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It's the first day of week three of construction and the team has made a great deal of progress. The video team was able to edit all of the footage they captured today and started on this week's video for the web-site. The programming sub-team cleaned out the pneumatics cabinet, taking inventory, organizing the cabinet, and searched for materials that could be used for the electronics board. Today was dedicated to finishing the prototype of the kicking mechanism and assembling the frame of the robot. To do this, students and mentors of the construction crew worked on the frame, welding it together, while others worked on the transmission for the wheels. In the mean time, students completed the construction of the kicker, making sure that all the nails were secure and the bungee cords were attached. After rechecking the kicker, they proceeded to the robotics testing room where they tested the prototype mechanism with the electronics board. From various locations on the playing field, a soccer ball was placed in front of the mechanism, positioned at different lengths, ranging from 1 1/2 to 5 inches away from the kicker. Team 359 watched as the construction crew tested the mechanism and measured the distance the ball traveled from the starting point to the goal. Everyone was awe strucked by the performance of the kicker. The kicker successfully reached the goal from a great distance, showing that our kicker had the power to go the distance. After testing the kicker from different distances from the goal, the team was able to finalize the designs for the kicker and the robot. To celebrate this accomplishment, Team 359 treated themselves to a pot-luck dinner. They enjoyed the delicious food and the time talking among themselves. After dinner, everyone went back to work, testing out the drive system since the prototype was completed. The drivers tested the robot, checking to see whether it could go over the bump flawlessly. The prototype successfully went over the bump to everyone's delight. It was therefore decided that they could begin building the final robot. This means that the students and mentors will be kept really busy from tomorrow on.
Today is a very overcast day and it is very humid as there is no wind. Students are perspiring as they work diligently in their areas. After a very successful night with the confirmation of our final design for the kicker and robot, the construction and programming crew got to work to complete the robot. Potential drivers of the robot best-drove the prototype on the playing field. After a little practice, the frame was taken to the auto shop to weld parts that needed to be repaired. Once the frame was repaired and inspected, the team deliberated amongst one another, discussing ways to control the soccer ball without actually holding on to it as it is against the rules. After deciding on an idea that they hoped would work, students and mentors on the construction squad immediately went to work. The began by building the necessary parts that will enable the robot to herd the ball. As the video team filmed the different sub-teams, they also worked on week three's video. As You Tube does not allow videos with copy righted music to be aired, they worked on completing week one's and two's video by taking out the music. Then the web team was able to put it onto our site. At the end of the day, all teams cleaned up their areas, getting it ready for day three of this week.
The students of Team 359 recycle all of their plastic bottles and cans. When there are enough bottles and cans, we smash the cans so that we can take them to the recycling center to make money so that we can treat the team to pizza. Today the students took the recycling items from all the work stations smashed and bagged them, making them ready to be taken to the recycling center.
Today was a very long and tiring day. Students were busy occupying themselves with their work; trying to get as much done as possible as the weeks are passing by really fast. As for the video team, they were hard at work editing the text of both week one's and two's video. Once that task was finished, they needed to compress both videos into a MPEG-4 Quick Time Movie for the web-site. They next filmed the construction team as they welded the shooter and made parts for the roller. As students worked on various machines to construct parts for the robot, the programming crew kept themselves busy by hooking up an I/O (input and output) on the bread board. They needed to also install a switch that will enable the robot to have two different drive systems which will allow the drivers to use either one during competitions. Earlier in the day, the programming team had some technical difficulties. The official FIRST USB Hub broke, so the students and Mr. Wood, a retired computer programmer, needed to replace it. This occupied the students' time for a while. In the mean time, the graphics team finished the scouting booklet and began working on Team 359's banner and stickers for the robot's controller. They were also busy selecting a design and the colors to make it look very appealing. The construction team also made a little black box for the integrated circuit for the programming team that will be used to switch between the two driver systems. At the end of the day, the different sub-teams had all made great progress. Each work area was cleaned and made ready for tomorrow.
Our day started off very sunny and humid. Students and mentors were perspiring as they worked or walked from one location to another. Some of the students would visit the air conditioned rooms to cool off before returning to their work. Later in the day, it rained for a while, reducing the humidity, which made it a lot more comfortable as we worked and moved about. The programming team worked on finishing the construction of the protective box for the tank and arcade drive systems. They also created the encoder for the two transmissions for the wheels. They would then be able to put the contraction for the wheels, which will enable the robot to go over the bump of the playing filed more easily. In the auto shop, the construction team worked on the roller for the robot with the parts that Mr. Glenn Lee, head of Team 359, purchased. After measuring and cutting both the pool noodle and PVC pipe, they discussed where and how they would place the roller on the robot. The also spent the time to build all the parts that needed to be welded, getting it ready for one of the mentors to work on tomorrow. The documentation team was also hard at work; writing the articles, taking pictures, and updating the web-site.
It’s another overcast day, but it is not as humid as the previous days. There was a lot of work done today, as week three continues to pass by quickly. Working on the robot, the construction team made parts for the roller to enable it to move vertically up and down. Once they were done making the necessary parts, crew workers needed to take measurements of the parts so that it could be placed accurately before being welded. After all the parts were secured, some students used the grinder to smooth out the lumps where the parts were welded. Next, they worked on the kicker mechanism, working on the part that will make contact with the ball. Some of parts needed to be welded and holes needed to be punctured. As some were working on that task, a few students disassembled the snap rings from the wheels of our robot. While waiting for the mentors to give orders on what to do, members who were in the robotics program taught rookies how to use some of the machines such as the mill. They explained how to set up the machine so that it could perform the task for the material.
Going to the programming room across of the auto shop, students and mentor’s worked on organizing the pneumatics cabinet, recording all the different types of electronic material and the quantity available so that Mr. Randy Wood will know what needed to be ordered to restock the cabinet. After arranging the pneumatics section of the cabinets, they practiced soldering wires together so that the two freshman students will be able to apply this skill that they learned for a future task. Also working on tasks that needed to be done prior to competition, Jandie Sabo, Co-Lead of Chairman’s Award, worked on the Chairman’s Award binder. She updated the binder, typing out articles and retrieving photos that could be used. The video team filmed the students at work, trying to get as much footage as they can so that it can be put into week three’s video. After filming for half of the work day, they uploaded their footage and got to work on the video. You may think that filming and putting together a one minute video is very easy, but it is not. Torey Nakamura, Co-Lead of the video team this year said, “The hardest thing working on videos this year is trying to film footage that will be useful to make the weekly videos for the build season and Open House. Also, at the same time, the video crew and I are learning how to use the “Final Cut Pro” program. But it is a great experience.” Without a doubt they do get the work done and are able to get ready for the next day of work, just like the other sub-teams
Week three will soon end, getting us a step closer each day to the last week of the building season. It has taken us longer than expected to finish the robot this year. The FRC game is yet more complicated this year making building the robot a lot more difficult considering the obstacles that the robot needs to go through to score. Team 359 can only hope that we will be able to finish constructing the robot on time. Therefore, students on the construction team worked on the robot all day, from after school till late in the evening. Chadwick Ulep, Co-lead of construction said, "Today we are mounting the supports on or robot for the pneumatic tubes and gate latch for the kicker. On one of the supports, there will be a 3 1/2 inch angle to hold the gate latch. There will also be a metal piece to reinforce the support." In the mean time, while some were working on the robot, Mr. Matsumoto, one of the mentors, organized the bolts by sizes,with the help of some students, and placed them in their right containers. They also polished the transmissions, making certain that it was shiny. While the construction team worked on the robot, the video and documentation teams worked alongside of the construction crew filming and taking photographs. In the testing room, the programming team was busy testing out the new electronics. While waiting for the program to be updated on the computer, they once again practiced soldering.
As we inch closer to the end of the build season, Jandie Sabo, part of the Chairman's Award crew, continued to work on the binder. She added more information to the binder which is getting thicker and thicker each time as the updated events and files are added. The binder is coming along really great, and is almost completed.
It's Furlough Friday, the students of the Waialua Robotics program are at school from 11:00 am to work on the robot. The day started off very hot, as the sun was out, but by early afternoon, it began to rain heavily making it very difficult to go from one work station to another. Photographers had to be very careful not to get their equipment and themselves wet. Open House is right around the corner so the graphics students are working diligently on the team banner for that event. They are busy retrieving photos that have been taken to be used on the banner. The banner is not the only thing that is needed for Open House, everyone was given a sheet showing all the different jobs that necessary for us to have a successful event. The Chairman's Award binder is continuously updated by Jandie Sabo. As for the construction crew, they accomplished a lot today as they polished all of the wheel hubs and bearing blocks of the robot. The crew also built a brace in the back of the robot, which will support the bungee cords for the kicker. Once all of the aluminum pieces were built and placed onto the robot, Joe Gudoy, a mentor, welded the pieces together. Once the welding was done, they tested the pool noodle that was installed on the robot's kicker. As it is the last day of Week three, the video team spent most of their time editing this week's video so that it could be submitted to Leia Lendio, Team 359's Web-master. They watched the video many time making necessary changes, such as making the captions easier to read. While some were occupied editing the video, others filmed the construction crew as they worked on the different tasks. The programming team continued working on the pneumatics and electronics board, trying to finish as much as they could so that it will be ready to be mounted on the robot and tested. Today was a very long and cold day, but we got a lot accomplished.
