WE DRIVE!

As of tonight we can now drive the robot. It is looking really good.

Here is a video:

-Deitzler
-Mr. Wuggles

Forget Climbing Bot- it's time for some change

Well, hello, everybody. Welcome to the latest edition of Let's See What Team 3397 Is Doing Now!

Tonight, the other captains and I had a very serious meeting. The progress of the climbing mechanism is nowhere near where we wanted it to be. With the amount of time left (we are into week 4 now), we just cannot afford to be still prototyping and theorizing; it's time for action. So we're switching directives. By executive order, we have changed direction.

We're going to focus on a sort of defense mechanism, where we collect Frisbees and have a dispensing mechanism almost like the feeding slot to feed to other robots on our alliance. We have come up with a design that is fairly simple to build within a week, giving us time to test and improve and program. Worst case scenario, it doesn't work and we're no worse off than we would be if we continued to go in the direction we have been headed.

Still working out the new blog format. It's more difficult to navigate. Perhaps more changes will come later.

Aaaaaand some pictures!

 Explaining the new idea to the team

 Mentors/coaches giving input

 Current chassis!

NEW. DESIGN.

So guys, it's time to switch things up a little. Never fear, it's still the same old Fourth Law of Robotics blog that we all know and love, now with a new and improved packaging design!

Ha, ha. In all seriousness, the design will probably remain like this until  we get complaints begging us to change it back. So enjoy. Or don't.

Adios!

Chasses and bumpers and prototypes, oh my!

Chasses? Chassisses? Not sure about the plural form of the word 'chassis'...anyways!

A little update here for those of you who are interested. The basic plan for tonight is to continue to work on prototyping; we have three prototypes for climbing mechanisms in the works right now, and then an arm/scoring mechanism. It might sound like we're pretty behind due to the fact that we're still in the prototyping stage- but on the contrary, we're right on schedule. Our entire chassis is welded and secure, with wheels attached and bumpers in the works. The electronics board is nearly complete- we'd started off with a prototype board just to get our robot to drive, but we've begun to fit the board to the chassis. We've got a non-conventional shape this year. Instead of the typical rectangle, you will find our robot sporting a hexagonal, trapezoid-esque shape. Photos will be around before long.

Everything else is pretty much as normal. We hope to decide on a prototype on Wednesday, vote, and begin construction of the actual components. Nearly 4 weeks in and we're chugging right along!

Peace out!
Captain Grace

The Code of Hammurabi

My post an hour ago was joking that we weren't accomplishing much without Captain Grace, but that would be an outright lie. Dan's freshman programming apprentice, Josh, successfully wrote code enough for our prototype robot to move! It lives! Huzzah!

In the Absence of the Captain...

Although many of our team members, including Captain Grace, are away in D.C. to attend President Obama's inauguration, work continues in the Robolions lab. For example:

- We created gussets for the prototype. Thanks to Ranken for welding our chassis; pics will come later when our computers are in order.

- We enjoyed a lavish lunch of lasagna and cookies courtesy of the White household.

- We determined the reason why art schools generally don't compete in FRC.

- We completed several of our set pieces. 

- We realized the centerpiece is less of a pyramid and more of a ziggurat, or perhaps the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

- We came up with another candidate for the robot's name: Hammurabi. The best aspect of this name is that Dan Land would then be literally writing the Code of Hammurabi.

As you can see, we're still being incredibly productive while Captain Grace is touring Washington, D.C. Won't she be proud of us when she returns!

Business is Booming

The past few days have already seen a good deal of activity in and around the 3397 Robolions lab (especially as compared to last year, when we spent altogether too much time brainstorming). Captain Grace, Henry, and I arrived from musical rehearsal to find the hallway filled with teammates enjoying breaktime!

Much progress has also been made. Over the weekend, Mr. Wurst opened up the woodshop and helped us get working on our mock arena by drilling metal poles and cutting boards. With the help of mentor Rowland, work on our prototype continues. Dan Land stands ready and waiting to program our drive train, whenever it gets built. The team is already considering names for our robot (a girl this year), such as Nefertiti, Asami, Quorra II, and Shuttleworth (after Leanna Shuttleworth, the youngest British woman to climb Mount Everest)*. And our soda sales are booming!

*Also Fluttershy. Definitely an option.