a preview of what we have done:

 The claw has teeth! The red is to accent the white teeth and make sure it is seen from the stands.

The Whale Shark has dots on it...so we accented our robot with yellow dots to match our shirt.

Our next meeting is tomorrow from 9am til 9pm. Thanks Mrs. Cardona for dinner tonight. Tomorrow Mrs. Rodriguez is providing breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Crunch weekend has officially begun! 5 more days until ship!
-Sam

Team Update: February 15, 2011

Hi everyone!

Safety Contact: If you need to stand on a chair to reach something, do not stand on a wheely chair and always make sure someone is spotting you.

Programming team: tested line following sensors and tested the autonomous code.

Mike and Christian worked on the minibot deployment and came up with a scissor extenders as a possibility.

Dana and Rachel worked on another idea for the minibot deployment.

Ally made selenoid braces.

Bumber team: have finished 2 bumpers.

The website has been updated to include more accurate student information and the link for the blog has been included. Please look at the website to make sure everything is accurate. If something needs to be changed, please email Michelle or Sammy with the corrections.

Thanks to Mrs. Cardona for dinner tonight! The next meeting for everyone is Thursday. The girls will be in the workshop tomorrow night around 5:30 to paint the robot.

7 more days until ship!!
-Sam

Team Update: February 12, 2011

Hi everyone,

Safety Contact:
1) When working with machinery, make sure long hair is pulled back.
2) Safety glasses are required when operating or working near the robot.
3) Be careful not to stretch bungees too tight as they could snap back and injure you.

-Minibot Team: finally got the minibot to climb the tower with the battery attached, but it was slow
-Claw Team: fixed the issue with the claw that caused the bottom part to twist
-Programming/Sensor Team: created a mount for the line tracking sensors, tested using limit switches to pick up tubes
-Electrical Team:worked on and tested 2010 robot, worked with programming team on wiring sensors
-The bumpers are almost finished

Thank you Dana for breakfast and Issa for lunch. Our next meeting is on Tuesday, February 12.

10 days till ship,
-Nick

Team Update: February 10, 2011

Hi everyone,

We were able to practice driving/operating the robot tonight in Davidow.

-Electrical team: worked on wiring 2010 robot
-Programming Team: tuned arm heights; testing; debugging; removed one semi-major bug that caused the claw to not respond on the first try
-Minibot Team: tested the Minibot; it was able to climb the tower in 3 seconds
-Claw/Arm Team: worked on mounting stops and is fixing the bottom part of the claw that keeps twisting
-The material for the bumpers was cut

Thanks to Mat for dinner. Our next meeting is on Saturday at 8:30.

12 more days left of build season,
-Nick

Team Update: February 9, 2011

Hi everyone!

Tonight we took the robot to Davidow and practiced. We even got the FIRST Logo on the top pegs!

The programming team worked out some bugs and continued to test things.

The electrical team worked on finishing the driver's station for the 2010 robot. They also worked on wiring the limit switch for the telescope.

The minibot team was working on the deployment mechanism.

Our next meeting is tomorrow at 4:30.

13 more days til ship!
-Sam

Team Update: February 8, 2011

Hi everyone!

Safety Contact: With the strong winds tonight, be careful driving and be sure to pay attention to the wind that might be pushing your car. and remember that with a taller car, it easier for the wind to push your car because there is more surface area for the wind.

The electrical team wired up last year's robot with the 2008 control system. They still have to finish with the operator's system and work with the programming team to make sure the right code is in the robot, but once that is all done, they will be ready for tomorrow's challenge.

The programming team reimaged the cRio and tested the entire 2011 robot.

The minibot team has been working on the deployment system for the minibot.

The bumper team worked on gluing the pool noodles onto the plywood to finish the bumpers.

The rest of the students not on one of these three teams were migrating and helping the three major teams with progress.

Tomorrow is going to be the Battle of the Bots. The plan is to take the 2010 robot (with 2008 controls) and put it up against the 2011 robot. The 2010 robot is going to be used to test the center of gravity of the 2011 robot to see if it can be toppled easily.

Thanks Mat for bringing dinner tonight! Our next meeting is tomorrow, Feb. 9, at 4:30.

Hope everyone has a good night!

14 days left of Build Season...
-Sam

Team Update: February 6, 2011

Hi everyone!

Everything that is currently on the robot right now is wired up and running. The soleniods have to be mounted and wired soon. As soon as those are on the robot, more progress with the pneumatics can be made.

Major progress has been made on the minibot.

Issa was taking apart the bumpers to then redo them so we are following the rule that we cannot use things on the robot that were fabricated for a previous year.

We received 2 more new batteries for this year, so now we have a total of 7 batteries that are operating properly.

Our next meeting is on Tuesday at 4:30.

See everyone on Tuesday!
-Sam

Team Update: February 3, 2011

Hi everyone!

Safety Contact: Be careful when driving at night of deer, other animals, and people walking around on the roads, especially when on a road with no street lights or very little lighting.

Programming Team: continued revision of Teleop program, tested Minibot code, examined potential autonomous problem.

Claw Team: worked on putting double hinge on. They are now working on mounting the claw onto the trolley.

Electrical Team: put the main breaker on the robot, mounted the power distribution board, and worked on hooking up the battery plug wires to the breaker and the power distribution board.

Drive Train Team: the spacers are almost ready, one motor is attached, started to mount the wheels.

Christian: added the motor to the Minibot and talked to the programming team about the Minibot program.

Jakob: helped Mr. Weick cut and drill and file metal pieces for the new motor mounts and helped Mat with the axle mounts.

Ally: helped the electrical team mount the necessary pieces and helped other team members with tasks.

Michael: helped other team members with tasks.

As a reminder to everybody: if you see something that is against the rules or might be a problem, speak up so we don't lose time making something that is not legal for the robot. Also, if you think you might know an easier way to solve a problem we are having, offer it to the rest of the team or to whoever is working on the project. No suggestions are wrong and your idea could save time, weight, and space.

Thank you Gain for dinner tonight! Our next meeting is Saturday morning at 8:30. Our goal is to be driving by Sunday, so make sure that when you are at the workshop you are working hard so we can accomplish this goal.

19 more days left in Build Season!
-Samantha

Team Update: February 2, 2011

Hi everyone!

Hope everyone's Groundhog's Day was great!

Safety Contact: Make sure to unplug machinery when doing any repairs.

The frame was in the workshop tonight, so things were moving like crazy in the workshop.
The programming team rewrote the program for the teleop and autonmous to account for the robot being unstable when the telescope is forward. They also reimaged the Classmate.

The drive system team created a new set of wheels and spacers, made spare spacers and everything else to mount.

The claw team made a new hinge for the claw.

We had some people working individually on different projects as well.
Michael: precisely milled, drilled, and bolted the trolley to the telescope.
Jakob: helped Mr. Weick with the mounting of the telescope motor.
Ally: worked on mounting things and cutting metal for later mountings.
Christian: worked on the minibot.
Samantha: worked with Mr. Fordham in starting electrical work.

Thanks to Rachel's grandmother for bringing dinner tonight! Our next meeting is tomorrow at 4:30.

Also, please keep Rev. Strickland (Samantha's grandfather) in your thoughts for the next couple weeks. Yesterday morning he slipped on the ice and fractured his ankle. He is currently at Cooper University Hospital and is under the care of some of the top doctors on the East Coast. But please keep him in your thoughts as he recovers from this injury.

See everyone tomorrow!
-Sam