the spacecookies robotics team blog: Season 2007-2008

Regionals - Be there or...

So what was today?

FIRST DAY OF COMPETITION!

Not that I'm sure you're reading this e-mail since it's almost late enough to be considered late, and we definitely have an early start tomorrow.

How did we do?
1) Programming now has an autonomous -- a work in progress, really. It goes straight and stops generally when it bangs into things (I hope it won't do this anymore). (The first such time was when the Hawaii team was directly across. Whoops.)
2) Elevator is on the robot! Unfortunately, this was at the very last minute, so it's not actually wired. But it's on the robot! Bolted and ready for metal-gluing.
3) I updated the code so that we would have a smaller turn radius on high gear. It looks like it's working!
4) Some brilliant minded person (that was sarcasm, really) decided the robot should be named Katherine. Want a robot named after you? Be five foot tall and weight as much as a robot.

What next?
1) Come to competition! Be at the San Jose Event Center at 7:45am. The doors open at 8am, so the earlier you get there, the better!
2) Solder the elevator motors.
3) Sign up for practice field -- 8:30am or after should be good.
4) Our first match is at 10:06am. Be there!!
5) Drive straight! Turn left!

For those that haven't heard, we're up against some really tough teams. In our first match, we're up against 1280 (Portland regional winners). Then again, we're teamed up with two really fast robots.
Next, Bell. Somewhere down the line, we're up against 100 and 8. (So what teams are we with? Well, I don't actually know -- I failed to look at that side of the paper. :S Best to know your competition, right?)

But really, I'm so excited for tomorrow! Mark's emcee'ing.

And does anyone know where the cookie costume is?

-K

Why reading the rules is key...

It would really help if lots of you went over these modifications of the rules.  The more of us that understand the details the better!  Our first year we might have done better in the finals if we had known that we could call a time-out when our chain broke just before the match and we also might have called for a substitute team when we were not able to get the chain on properly had we known that was a possibility.  So please become an expert on all of the rules!

Diane

-----Original Message-----
From: FRC Teams [mailto:frcteams@usfirst.org]
Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 3:07 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: **FIRST EMAIL**/Early Team Update

Greetings Teams:

Due to the fact that the FRC Regionals start is this weekend, we have released a game-specific Team Update early. Please refer to Team Update #13, http://www.usfirst.org/community/frc/content.aspx?id=450

Go Teams!

Mondays...who made them!

Here are my meeting notes.

Just as a note, I didn't realize this until I started home this afternoon, but I won't be able to make it this Thursday or the weekend.

What we shipped: a chassis that runs, an elevator that needs to be soldered and cable-afied, and a "claw."
What's needs to be done by the end of Thursday:
1) A big rectangle (the chassis without wheels and such; figure out how we're mounting the gear boxes, wheels, etc).
2) Hubs (?)
3) Figuring out what we're doing with the claw
What else needs to be done
1) Cut pieces, etc for elevator
2) Machine spools for elevator
3) Carriage
4) Fix claw
5) Electronics board (!!!) - a nice big piece of plywood will work for this (and wood screws)

People and their assignments
Keep in mind, this is based upon 1) what people said they wanted to do, 2) when people are coming in, 3) randomly. Your job as part of whatever area you are assigned to is to make sure it gets done. If you don't like fixing the claw, but you were "assigned" there, just make sure someone else is doing it. There's a good chance you're under more than one category. If you are, go with whatever is listed first in this list.
1) Chassis - Gaby, LaDreya, Kaila, Callie (if you're better) - frame needs to be done by Thursday night (cutting, and preferably bolted, too)
  I'm thinking either KoP or bolt together aluminum. This will need bandsawing and possibly drilling (if bolt together). It would be nice to have the pieces drill-pressed if necessary. You will also have to figure out how to mount the wheels, gear boxes, elevator, and electronics. Work with Krystine. :)
2) Hubs / Wheels, Chain - Sarah, Valerie, Ming-Ming, Christina, Yassi, Meghna - hopefully machined by Thursday, and bolted to wheels...
   After getting the hubs machined, they'll need to be tapped and attached to the wheels.
3) Carriage - Lilian, Elizabeth, Callie,
   Lilian's domain. All I know is that it needs to exist. :)
4) Claw - Lilian, Sarra, Saarah, Valerie, Kaila, Meghna - figure out what claw to pursue by the end of Thursday.
   This includes figuring out how much needs to be done to lighten the AZ claw, if it's worth it to do so, if not, continuing on the other one. Eventually, you'll also need make spare claws (but that comes after we have something to drive).
5) Elevator - Gaby, Sarah, Jena, LaDreya, Christine, Ming-Ming
   Cutting pieces, pullies, spool gear box... etc?
6) Electronics / Programming - Katherine, Christina, Christine - figure out how it will fit onto the chassis by Thursday (work with the chassis people)
   Figure out what size we need, cut it (if necessary), bolt it to the chassis, start laying things out, drilling, bolting, wiring, etc. etc. Plywood for this is perfectly fine.
7) Bumpers - Sila, Christine
   We need some made that have no holes. This won't be for the practice, but I know there's at least one bumper that only bolts through one thing (at least, that I could figure out in the last 5 minutes before ship). It's not a top priority, but still.

I hope I got everyone and didn't give anyone too much (or too little) to do. :S I also hope I didn't assign too many people to one task.

GOOD LUCK! (See you next week.)

Meeting on the 25th - Please read...

Hello Everyone!

 

Please remember to come to the Conference room about a block away from the lab on Monday, February 25, 2008 at 4:30. If you can't make it in person, but you can call in, let Katherine know and she'll send you the teleconference number.

We need a few more sprints (like the last few days) to finish up the rest of the parts for our competition robot, but we only have 30 hours (per FIRST rules).

 

So, please email us, Lillian, Katherine, and Gabriela, the approximate days / days of the week that you can come in over the next 3-4 weeks by Saturday 3pm. It would also help to mention what you like to work on (building chassis, electronics, elevator, machining, claw, bending conduit, etc. etc.)

 

Thank you

Gabriela (and Katherine and Lilian)

Our 2008 Robot (and part of the team)

Fixing away till the last minute...

And here we are (almost) all done...

Build Notes - Feb 20th - We Shipped!

The first thing I do upon coming home is make myself a cup of instant noodles.  Ironic?

Well, anyways. We shipped. We shipped a robot that runs and has an elevator (but the spool isn't motorized), and a claw (that is not attached, but wrapped up nicely in bubble wrap).

First of all, I do have pictures of what we shipped, but I haven't had time to upload them.

Second of all, despite having shipped a robot, I still haven't really seen daylight. It's ... cloudy, overcast, and I think it's raining.

Third, we have a claw. It managed to find its way to Krystine's door without her noticing. Well, now we have something to practice with? :)

Driver try-outs will unfortunately probably be during qualifying matches after we fix our robot on SVR Thursday. Please don't make me a liar. (Actually, it would also be nice if the people who want to drive reply saying they do want to drive. I think there's Kaila, Jenna, LaDreya and Lilian. Anyone else?)

Next Meeting on Monday, Feb 25. Don't come to the lab before that.

If you have parts that you think need to be ordered, e-mail Krystine.

Okay, now go back to sleep. Or school. Or whatever you were doing.

Build Notes - Feb 19th - Shipping Time

So I just got home from robotics and this is the update.

Tomorrow/today all that is being done is packing. Krystine and i went through everything we have left to do, realized it could all be done at competition, and non of it get done in the next few hours. So I did a bunch of work on the hubs and have a bunch more to do. We need to get started on the carriage but for right now don't worry about it.

Sarah

Build Notes - Feb 19th - It Moves

I forgot to take a video of our robot running ... but it really isn't that exciting.

We go like this: ---..../^\....--- (that is to say, zig-zags).

Bell goes like this: ------------------- (and then it takes a left turn)

So we have some work to do, drivers and programmers (stop looking at me like that).

In other news
1) We're driving again, but two wheels fell off. Once, it was because of the snapring. Once, it was because the bolt kind of ... flew out? I'm not sure.
2) Elevator can actually be mounted without the electronics board coming off.
3) New hubs are getting made.
4) Claw has been reprototyped, and tested with pneumatics. It can hold a ball, but it isn't the best yet.

News of the future
1) Claw will be moving up and down and on the chassis.
2) We will drive in straight lines and make nice turns.
3) Elevator will be motorized.
4) Krystine and Sarah are going to class.
5) Shipping.
6) Reliving these past three days ... over the course of slightly fewer hours and more days???

Build Notes - Feb 17th - LateLateLate!

So, this is late, a few days so, why? Because I've been too tired to type anything up upon coming home. But I just got my computer back from being worked on, so now I can actually read what's on the screen! Exciting! What's been happening, read on!

The infinitely good list
1) The elevator can slide up and down. It has pullies. It has a cable running through them.
2) We found our Fischer-Price motors. Apparently someone borrowed them.
3) Bumpers have been made and either are mountable or are becoming mountable.
4) Claw has been prototyped.
5) Electronics has grown two more speed controllers.
6) It is possible to mount the elevator without taking off the electronics board.
7) We had Indian food for lunch.

The not-infinitely bad list
1) Elevator needs to grow a spool. (That word looks funny. It looks like a spoon that's been misspelled.)
2) We need the elevator on the robot so that we can test it, drive it, run it, crash it, test it some more, test it, test it, drive it, practice, practice, PRACTICE!
3) Claw should be past prototyped stage.
4) Electronics needs elevator so that the RC and the other motors can be wired for real.
5) Electronics board needs to grow one more spacer and hole.

Basically, we're ahead of last year, but still behind! Let's workworkworkworkWORKWORKWORKWORK!!

-- Katherine (Is it just me or does the word "work" now look funny, too?)

Build Notes - Feb 14th - YaYaYa!

Hey all, guess what? WE HAVE A ROBOT THAT CAN RUN IN CIRCLES AND LINES AND OVALS AND CRASH AND ...

Well, yes, that's right. Gaby and I finally finished wiring and tubing the robot. It took me about 2 hours today to finish up because I couldn't just rest and clear my head, but my head was getting muddled (I can't wait to sleep in tomorrow). So anyways, YES, we are running. YES, we did get it on tape. YESYESYES! Now we're cutting all the zipties and putting on the elevator (yes, that does mean it won't run in circles, lines and "rectangles" (that look like triangles) for a while). So life should get progressively better!

More importantly, I would like to start earlier on Friday at 10:30. However, in order to do this, we need adults. If you can provide a parent, please let me and Shoba know. If you plan on coming in earlier and want me to call (or e-mail) you as soon as we know whether or not we get a parent, please let me know!

In short ...

What was done today:
1) Wired and tubed and running
B) Can shift!
iii) Can turn!
2^2) Elevator welded!
epsilon) Something was machined, but I honestly can't remember what...

What's up next
A) Getting the elevator on
B) Tweaking numbers.
4) Get a claw, get pneumatics.
D) Drive!Straight?turn!LEFT?!