Today was the team's second summer meeting, and plenty of progress was made. In construction, headway was made on the mecanum drive system, and parts for it were ordered.
In the category of programming, I made advances in building a recording function. When it's done, it should allow our team to record our drivers moving the robot, and then play it back autonomously. This system could prove helpful for building a better autonomous mode next season. So far, it partially works. When it really gets going, I'll post a video in this space.
- Daniel
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
To Our Readers
Hey! If you are a blog reader who is a teacher, interested parent, or the coach of an FLL or FTC team, and you're located in the area, we would love to come and demonstrate our robot for your group! We would show our robot's capabilities, explain the mechanics and engineering behind it, and teach the kids about what it's like to be part of a higher-level robotics team. It's a great, fun way to get kids interested in engineering, science and technology, as well as get them interested in a program that will teach them life-long skills.
If you are interested in a demonstration, please contact us at robolions3397@gmail.com. We can work out dates and times. Thanks!!
If you are interested in a demonstration, please contact us at robolions3397@gmail.com. We can work out dates and times. Thanks!!
Summer Session #1
Today is our first summer build session. We have, as of today, 3 new members- Henry, Benjamin and Matt. It's good news for our team- Benjamin is interested in programming, which means that we have someone to take over Dan's spot when he graduates year after next. And of course, we always need more people to help build the robot.
Right now we are working on reattaching the CRio module. As you guys know, we had some complications with it at the competition, and ended up having to get a new one during the competition. National Instruments fixed our original CRio and now we are just working on putting it back on Quorra. That's our main objective for the day; that and getting our new members acclimated to the awesomeness of robotics!
Some other objectives for the coming weeks are getting the mechanum wheel system up and running so that we can use them for next season. We also want to do some more fundraising, hopefully selling more lightbulbs. We also plan to attend events and showcase our robot, to gain publicity. Now that we've got trophies, we are a regional Champion team, and have had our team written about in the Post-Dispatch, we feel like we should start doing more locally. Showcasing at Science Nights at the local elementary schools, showcasing at Club Fairs, anything we can do. The robotics program is growing in UCity, and we want to do all we can to help it!
So, this was just a quick update to let you know what we're up to. There will be more throughout the summer. Make sure to find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!
Peace, love and robots!
Right now we are working on reattaching the CRio module. As you guys know, we had some complications with it at the competition, and ended up having to get a new one during the competition. National Instruments fixed our original CRio and now we are just working on putting it back on Quorra. That's our main objective for the day; that and getting our new members acclimated to the awesomeness of robotics!
Some other objectives for the coming weeks are getting the mechanum wheel system up and running so that we can use them for next season. We also want to do some more fundraising, hopefully selling more lightbulbs. We also plan to attend events and showcase our robot, to gain publicity. Now that we've got trophies, we are a regional Champion team, and have had our team written about in the Post-Dispatch, we feel like we should start doing more locally. Showcasing at Science Nights at the local elementary schools, showcasing at Club Fairs, anything we can do. The robotics program is growing in UCity, and we want to do all we can to help it!
So, this was just a quick update to let you know what we're up to. There will be more throughout the summer. Make sure to find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!
Peace, love and robots!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Updates
Sorry for not writing in a while, we've just been so busy with end of school year stuff- a few of us took AP exams this week, and everyone else is getting ready for finals.
The Robolions haven't been up to much since the competition. We're planning on having a meeting next week to discuss plans for the summer, plans for next year, etc. Here are a few items that may be on the agenda for discussion:
-Do we want to meet over the summer? When? Where?
-Recruiting for next year- possibly build a Robotics float for the homecoming parade?
-Fundraising for next year- team fundraising as well as trying to get sponsorship from local companies
-Speculating on what next year's challenge might be! Several teams have already posted predictions on cheifdelphi.com, a portal/forum for FIRST teams.
Other than that, you probably won't hear from us for a while! But we will try to post updates from time to time to let you know what we're up to. Thanks for reading!
The Robolions haven't been up to much since the competition. We're planning on having a meeting next week to discuss plans for the summer, plans for next year, etc. Here are a few items that may be on the agenda for discussion:
-Do we want to meet over the summer? When? Where?
-Recruiting for next year- possibly build a Robotics float for the homecoming parade?
-Fundraising for next year- team fundraising as well as trying to get sponsorship from local companies
-Speculating on what next year's challenge might be! Several teams have already posted predictions on cheifdelphi.com, a portal/forum for FIRST teams.
Other than that, you probably won't hear from us for a while! But we will try to post updates from time to time to let you know what we're up to. Thanks for reading!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Last Day of Competition
Yesterday, Saturday, was our last day of competition. We didn't get home last night until 9:30, which is why we didn't post an update yesterday.
Our first match yesterday was early- 8:45! So we got to the pits early and strategized with other teams, and went into our first match with confidence.
Unfortunately, we lost that match. But considering that we were against some of the teams that would later go on to compete in the finals, we don't feel too down about it. We played to the best of our abilities, and our alliance partners did too.
The next match happened soon after the first, and we lost that one as well, but again, it was against a difficult team to beat.
We ended up in 46th place at the end of the day, which isn't so bad, considering that there are 88 teams and this was our first year in the Championship.
Later that day was alliance selections. We went into it hoping that we would be chosen, but we weren't. However, that didn't stop us from having a great time anyways. We watched a few other matches, and then packed up our pits. We came back later that afternoon to watch the closing ceremonies and final matches, The alliance from Galileo, Team 973, 111 and the Cheesy Poofs, won the championship- we were proud of them!
Afterwards was the Food and Friends event, where all FIRST kids got dinner, and then participated in various activities throughout the evening. There were game consoles set up, a few carnival-like booths with games and prizes, a talent show, and time for everyone to just hang out and meet new people. It was a great evening- we met some kids from team 249 who were pretty awesome.
Pictures will be on the facebook page soon! Peace!
Our first match yesterday was early- 8:45! So we got to the pits early and strategized with other teams, and went into our first match with confidence.
Unfortunately, we lost that match. But considering that we were against some of the teams that would later go on to compete in the finals, we don't feel too down about it. We played to the best of our abilities, and our alliance partners did too.
The next match happened soon after the first, and we lost that one as well, but again, it was against a difficult team to beat.
We ended up in 46th place at the end of the day, which isn't so bad, considering that there are 88 teams and this was our first year in the Championship.
Later that day was alliance selections. We went into it hoping that we would be chosen, but we weren't. However, that didn't stop us from having a great time anyways. We watched a few other matches, and then packed up our pits. We came back later that afternoon to watch the closing ceremonies and final matches, The alliance from Galileo, Team 973, 111 and the Cheesy Poofs, won the championship- we were proud of them!
Afterwards was the Food and Friends event, where all FIRST kids got dinner, and then participated in various activities throughout the evening. There were game consoles set up, a few carnival-like booths with games and prizes, a talent show, and time for everyone to just hang out and meet new people. It was a great evening- we met some kids from team 249 who were pretty awesome.
Pictures will be on the facebook page soon! Peace!
Friday, April 29, 2011
CRio problem fixed!
So earlier I had mentioned that our CRio module died during the match today. Well, we just recieved notice from our coach that the CRio has been replaced (so, basically our robot got a brain transplant) and is now working! Horray!
Recap on today
Today was an interesting day at the competition. There were ups and downs. We won 2 out of the 4 matches, and the ones we lost were against really good teams.
Our third match was great. Our alliance partners scored beautifully and we defended like beasts, so all together, it was a great match.
In our fourth match of the day, our robot stopped in the middle of the match. We couldn't move it at all, and couldn't figure out what was wrong. So we took it back to the pit after the match (which we unfortunately lost) and checked it out- turns out our CRio module was dead. Now, this is very upsetting because the CRio is like the brain of the robot, and is not supposed to break. Last I heard they were getting it checked out by a National Instruments guy at the pit, but haven't heard anything since.
We will be back at it tomorrow, with two matches- our first match is at 8:45 am. Then after tomorrow morning, that's it- elimination rounds begin tomorrow afternoon, and we are crossing our fingers to make it to elim rounds, but we are happy to have just made it to the championship at all.
Tonight is the big will.i.am and special guests show for all FIRST students, so we are all excited for that.
Photos can again be found at the facebook page, UCHS Robolions. Check us out, become a fan! Peace!
Our third match was great. Our alliance partners scored beautifully and we defended like beasts, so all together, it was a great match.
In our fourth match of the day, our robot stopped in the middle of the match. We couldn't move it at all, and couldn't figure out what was wrong. So we took it back to the pit after the match (which we unfortunately lost) and checked it out- turns out our CRio module was dead. Now, this is very upsetting because the CRio is like the brain of the robot, and is not supposed to break. Last I heard they were getting it checked out by a National Instruments guy at the pit, but haven't heard anything since.
We will be back at it tomorrow, with two matches- our first match is at 8:45 am. Then after tomorrow morning, that's it- elimination rounds begin tomorrow afternoon, and we are crossing our fingers to make it to elim rounds, but we are happy to have just made it to the championship at all.
Tonight is the big will.i.am and special guests show for all FIRST students, so we are all excited for that.
Photos can again be found at the facebook page, UCHS Robolions. Check us out, become a fan! Peace!
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