Hi everyone!
Safety Contact: Keep wires above eye level. Make sure you are always wearing your safety glasses.
The claw team completed both of their prototypes. They have two different designs. One design can pick up tubes vertically and the other design can pick up tubes horizontally.
The sensor team configured the new gaming adaptor, finished installing all the current software, reclaimed a 5 GB partition of the Classmates hard drive, and did more testing with the sensors.
The telescoping team worked on their prototype, a drum and motor combination, and also gearboxes.
The drive train team put chains on the wheels and got all of the electrical components on the robot and on the drivers' station wired up. They are trying to figure out how to get the robot to move so they can test the drive train they have on right now. Their homework to do between now and Saturday is to research the 2007 control panel.
Thank you Mrs. Davenport for bringing dinner! Our next meeting is on Saturday from 9 until 2. As a reminder, the Georges are bringing breakfast and the Petersons are bringing lunch.
Hope everyone has a great day!
-Sam
Friday, January 14, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Team Update: January 11, 2011
Hi everyone!
Safety Contact for tonight: Be careful of slippery surfaces both when walking and driving.
The drive train team tonight was working on putting the control panel on the robot and hooked up as well as mounting the battery. The wheels have been mounted. They are also working on making sure everything is aligned now.
The sensor team was downloading software, learning the different sensors and discussing uses for them in this years game. Jakob was working on making the targets in which some of the sensors will be used for.
The claw team was working on prototypes tonight.
The telescoping team was testing sliders for the telescope and were making a prototype.
Thank you Mrs. Rodriguez for dinner tonight! The meatballs were delicious. If we do have our meeting tomorrow night, the Georges are providing dinner.
Be on the lookout for a possible text about tomorrow's meeting. Even if a text does not go out, if you do not feel like you can drive to the college safely tomorrow night, please do not come. Your safety is more important than the robot. Email or text Mrs. George if you are not coming due to weather tomorrow night.
Hope everyone had a safe drive home tonight!
42 more days left of Build Season!
-Sam
Safety Contact for tonight: Be careful of slippery surfaces both when walking and driving.
The drive train team tonight was working on putting the control panel on the robot and hooked up as well as mounting the battery. The wheels have been mounted. They are also working on making sure everything is aligned now.
The sensor team was downloading software, learning the different sensors and discussing uses for them in this years game. Jakob was working on making the targets in which some of the sensors will be used for.
The claw team was working on prototypes tonight.
The telescoping team was testing sliders for the telescope and were making a prototype.
Thank you Mrs. Rodriguez for dinner tonight! The meatballs were delicious. If we do have our meeting tomorrow night, the Georges are providing dinner.
Be on the lookout for a possible text about tomorrow's meeting. Even if a text does not go out, if you do not feel like you can drive to the college safely tomorrow night, please do not come. Your safety is more important than the robot. Email or text Mrs. George if you are not coming due to weather tomorrow night.
Hope everyone had a safe drive home tonight!
42 more days left of Build Season!
-Sam
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Team Update: January 10, 2011 (Webchat)
During tonight’s webchat, the entire team discussed all the subteams and thing associated with it.
The claw team decided that they were going to power the claw using pneumatics. In trying to figure out how to keep the pneumatics from hanging down, it was discussed to have the pneumatic tubing secured with zipties (which could cause some tension) or the mesh pneumatic sleeve type thing that is periodically used to either hold the pneumatics or wires.
The drive team discussed the different systems they planned to test: tank, 2 wheel drive, rear wheel drive. They planned on not testing the mechanum wheels because they have been tested using the actual robot from 2010 and 2008 already. When the topic of mechanum wheels came up, Mikey was for them, Sammy, Rachel, and Christian were against them, and Ally was undecided about whether they should be used or not.
The telescoping team has planned to make better prototypes.
The claw team decided that they were going to power the claw using pneumatics. In trying to figure out how to keep the pneumatics from hanging down, it was discussed to have the pneumatic tubing secured with zipties (which could cause some tension) or the mesh pneumatic sleeve type thing that is periodically used to either hold the pneumatics or wires.
The drive team discussed the different systems they planned to test: tank, 2 wheel drive, rear wheel drive. They planned on not testing the mechanum wheels because they have been tested using the actual robot from 2010 and 2008 already. When the topic of mechanum wheels came up, Mikey was for them, Sammy, Rachel, and Christian were against them, and Ally was undecided about whether they should be used or not.
The telescoping team has planned to make better prototypes.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Team Update: Kick Off Weekend 2011
Hi everyone!!
I hope everyone had fun this Kick Off weekend! The best is yet to come now :) I think this year is the year we will make it to Einstein and win it!
First off, I would like to thank Michelle for the entire team for providing each student with a notebook this year. These notebooks are great ways to make sure we have everything written down for the night and will help each student get just a little more organized.
Unfortunately, no one got the right answer for the holiday challenge that Mr. Hinde and Mr. Weick gave out. The students are still able to give answers and are encouraged to. We were given three hints to help us along.
1) there is a definite number answer.
2) Mr. Weick gave the exact encoder used in this challenge
3) it may have come in the 2010 Kit of Parts in a quad
Students, keep submitting your answers! These three hints should help you find the right answer.
Our safety contact for today was that there is black ice on the roads right now. Remember that you are unable to see the black ice and can slide, no matter how careful you try to be. Also, be aware of your surroundings, especially when texting. If you are not paying attention to what is going on around you, things could take a terrible turn.
As a reminder, this year the game is LogoMotion. For those who haven't yet seen the video, below is the link to it on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSc8FWfJQlU
Today we went over our homework, which was to make a prototype of the robot for this year. We had some great designs. Some ideas for picking up and holding the tubes included a magnet design, wrist motion, and a claw. We had ideas like a rotating/pivoting arm, telescoping arm, and a bendable arm. There were many, many more ideas. All these ideas are wonderful. As stated today, please do not be discouraged if an idea is not used on the robot exactly. The robot always ends up being a mixture of many different ideas.
Certain students have been given very specific tasks this year. All of these tasks or jobs are very important to the team and how well we function.
Safety Captain: Rachel Peterson
Manual/Team Updates: Issa Cardona
Post Questions to FIRST: Christian Clour
Moniter Chief Delphi: Michael Marandola
Cell Phone/Email List: Samantha Kirk
Everyone on the team is to make sure the following list is worked on:
- every student is to have a Chief Delphi account and is to be looking on there every night for interesting things, such as solutions to a problem we are having or other problems other teams are having and the solution to their problems
- all students are to make sure they have registered on STIMS. If you haven't already registered, go to usfirst.org and click on FRC. On the left side there will be a tab called "Registration" and when scrolled over, it will have another menu availabe. Click on STIMS. New students: Click on the button for new students and follow the directions from there. Veteran students: put in your login information to update your registration.
- make sure you are looking at Bill's Blog every night- Check out the Blue Alliance for teams who successfully lifted and hung the tubes in 2007
- watch videos of the 2007 competions either using the Blue Alliance or YouTube
This week we are focusing on prototypes.
Group 1) Drive system. Mr. Fordham and Scott are in charge of this group with Sammy, Mat, and Gain working on it. They are testing different drive systems and control, such as onmi wheels, tank drive, etc. As of right now, 2 omni wheels are successfully built and the frame that came in the Kit of Parts is being built.
Group 2) Telescoping/Lift system. Mr. Weick is the mentor in charge with Christian, Ally, and Issa working on it. So far they have been messing around with the extruded aluminum and linear slides. They are thinking about doing a continuous loop with pullies.
Group 3) Claw/Hand prototype. Wayne is the mentor in charge with Mikey, Rachel, and Dana working on it. Right now they have two designs they are working with.
Group 4) Sensors. Michelle and Mr. Cardona are the mentors in charge of this group with Nick and Jakob working on it as well. The team received 3 line followers in the Kit which are supposed to sense from 20 feet away. However, the sensors cannot "see" from that far away. The group is planning on using the cameras and other sensors to pick up and/or place the tubes. Right now they have wired the line follower and have updated the classmate with the new software. They are planning on using the 2010 robot to test the line follower.
Monday night is Mentor's Night at the shop. However, the students have homework per their group that they can work on Monday night. The students have also set up a Facebook Chat that is scheduled for Monday nights.
Due to the forcasted weather for Tuesday, please be on the look out for a text from Mrs. George as to whether we will have a meeting on Tuesday. If not, the students are going to have another Facebook Chat and will also have to be searching on Chief Delphi for different things to do with their group.
Thanks to the following people for meals this weekend: Rachel (breakfast on Saturday), Sammy (lunch on Saturday), Ally (breakfast on Sunday) and Mat (lunch on Sunday). As a reminder, Nick is charge of dinner on Tuesday if we do have our meeting.
Hope everyone has a wonderful night! See everyone on Tuesday if we have a meeting!
-Sammy
I hope everyone had fun this Kick Off weekend! The best is yet to come now :) I think this year is the year we will make it to Einstein and win it!
First off, I would like to thank Michelle for the entire team for providing each student with a notebook this year. These notebooks are great ways to make sure we have everything written down for the night and will help each student get just a little more organized.
Unfortunately, no one got the right answer for the holiday challenge that Mr. Hinde and Mr. Weick gave out. The students are still able to give answers and are encouraged to. We were given three hints to help us along.
1) there is a definite number answer.
2) Mr. Weick gave the exact encoder used in this challenge
3) it may have come in the 2010 Kit of Parts in a quad
Students, keep submitting your answers! These three hints should help you find the right answer.
Our safety contact for today was that there is black ice on the roads right now. Remember that you are unable to see the black ice and can slide, no matter how careful you try to be. Also, be aware of your surroundings, especially when texting. If you are not paying attention to what is going on around you, things could take a terrible turn.
As a reminder, this year the game is LogoMotion. For those who haven't yet seen the video, below is the link to it on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSc8FWfJQlU
Today we went over our homework, which was to make a prototype of the robot for this year. We had some great designs. Some ideas for picking up and holding the tubes included a magnet design, wrist motion, and a claw. We had ideas like a rotating/pivoting arm, telescoping arm, and a bendable arm. There were many, many more ideas. All these ideas are wonderful. As stated today, please do not be discouraged if an idea is not used on the robot exactly. The robot always ends up being a mixture of many different ideas.
Certain students have been given very specific tasks this year. All of these tasks or jobs are very important to the team and how well we function.
Safety Captain: Rachel Peterson
Manual/Team Updates: Issa Cardona
Post Questions to FIRST: Christian Clour
Moniter Chief Delphi: Michael Marandola
Cell Phone/Email List: Samantha Kirk
Everyone on the team is to make sure the following list is worked on:
- every student is to have a Chief Delphi account and is to be looking on there every night for interesting things, such as solutions to a problem we are having or other problems other teams are having and the solution to their problems
- all students are to make sure they have registered on STIMS. If you haven't already registered, go to usfirst.org and click on FRC. On the left side there will be a tab called "Registration" and when scrolled over, it will have another menu availabe. Click on STIMS. New students: Click on the button for new students and follow the directions from there. Veteran students: put in your login information to update your registration.
- make sure you are looking at Bill's Blog every night- Check out the Blue Alliance for teams who successfully lifted and hung the tubes in 2007
- watch videos of the 2007 competions either using the Blue Alliance or YouTube
This week we are focusing on prototypes.
Group 1) Drive system. Mr. Fordham and Scott are in charge of this group with Sammy, Mat, and Gain working on it. They are testing different drive systems and control, such as onmi wheels, tank drive, etc. As of right now, 2 omni wheels are successfully built and the frame that came in the Kit of Parts is being built.
Group 2) Telescoping/Lift system. Mr. Weick is the mentor in charge with Christian, Ally, and Issa working on it. So far they have been messing around with the extruded aluminum and linear slides. They are thinking about doing a continuous loop with pullies.
Group 3) Claw/Hand prototype. Wayne is the mentor in charge with Mikey, Rachel, and Dana working on it. Right now they have two designs they are working with.
Group 4) Sensors. Michelle and Mr. Cardona are the mentors in charge of this group with Nick and Jakob working on it as well. The team received 3 line followers in the Kit which are supposed to sense from 20 feet away. However, the sensors cannot "see" from that far away. The group is planning on using the cameras and other sensors to pick up and/or place the tubes. Right now they have wired the line follower and have updated the classmate with the new software. They are planning on using the 2010 robot to test the line follower.
Monday night is Mentor's Night at the shop. However, the students have homework per their group that they can work on Monday night. The students have also set up a Facebook Chat that is scheduled for Monday nights.
Due to the forcasted weather for Tuesday, please be on the look out for a text from Mrs. George as to whether we will have a meeting on Tuesday. If not, the students are going to have another Facebook Chat and will also have to be searching on Chief Delphi for different things to do with their group.
Thanks to the following people for meals this weekend: Rachel (breakfast on Saturday), Sammy (lunch on Saturday), Ally (breakfast on Sunday) and Mat (lunch on Sunday). As a reminder, Nick is charge of dinner on Tuesday if we do have our meeting.
Hope everyone has a wonderful night! See everyone on Tuesday if we have a meeting!
-Sammy
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Team Update: Kick Off Homework 2011
Hi everyone!
Here is the homework that was assigned to us for tonight:
1) Make a prototype robot for our strategy - could be paper, drawing, legos, etc. Also, give how many points you think your robot will score consistently.
2) Do a search for the robots with the best arms and pick up mechanisms from the 2007 Rack 'N Roll competition. Bring in a description.
As a reminder, our strategy was: hang an uber in autonomous on the top peg. then, hang as many tubes as possible during teleoperated and deploy a mini bot in the last 10 seconds.
Be as creative as you can be. We will discuss the robot concepts tomorrow morning. Don't be discouraged if your exact robot concept is not chosen tomorrow...We pull from multiple concepts to create the best robot we can.
-Sam
Here is the homework that was assigned to us for tonight:
1) Make a prototype robot for our strategy - could be paper, drawing, legos, etc. Also, give how many points you think your robot will score consistently.
2) Do a search for the robots with the best arms and pick up mechanisms from the 2007 Rack 'N Roll competition. Bring in a description.
As a reminder, our strategy was: hang an uber in autonomous on the top peg. then, hang as many tubes as possible during teleoperated and deploy a mini bot in the last 10 seconds.
Be as creative as you can be. We will discuss the robot concepts tomorrow morning. Don't be discouraged if your exact robot concept is not chosen tomorrow...We pull from multiple concepts to create the best robot we can.
-Sam
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Chief Delphi Reminder
Hi everyone!
Just as a reminder, make sure to make an account of Chief Delphi before Build Season comes along if you haven't already! This is one of the most used websites in robotics (other than usfirst.org) and will be a great help come Build Season. We use CD to clarify rules with other teams so no one is breaking the rules. There are also a few teams who will give hints about their robot on there, which might spark an idea for our own robot. Plus, during Build Season we usually have homework about what we saw on Chief Delphi the night before a meeting.So make an account and browse around Chief Delphi so you get used to the website before there are thousands of threads going. If you have a question about anything you see, maybe what a specific thread is about or whether we could maybe use a concept, shoot an email to a mentor or the team to see what everyone thinks about it.
See everyone tomorrow!
-Sam
Just as a reminder, make sure to make an account of Chief Delphi before Build Season comes along if you haven't already! This is one of the most used websites in robotics (other than usfirst.org) and will be a great help come Build Season. We use CD to clarify rules with other teams so no one is breaking the rules. There are also a few teams who will give hints about their robot on there, which might spark an idea for our own robot. Plus, during Build Season we usually have homework about what we saw on Chief Delphi the night before a meeting.So make an account and browse around Chief Delphi so you get used to the website before there are thousands of threads going. If you have a question about anything you see, maybe what a specific thread is about or whether we could maybe use a concept, shoot an email to a mentor or the team to see what everyone thinks about it.
See everyone tomorrow!
-Sam
Saturday, December 4, 2010
FLL Competition
Hi everyone,
Because questions have been asked about tomorrow's FLL event, I am going to take the opportunity to answer all questions for everyone's benefit.
-- The FRC students are to be at the Student Center at Rowan University by 2 pm. The Student Center is next door to the Rowan Bookstore. If you get lost, please call either myself or Mat and we will help get you to the Student Center.
-- Please park in Parking Lot A, otherwise you will be issued a ticket. Not a "Rowan" ticket but a "City of Glassboro" ticket.
-- Eat lunch beforehand or bring a lunch with you. The Cafeteria is open tomorrow, but it is $8 per person to get in. Plus, if you are busy eating in the Cafeteria, you will not get to see the RoboTechs or the Lunabots performing in the robot part of the competition.
-- Wear your blue shiny shirt tomorrow.
Remember: all FRC students are requested to attend this competition to show support for the two FLL teams.
See everyone tomorrow!!
-Sam
Because questions have been asked about tomorrow's FLL event, I am going to take the opportunity to answer all questions for everyone's benefit.
-- The FRC students are to be at the Student Center at Rowan University by 2 pm. The Student Center is next door to the Rowan Bookstore. If you get lost, please call either myself or Mat and we will help get you to the Student Center.
-- Please park in Parking Lot A, otherwise you will be issued a ticket. Not a "Rowan" ticket but a "City of Glassboro" ticket.
-- Eat lunch beforehand or bring a lunch with you. The Cafeteria is open tomorrow, but it is $8 per person to get in. Plus, if you are busy eating in the Cafeteria, you will not get to see the RoboTechs or the Lunabots performing in the robot part of the competition.
-- Wear your blue shiny shirt tomorrow.
Remember: all FRC students are requested to attend this competition to show support for the two FLL teams.
See everyone tomorrow!!
-Sam
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