Bot Blog

2/14/2020 - Middle of the Season

The middle of the season is now here and it is time to start my wiring. As my tunnel, hook for hanging, and motor controllers are being placed, I get excited that I may be able to be zooming all over the place and launching balls at the targets. Once the can wires are soldered, I can be shipped off to the programming room to see if I can actually move and perform the essential actions needed to compete and (more importantly) win. The biggest part of the season is finally on its way. The build team prepares to fix all the stuff that gets broken, the programmers sit and worry, and the media team runs for their cameras. They will now spend their time working on making me look neater. They will start to add a guard of plexiglass for my Hopper and wiring. After the third week of build season, they are still working on some wiring and fixing issues. They start to test everything to make sure it works. Build season is passing so quickly. Sometimes the meetings can be long, but the time passes like seconds. The problem is that we don't have a lot of time to perfect everything.

1/18/2020 - In the Next Week

In the next week our build team has managed to finish up my prototypes, test my intake elevator, and my launcher. Our intake is still in the making for the most part, but we have tried to perfect our ideas on the other two.

My elevator system consists of churros, 2x4’s, a bunch of shaft collars, entrapptions for wheels, and a urethane flat belt. I was proud as I watched the power cell start to roll up my conveyor belt system.

Next, I watched my launcher shoot the ball so quickly all I heard was the thump against the build labs wall, cheering and laughter from my teammates. However, my flywheels were being shredded to dust, so the team decided to order new wheels. When my newer wheels came in, I was so excited to finally see my launcher shoot power cells, without draining the power of my wheels. As they start to finally put me together, I get more and more excited for the soon to be competition season that I hope I can make my team proud.

Written by: Britney Justus

1/11/2020 - The Beginning

I could feel a breath of fresh air as I hear the tape being peeled off the top of my home.

I could hear the excitement as mentors and students rummaged through my belongings. It was finally kick off. Now that the season is here, I am ready for my shell to be built.

As students grab me out of the box they write 2020 on me and store me with their other batteries. I watch them rip last year's robot to pieces to get extra bearings and such. I feel happy, but also a little sad. I know I will get those beloved bearings, but one day the next robot will receive something of mine. I brush off that thought and watch them build my drive train.

Many students we have on the build team, the drive train team, start to put together my motors and oil my gears. I can already tell it is going to be a good season. I heard their ideas for this year's game, Infinite Recharge. I cannot wait to wear my shooter and play basketball like whoever Kobe is.

They are still making plans on how to fit five of the power cells within my shell. I'm sure they'll figure it out, but for now I'll just watch them play with their prototypes.

Written by: Britney Justus

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