Today we saw multiple of our projects come to fruition. For instance, the build team, who, in addition to getting the lift bar ready for mounting (a substantial milestone in and of itself; soon we’ll be able to mount it on the robot proper), and finished the hopper mechanism in its entirety. With it we’ll be able to do up to forty nine points worth of missions, and, with it finished, the programming team will be able to get to work on it whenever is most practical to do so.
The completed hopper, loaded with dodge balls 
The lift bar, being outfitted for attachment to the robot
Speaking of the programming team, they spent the day working on the encoders, which gauge the rotation rate of the robot’s wheels to ensure that the robot drives in a straight line, and as a rather exasperated member of the build team recently explained to me, that’s pretty important for essentially every aspect of the competition.
Lastly, after a regrettable delay, the business team was finally able to sort out the T-shirt orders, complete the sponsor shirt design, and continue cranking out blog posts like the one you’re reading right now, all with only two members present. The upheaval from New Heights closing has put us behind schedule, and we’ve been working all season to correct it. Days like today are a sign that we can.
