Fresh Start

Today we had to take apart some of our robot because we were running into a few problems, the elevator for our robot was very stiff, it would go up but not back down. So we are working on fixing this issue, we are reconstruction our elevator with different materials.

The angle of the shooter

Today we added a gear on both sides of the robot and the shooter, this gear is used to angle our shooter up and down, giving us a better advantage over shooting the ball in certain circumstances (also it looks cool). Also we are continuing to stay up to date on our solidworks robot, which is at the same stage as our real robot. Keeping everything on the same page makes it very easy to make changes and to add and subtract things we both need and don't need.

Elevator

Today we added a stabilizer to our elevator, it was very loose and weak before, but now that there is a lift on each side it is very stable. Also we finished coding, and building our launcher. We had to fix the gear ratio to make it shoot faster, and be more effective. 

Making Changes

Today we put more supports on our elevator system so it is not wobbly and unstable.Also we are modifying our whole robot because it exceeded the 18 inch rule, We are changing a few pieces out for some smaller pieces that are just as effective, and follow the 18 inch rule.

The Shooter

Today we started to build the shooter in solid works, also we finished coding our PIC remote. We will be using PIC to control half of our robot, and vex for the other half. This makes for smoother operation, and less things for the driver to do at once.

The Backbone

Today we got up to speed with the solid works and robot. Now we are not behind, and everything we make on our robot we can immediately build on the solid works. Today we build the part on our robot to hold our brains, also we built this in solid works.

Finishing up

Today we got lots of tasks done. First we finished our launcher, then Nick started coding our launcher.  We also attached our conveyor and elevator to one another and they tested moving the elevator up and down.  Soon we will start attaching the launcher to the robot.

Checkpoint 1 - Solidworks

The Juggernaut:

No Days Off

Even though we had a day off yesterday we are back at it by attaching the elevator onto the rack and pinion. The elevator is the second to last piece that is left to attach to the robot, the last item is the shooter. Once we attach the elevator we can have a place to hold the balls and compete in the challenge of picking up four wiffle balls onto the robot. Hopefully by next week we have the elevator tested in the field and in mock scenarios.  

School and Solidworks

Today part of the engineering room was transformed into a film set. Several students (including our own Nick, Drew, and Moshe) participated in filming a video that the school plans to submit to an organization created by Steve Jobs to reform American public education.  After ranting about public school curriculums and making answering satirical questions our group focused on the Solidworks robot. Will and Jaret are working on the conveyor and shooter while Nick continues to push through the main robot.

This is a picture of a file of vex parts that comes with solidworks.

Heads Up

Today we tested out the quality and type of backboard we want for the competition and of course we have to test it with style. Henry putting his fingers and face on the line for some experiments with wiffle balls beamed at him. But the real purpose was to see where the ball would hit the backboard and come out.  

Been Steph Curry with the shot

Today we tested the shooter and the speed that balls leave the robot. With Jaret finally having the gears actually spinning all we are doing is make them spin faster so that the range can be larger. Also debates over whether we should attach a motor to the shooter to change the angle of it or just mount it in the angle we prefer and adjust the robot positioning to the angle. If you have any suggestions please leave a comment and we will take into consideration every idea, but also put into the fact that we only have a 12 motor limit. 

Going Up

Progress on the rack and pinion is in full force with trying to elevate the balls that are collected through the spinning collectors that direct the balls onto a platform that is attached to the rack and pinion.  Also just perfect calculations and the shooter fits in perfectly under the 18 inches height requirement. All that's left is to attached the platform to the rack and pinion and to attach the motors to the shooter and attach the shooter to the robot.

Progression

Today our team members took a survey for our school to help change our school for the better. Most of our members took about half the class to complete this survey because of the strong feelings on this subject. Also after we finished Jaret, and Will worked on the part that will raise the ball to the next level to be launched on our robot, this is shown above in the picture! Also we did get a little more coding done. 

The Ball Retriever

Today we finally got our ball retriever to work! It works by the two gears with paddles on them moving towards the robot. Then the ball is propelled into the robots chases as the ball touches the paddles, followed by being lifted up onto the second level where we will have the ball launched. Also today we figured that we will use two remotes to run the robot, so Nick and Moshe are working on coding the two remotes that we will end up using.