2018-2019
2018-2019 Build Season
Week One
Happy New Year and happy 2019 Build Season! On Saturday, January 5th our team got up bright and early to go to Mckinley High School to watch the 2019 Kickoff. The Kickoff ceremony was followed by our annual Zippy’s breakfast. Thank you Mr. Martin for making this annual tradition possible! After the ceremony we all had so many ideas in our heads that we couldn’t wait to make reality. When we came back to school we were split up into four teams to begin the brainstorming process.This year we made sure that everyone had a clear understanding of how to play, knew the rules, and shared their ideas. After each group presented their ideas and knowledge of the game we went on our separate ways. This year there are many game pieces to build like the cargo ship and rocket so we worked hard to get these elements finished by this week. In the auto shop our construction team worked on the skeleton of our robot. Programmers worked on Control Systems. During this whole creative process the documentation subsection has been taking pictures and videos, working on the week one summary video and updating the binders. Stay tuned for next week’s update!
Week Two
Week Two of the 2019 Deep Space Build Season has come to a close and while we’ve been busy working, time has been flying by. Our team has been working together to complete robot inventory, CAD prototypes, and update our binders and website. The construction support team continues building the ½ field for us to practice on. They have completed the platform, cargo ship and one rocket, with the second rocket being cut out and ready to assemble. Documentation team has been working on a new section of our website to highlight the off-season jobs we have completed as we learn the skills necessary to build our robot once kickoff begins.They have also been working on our Deep Space animation by completing the storyboard and characters that will debut in an upcoming video. This year marks our 20th anniversary of being a part of FIRST, not only for our team, but also for the State of Hawaii. In order to celebrate this event, the documentation crew has been working on gathering old photos and videos to create a video that highlights the successes and exciting memories we’ve had together as a team.After our first intake prototype didn’t work the way we wanted it to, the design team is busy building the second intake. They are also trying to balance the number of motors we want and the number of motors we can accommodate on the circuit board. We need to still leave room for a camera and light on the circuit board- don’t want to be left in the dark driving blind during the sandstorm!
Week three
We are at the halfway point in the 2019 Deep Space Build Season. This week we also celebrated Mr. Lee’s “31st” birthday. The animation team was able to complete and submit their 2019 Deep Space animation. The documentation team has been working on updating the safety binder and working on this year’s chairman’s submission. Our construction team faced a couple minor setbacks towards the end of the week students and mentors worked together to resolve the issues. Control systems continued to set up our brand new NEO motors while putting in code for the joysticks. We were also very busy with walkthroughs and recruiting events. On Tuesday we had over 100 7th grade students and parents come to see our program and have the possibility to sign up for our middle school program. On Thursday we had over 45 principals and administrators come to tour our facilities and learn more about our program. On Fridays mentors from team 1056 and 3880 popped in to borrow a few sprockets.
Week four
With only two more weeks of build season our team has been working very diligently these past four weeks. It’s all hands on deck as our team tries to get our robot up and running. Our team has run into some issues early on in this week like having to redo our scoring operation. Utilizing our 3D printers we were able to create holders. Our team is also working on creating an app to be used at regional events. In the auto shop our construction team was busy making and refining various parts using the lathe, water jet, bandsaw and mill. Documentation was busy keeping up to date with every subdivision and working on their binders, pull banners and website. The programming team began to wire the control board so it is both organized and effective. They have also finished wiring our practice bots so our drive team can practice while competition bot is being shipped. We only have a few weeks left to finish our robot, program and practice driving before our first regional.
Week five
It’s finally Week Five and our team has been working on omiyage which is a Japanese tradition when you return or embark on trips. Our team is blessed to share this island tradition with teams from around the world. We also made 20th season special edition anniversary buttons. The robot suffered a couple setbacks we burned through 2 motors and a transmission. The design team regrouped and increased gear ratios in order to take stress off motors. We aren’t where we want to be so we are pulling some all-nighters as we roll into week 6. While the robot was being constructed , the documentation team was responsible for capturing the engineering process including putting together technical binders for other teams and judges to view. They are also preparing the business and sustainability plans as well as chairman’s documentation and updating the team banners.
Week six
Week 6 our 2019 Deep Space building season has finally come to an end and our team finished with time to spare. Our students worked hard finalizing the last few details on our robot and our code. Some students who were not working on the robot spent their time helping pack our crate for our upcoming regionals. Documentation made sure to take pictures of the whole process as the week winded down, and they also gathered clips for our 2019 robot reveal. And our drivers practiced driving for the upcoming competitions.This has been a great build season for our team, and we can’t wait for next year. Imua Waialua!