meeting summary -1/16/10

Hello Everyone,

Today we:
Ordered Parts
ordered bolts, nuts, and usb hub because the one we got was manfucturally defective/malfunctioning
Programming and Mechanical
Tested out the robot to help the kicker team see if they had done things correctly
Also the robot cam is working but the chain slipped off the sproket on the axis rod of the kicker so we worked on the chain and the tension.
Started building the real roller by making the side plates that will hold the roller up.
Shop-in-a-box
Screw in supports with 2 1/2 in wood screws being bought and place in shelf for programmers to work on
Electronics
Created Gyro wires
Plus
Worked on bumpers
Worked on awards
Wored on "bill of parts"

PS. The more you guys tell me, the more I can put in the meeting summaries so that everyone including underclassmen know whats going on which means that at the competition when the judges ask us questions, they can also answer the questions. =]

Summary of what we've been up to since the last time we blogged

Since the arm didn't work out the way we wanted it to we decided to forget about it and move on. This way we can concentrate on the kicker. Right now we have gotten our prototype roller working to keep the ball in the kicker area. The kicker itself is done. Although the Programming team still has yet to successfully program the robot kicker since the kicker was only completed recently. The electrical team is working on the encoders so that the programming team may monitor the revolutions of the wheels on the robot chassis.

Build Week

This Week, we recieved the parts we ordered online. Jason and Yash got the piston all set up with the help of Bruce. Eddy and Gerry re-programmed the drive system of the robot. Ram and Jerril got all 4 chains on all 4 motors and wheels. We planned on methods of gaining people's attention to attend the FIRST competition. Finally, the kicker is in the process of being built. 

1/28/10

1/28/10 – The mechanical group was working on the kicker. They were trying to re-figure out the Force needed to pull the kicker just as before. They also worked on prototyping the robot's arm which is based of a hypothetical idea. The shop-in-a-box painted part of the storage crate and measured the wood needed to build the interior shelf. The CAD group worked with the mechanical group by helping with the prototype kicker by simulating some of the parts in a CAD model of the kicker. There were some members who were working on figuring out how to build the field goal. They were making a list of materials needed to build the field goal. The software team has been trying to get autonomous mode and the camera working. Eddy got the robot to stop moving in a “jerky” way. Jatin an Ravi cleaned up the shop and entry way. They did a great job. It was very important to keep it clean.

Kickerrr

The mechanical group was working on the kicker. They were trying to re-figure out the force needed to pull the kicker. They also worked on prototyping the robotic arm which is based off an according idea. The shop-in-a-box team painted part of the storage crate and measured the wood needed to build the interior shelf. The CAD group is working with the mechanical group to help with the kicker. Others were working on building the field and make a list of materials needed to build the field goal. The programming team are still working on the Camera. Eddy was able to make the robot move more smoothly.

1/27/10

1/27/10 – Today, the mechanics group worked on the kicker mechanism. They figured out how to kick the ball without rolling it. Most of their time was spent on trying to figure out how to bring the ball on only spot. Also, they were trying to figure out how to control the angle of the ball when released. It was found out that if the distance from where the ball was hit was changed then the angle at which it was hit was altered. The programming team tried to get the camera to work. There were a few people working on painting the box. Three sides of the shipping crate were thoroughly and artfully painted and sketched with robot designs.

1/26/10

1/26/10 – The shop-in-a-box people went out to buy paint. They repainted the silver on the shop-in-a-box. Jerril made new posters to hang up around the school. The mechanical team tried to move the wheels up 2 inches on the chassis. They made a board to place the electrical wiring on. The software team was working on trying to get the camera on the old robot working with Java and the mini PC. Matt got a list of parts together for the goal and Matt and Jerril started working on the bumpers for the chassis of the robot.