Hello again everyone! After being kept home by what I can only describe as a “sleet day,” we weren’t able to have a meeting this Friday, but we’re here today, and ready to make up for the lost time. Let’s get to it!
After their fair share of trials and tribulations, the Build Team has finally got the chassis fully wired up, programmed, and ready to drive! On top of that, the new Cargo Cannon, which we’re making from lexan glass, is nearly complete. We’re going to attach it to the base of the chassis, and aim it using motors, which will give us a great deal of breathing room in the competition. All told, it should be ready to go by the end of the week. As for the climbing rig, we’ve decided that it will be necessary to replace the wooden frame with a metal one, for increased reliability, but we should be finished assembling the first arm soon, and ready to move onto the second. In short, each of the separate build projects is approaching completion. Once the whole robot has come together, all that we’ll have left to manage will be optimization.
The chassis is up and running, thanks in no small part to the Programming Team, who identified a problem with the ethernet cable in the radio system. On top of that, they’ve completed the process of merging the successful test code with the core design, a major milestone for our development this season. With this last objective falling into place, we should soon be able to focus on programming the individual pieces of the robot, with members developing the code to run the Cargo Cannon, the drive system, and the climbing rig.
The Business Team has begun preparations for filming the chairman’s video, likely the most difficult challenge remaining for this year. We have also finished our submission for the Woodie Flowers Award for outstanding mentors. For this honor it is our pleasure to nominate Gordon Reynolds, our head mentor, as well as our longest standing one. Mr. Reynolds has been an incredible asset to the team, and could not imagine a better choice for the award.
That’s about it for today! As the week advances we expect we’ll have more to report on the robot as it comes together, and soon enough we might even have some footage of it in action! Stay tuned!
