Thursday, September 27, 2018

9/27 - AOTY Tonight


     Today we're continuing, although it needs to be mentioned that the strategy is now drastically different. We now can't extend above 18 inches unless it's within the white line of the expansion zone. This means it's a lot more difficult to flip discs without a turntable.
     We also were refreshed by the fact that we also have to have a ball shooter. This is bad. Real bad. We didn't plan for one initially and now we may not have room. Also, the seniors, as usual, are being very "silly" over us accessing a gear with only half the teeth on it. This is fairly expected, but it chokes us out of a grade and points in competition if we can't get one of the special gears.

Until Monday,
Diego.

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

9/25 - A Persisting Plan


     Today we have the same plan as every day. Hunter, Samuel, and I build the arm while Brandon does SolidWorks.
     The goal is to be ready to do lifting things by the end of the week.

Until Thursday,
Diego.

Friday, September 21, 2018

9/21 - A Delayed Deadline


     Today is the deadline for the challenge. We have to lift a disc onto a high pole or shoot a ball at the flag. The disc challenge is surprisingly difficult, as we've been working on it for a couple weeks now.
     This week we've continued with our advanced arm. We're nearly complete, but most likely won't do the challenge today. My guess would be we finish the challenge sometime next week.

Until Tuesday,
Diego.

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

9/18 - A Happy Hoarding Day


     Today was my first hoarding day ever. We escaped with a 95% over some extra rails. The end result is fine, and we've always been a group that plays by the rules and doesn't deviate from what is right.
     Same old, same old in the building department. Samuel and Hunter work on the arm while Brandon does SolidWorks. I'm doing blogs and one other thing unique to today. I'm submitting an order form for our turn table. This means we'll be able to pick up a disc and rotate it with no problems.

Until Friday,
Diego.

Friday, September 14, 2018

9/14 - Great Grades


     Today we've made significant progress for our goals. The arm is finally taking shape; nearly to the point where someone who has no idea what we're doing can understand the final purpose and mechanism of the arm. This is a good thing.
     Our blogs have all gotten 100%, yet our SolidWorks got a 90%. So today, Brandon is putting in fasteners because the rest of the SolidWorks drawings will have the same problems unless we put them in now. While this is all happening, I'm doing blogs and making the arm.

Until Tuesday,
Diego.

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

9/12 - A Washy Wednesday

     I'll be real with you chief, this is getting repetitive. Hunter and Samuel work on the arm while Brandon does SolidWorks. I negotiate with other groups for their parts and help whoever needs it while writing blogs.
     We haven't gotten anywhere significant since our last blog. Our goal for the week is a functioning arm.

Til Friday,
Diego.

Friday, September 7, 2018

SolidWorks - Up and Over





9/7 - An Adaptive Arm

     From this point on, our weekly plans aren't going to hold much weight. Every day our plans for the day change and revolve based upon what we've accomplished so far. For example, at the beginning of last class (Wednesday the fifth), we planned to begin our tower and arm next week while finishing our chassis this week. Interestingly enough, we finished our chassis, did the challenge, and moved on all in the same class. Now, our goal is to complete the mechanical portion of the arm. As you can see in the photos (which I am finally in one), our tower is up. We are now designing and building the arm as we go. This means we have no clue what our next step is, we're just using trial and error as we go. Unfortunately, this means predicting our plans for the week is difficult. For example, we have no clue when we're going to have a breakthrough or get stuck.
     So as of now, our plan is to continue with the tower. Last class and this class I've been researching arm designs to pick up the discs. I found one I like, but until we complete the tower I'll have no clue if it's fully functional. The arm is going to be our main focus, as our next challenge is to either put the discs on the tall pole or shoot balls at the flags. And frankly, the flags are too hard at the moment.

Until Wednesday,
Diego.

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

9/5 - A Difficult Disc


     This week is very similar to the last. We're continuing with Brandon on SolidWorks and Hunter and Samuel on the robot. The difference is now I'm designing a tool to both flip the discs as well as place them on the poles. We still have the same strategy as last week, although no we're thinking about ball shooting mechanics.

See you Friday,
Diego.

12/14 - Mastering the Midterm

     Today we're finalizing our attempt at the midterm. We've created a coherent strategy for the rubric. For near autonomous, we...