、
Date: | November 11, 2019 |
Meeting: | #10 |
Tasks & Plans | |
Task: I spent the time finding contact information for sponsors, updating social media, and taking pictures of the team while we do our various tasks.. Plan: I will continue to look for more sponsors and try to have conversations with current or potential sponsors in person or via phone call. -EH | |
Task: We worked on rewriting our old business plan, which was relatively bare last year, and added some information about our team and what our goals were for the year. -HM and LF | |
Task: Mr. Long taught the programming team more Java and we went over variables, methods, loops, and conditional flow statements. I believe by the end of this week our team will have enough programming knowledge to create a basic robot program. Plan: We will learn more Java -AB, BL, JH, EM | |
Task: We have decided that we want to use the built-in camera on the phone to attempt to find the skystone during autonomous. We imported DogeCV into our SkyStone library and we are working on figuring out how to use the libraries to create -KJ | |
Task: We began construction on the update wheelbase, extending our mecanum system from last year by one whole allowing us to fit our motors in a direct drive configuration. This will prevent some of the unreliability of of chain that we experienced last year. -AH, JS | |
Date: | November 12, 2019 |
Meeting: | #11 |
Tasks & Plans | |
Task: We learned how to extend different classes to each other. This allows us to minimize usage of memory and trigger another class without clicking one after another. Mr.Long also showed us how to add names to each class and how to activate a class multiple times at once. We can use this knowledge to create complicated games. Plan: Finish learning about object oriented programming. -JH, BL, AB | |
Task: We brainstormed ideas for our team poster. We looked at other teams’ and we evaluated what worked well and what didn’t. Plan: We will sketch some more ideas for our poster next time and come up with a rough draft. -HM, EH | |
Task: I began to build up the foundation of the robot. It should just barely fit the motors in and then we can use the couplers we ordered to link the motors to the mechanisms. I'm a little worried about the motor clearance and the lack of support on the wheels. -AH, JS | |
Task: Began brainstorming for possible autonomous routes. Started off by watching videos from other competitions to see what the safest routes were. This ensures that we do not harm other robots while running our autonomous program. We want to complete the safest path we can. -KJ | |
Date: | November 13, 2019 |
Meeting: | #12 |
Task: Our plan for the day was to create a new poster for the team and think of supplies that we would have to get in order to make the poster. Some materials include: a new poster board, blue paint, orange paint, and glue. We decided to go with a smaller poster than we had last year, and it will be a tri-fold (so it is easier for transport). Plan: Get the supplies needed in the upcoming weeks so we can start putting together the poster. -EH, HM | |
Task: The task for today was to build a test robot, so that we could see how our programing would work on a robot similar to our competiton one. This will allow us to work on our mecanum code while the rest of the robot’s systems are being worked on. -JS | |
Task: Today, the programming team followed Kevin’s lead in creating our own class and typing our own controls for wheels. We learned what override is, which can not be absent in order to make the function work. We also tried to figure out how to add a timer. However, even Kevin does not know so none of us were sure what to do. Plan: Find out how to make a timer. -JH, AB, BL, EM | |
Task: I emailed local tech companies (EcoBot, Pro(tech)t, BrightField Transportation, Moog Music, Phytonics) to see if they would be interested in an interview/giving us a tour of their facilities. Plan: Once I get emails back, I will work to set up transportation and dates with the companies that agree - LF | |
Task: Continued to assemble the drive base of the robot. We are still exploring possible ideas for the robot and delving into potential designs that can improve our success in the competitions. Plan: We hope to finish the drive base soon and start building an intake system. -KJ AH JS | |
Date: | November 14th, 2019 |
Meeting: | #13 |
Tasks & Plans | |
Task: I coded a simple TeleOp program to see if our simple mecanum drive base worked. There is some roughness in the strafing that will need to be sorted out. I also figured out how to code servos and use different types of sensors. These sensors will be used during the competition to sense blocks and other robots. Plan: There were some issues that need to be addressed and we will work on fixing those tomorrow. -KJ | |
Task: Designed a simple phone mount for the Motorola Moto e5 Plan: I looked around the interwebz for a 3d model of the Motorola Moto e5 to no avail. So instead I turned to my inner genius and designed one from scratch. I looked up the dimensions of the phone and designed the phone mount in tinkercad, complete with Tetrix-compatible screw holes, a camera hole, and overhang supports. I also documented the entire process to new members by projecting my screen onto, well, a projector. -EM | |
Task: We watched Eric design a simple phone mount for the Motorola Moto e5. We can hopefully use tinkercad now if needed. To be honest, it is quite confusing, so it might take a lot of time for us to learn. Plan: We are going to go back to learn programming. The 3D model making is not our job. -AB, JH, BL, LF | |
Task: We observed other budget plans to see how we should properly format ours. Also, we decided what materials we would need for our new poster. We made a list of materials. Plan: We hope to finish up the business plan soon and start working on our posters. -EH, HM | |
Task: We are continuing to work on the drive base. Our biggest challenge that we have to overcome is the placement of the mothers. We would like to avoid the use of chains because we attempted that approach last year. We had issues with the chains coming off during matches. We have learned from that and decided that we want to try to build a robot with direct drive. Plan: Continue brainstorming possible locations for the motors. Before we put them onto the robot we will CAD the motors to ensure their functionality. -AH KJ JS | |
Date: | November 15th, 2019 |
Meeting: | #14 |
Tasks & Plans | |
Task: We edited what we have for our business plan so far. We used the old one as the bones of the updated plan. We added an Executive Summary and many more must needed details. Plan: Add all of the needed parts to our business plan so we can finalize the business plan within the next few days. -EH, HM | |
Task: We reviewed basic things in Java. We went through things like commenting and compiling. We also went through different kinds of variables. There are different types of variables in java because they take up different amount of spaces in RAM. The hardware can run efficiently if less RAM is used. -BL JH, AB | |
Date: | November 18th, 2019 |
Meeting: | #15 |
Tasks & Plans | |
Task: I set up a date (December 3rd) for a tour of the Moog Music facilities. I also attempted to set up an interview with Moog, but their algorithm identified my email as spam, so I contacted the person who we set up a tour and asked about it. On a separate note, I went through the engineering notebook for the first two weeks and edited for quality and consistency. Plan: Go into our photo file and transfer the photos that haven’t been transferred yet into the appropriate logs -LF | |
Task: We continued to learn about coding in Codeacademy. We revised what variables are and how to name them correctly. Also, we studied about Static typing, which is one of the safety features of java. We completed the review section of the lesson. -JH, BL | |
Task: We continued working on the Autonomous protocol. We had trouble with color detection so we did a little research on potential Camera Vision libraries we could use. While I did that, Kevin worked on fixing the autonomous code Plan: Use the color detectors we researched in our code. -AH | |
Task & Plan: We decided on our final robot design from our current idea pool. We had numerous designs ranging from claw-arm mechanisms to wheel intake mechanisms. We then weighed the pros and cons of each design and eventually settled on a design that was compact, versatile, and reliable. Some designs were better than others. For example, we concluded that a robot with an extendable claw arm was too unstable and unreliable, judging from past experience. Another design with an elevator mechanism was deemed too complex to make and unreliable. We finally settled on a design that everyone on the team agreed on. Our final design has three vital mechanisms: the intake, the small arm, and the big arm. -KJ | |
Date: | November 19th, 2019 |
Meeting: | #16 |
Task: We designed a new robot today. We planned out how the intake system and the claw of the robot will work. We need an intake system for the robot so its claws can clamp and move the blocks accurately. In the intake system, wheels will move blocks to a mold so the claws can clamp the blocks. Plan: Try to make the robot design possible. -JH BL JS LF | |
Task: I went through a few more lessons of CodeAcademy. I learned about math operations and comparison operations. - AB | |
Task: Today I started diving deeper into sensors. I decided to use a REV color/range sensor. I had to do some research on how to code it. I want to use the color sensor to distinguish the SkyStone from the regular stone. This will be key in the autonomous period. I also want to use the range sensor to counter any error there is in the placing of blocks during autonomous. Using the distance sensor allows me to get the same distance away from the blocks each time so slight human error will not matter. -KJ | |
Date: | November 20th, 2019 |
Meeting: | #17 |
Tasks & Plans | |
Task: I finished the poster write-ups and started to work on a maze prototype. -EH Plan: Find a way to make a smaller robot. | |
Task: We practiced writing String variables and how to create a story with String made words. We also passed the quiz that tested our knowledge on how to use int, String, boolean, and double. Even though we made several mistakes when writing the codes, we were able to quickly spot and fix them since many of them are just missing the semi commas. Plan: Learn a new coding skill. - BL, JH | |
Task: I started working on two videos. Well, I actually finished one, which is a short pilot video for our 2019 season. It is a meme version of a short scene in Avengers: Endgame. The second video is for an upcoming school event which Lily organized. It will be a robot competition where students can pay a small fee to drive a robot through a maze. The fastest student will get a prize proportional to how much we make. I started working on that video and so far I have the audio almost done. Plan: continue working on promotional videos, plan out script and record info footage -EM | |
Task: I added more details to the robot design we came up with yesterday. I came up with a placement for the lift system (over the intake system, which would be at an angle), and began experimenting with different ways to help increase friction on the claw so that we wouldn’t run the risk of having the block slip. I tried melting many different rubber substances so that we could put them on the metal portion of the claw. None of them melted, so I just decided to wrap a rubber band around the front grip, which seemed to make it have enough traction to hold. Plan: Learn how to CAD so that I will be able to CAD designs before creating them instead of drawing them. -LF | |
Task: I have had some issues with the distance sensor so I have decided to try to use a touch sensor in addition to the distance sensor. The color sensor works very well and I look forward to using it during the competition. Plan: Figure out what combination of sensors I want to use for autonomous. - KJ | |
Date: | November 21th, 2019 |
Meeting: | #18 |
Task: We learned about more functions in java, such as addition, subtraction and division. We also learned about putting string together to form longer messages. The lessons were easy and we completed many tasks. Plan: Learn more about how to program in java like an expert. - BL, JH
| |
Task: Today we worked on the robot drive base. Alex and Jose built the chassis. Kevin and I worked on building mecanum wheel modules. Each mecanum wheel had to be fitted with a specific screw, nut, and motor mount. We also brainstormed a bit on the lifting mechanism. Our goal is to make it stable while requiring minimum precision. So far we have a folding metal arm that will receive the stone through a wheel vacuum thingy. Plan: Work further on drive base and the actual robot. Finalize lifting mechanism design and consider adding a seperate intake system that will greatly improve the speed of our intake. It would also reduce driver precision which would be very helpful for our TeleOp portion. -EM, JS, AH, KJ | |
Task: Today I finished as much as I could of the poster write-ups. Plan: I need to add pictures and insert certain information as I go.
| |
Task: Over the last few days I have experimented with different ways of getting the robot to the blocks and stopping in front of blocks in the same spot each time. I have experimented with the REV color sensor, the REV distance sensor, and the touch sensor. So far I have gotten the robot to stop right after it touched the block by using the distance sensor built into the color sensor but I am trying to get the robot to stop in front of the blocks. Plan: I plan to continue experimenting and finding the right combination of sensors to stop in front of the block. - KJ | |
Task: I began learning how to CAD. Alex added me in to the project for this year’s robot and I began practicing some simple things, like rotating and modifying objects. I think Alex is going to CAD our current plan for the robot, but I’m going to continue practicing for future purposes. Plan: Since we can’t meet over Thanksgiving break, I’ll get better at using CAD and Fusion 360 in general. I will also finish up the business plan so that its ready before we leave for winter break. I’ll also continue to send out sponsor emails and finalize outreach plans. -LF | |
Date: | December 2th, 2019 |
Meeting: | #19 |
Task: We learned about Multiple Fields today in CodeAcademy. It is more complicated and therefore took us more time to go through each lesson. Nevertheless, we were able to finish the series of classes and complete the review for this unit. Hopefully tomorrow we can learn something useful in the trip. Plan: Going to visit a museum in Asheville -BL, JH, AB | |
Task: Figure out the dimensions for the maze and, in the spirit of Star Wars, use a BB-8 sphero robot to fit in it. I started to gather pieces of cardboard to build the maze. Plan: I will start cutting the pieces to size, and build the maze. I also plan to paint it at a later date. -EH | |
Task: We finalized the drive base and began working on an intake system. Plan: Switch the configuration of the drive base, so that we can allow the intake to go on the side. | |
Task: To test servo mechanism on robot Plan: Write code for the robot’s servo arm. It’s shaped at a right angle and will move up and down 90 degrees. The robot will first line itself up against a stone, then use the arm to bring the stone closer to the front of the robot. The robot will then use another arm mechanism to lift the stone into a bucket. Currently, we have the fundamentals nailed but still have to work on refining both the code and the mechanism. We also have to mount the arm to the robot chassis. -KJ, EM | |
Task: I began editing the business plan that Helen finished over the break. I mainly added to the sections that Helen didn’t know the answers to and organized all of the business files from this season into a folder in the Google Drive. Plan: Finish editing the business plan and begin organizing what I need for the donut sale fundraiser. -LF | |
Date: | December 3rd, 2019 |
Meeting: | #20 |
Task: We went to visit and take a tour of Moog Factories, which creates and produces electronic instruments, like theramins, synths, and soundboards. The tour was super interesting and we got to learn about a factory, in our own city, that puts technology to use in their products. We were able to learn about their history, how their factory operates, and about how to use some of the instruments they produce. The factory was super organized, even with their miscellaneous items (they had a bin called the Mystery Box). They’re also employee owned, which was something unique and meant that the employees had a larger interest in the company because they owned part of it. We weren’t able to see the engineering section (top secret stuff there) but we were able to see how everything was assembled which was awesome. I think that we will be able to implement some of the things we saw with our team, such as organization and attention to detail, which were a big emphasis during the tour. -LF, EM, AB, JH, BL | |
Task: We set up the draft of our intake system, it uses compliant wheels to spin the blocks in from a wide range of angles, we will later add a tray to contain the blocks and a system of linear sliders to lift the block up and out of the robot and put them on the foundation. We may also implement a folding mechanism to stay within side constraints. We will continue to improve on this design to make it as fool proof as we can. -AH, KJ, JS | |
Date: | December 4rd, 2019 |
Meeting: | #21 |
Task: We learned more java on code academy. Today We mainly learned about calling methods and scopes. To call a method is to use the method on an object. If We add a method in the current class, We can use it on any objects.The domain of a method is marked by two curly braces, and the scope is basically everything in the domain. Javon also cut cardboards into shapes. Plan: We are going to learn more programs. - BL, JH, AB | |
Task: we worked on the intake mechanism of the robot. Our intake mechanism is a friction-fed system flanked by two squishy wheel modules. We mainly worked on mounting the squishy wheel modules that we previously built. We also worked on cutting chain links to the correct size to get the motors and their gears together. Each squishy wheel module actually has one big and one small wheel, so cutting chain links were necessary to get them all working together. We double-checked to make sure the chain links were cut to the right size. Alex also taught Eric how to splice and re-attach chain links. Plan: Finalize intake mechanism attachments and start working on the arm. - AH, KJ, JS, EM | |
Task: We cut out the pieces of the maze out of cardboard. The pieces are 8 inches tall to make sure the robot does not fall out of the maze if/when it hits the sides when somebody is using it. Plan: We will build the walls tomorrow then the interior, and paint it black so we cannot see the tape. - EH, HM | |
Task: We edited the business plan, which needs a lot of work. We ended up having to scrap half of it, as we realized that the language of it didn’t work and there was a lot of missing, wrong, or unnecessary language. It’s going to take a couple more days to actually finish the editing, but we think it should be done before we leave for winter break. Plan: Continue rewriting the business plan. - LF, AB | |
Date: | December 5th, 2019 |
Meeting: | #22 |
Task: We worked on powering the intake mechanism. Our first idea was to bridge the two individual modules with a beam so that we can power the mechanism with one motor only. However, we quickly realized this was a bad idea and instead went to dangerous waters that no other robotics team would ever dare to. We decided to make a “custom” worm gear by drilling the hole wider for a bigger axle to fit through. While our job was not perfect, we think it will do the job. We inserted it into the vertical beams which the intake mechanism was mounted on, and linked it with a smaller axle with gears. The worm gear will be responsible for lifting our intake mechanism up and down with a motor. Plan: Finalize intake mechanism and mount motor - JS, AH, KJ, EM | |
Task: we worked on the intake mechanism of the robot. Our intake mechanism is a friction-fed system flanked by two squishy wheel modules. We mainly worked on mounting the squishy wheel modules that we previously built. We also worked on cutting chain links to the correct size to get the motors and their gears together. Each squishy wheel module actually has one big and one small wheel, so cutting chain links were necessary to get them all working together. We double-checked to make sure the chain links were cut to the right size. Alex also taught Eric how to splice and re-attach chain links. Plan: Finalize intake mechanism attachments and start working on the arm. -AH, KJ, JS, EM | |
Task: We cut out the pieces of the maze out of cardboard. The pieces are 8 inches tall to make sure the robot does not fall out of the maze if/when it hits the sides when somebody is using it. Plan: We will build the walls tomorrow then the interior, and paint it black so we cannot see the tape. - EH, HM | |
Task: We edited the business plan, which needs a lot of work. We ended up having to scrap half of it, as we realized that the language of it didn’t work and there was a lot of missing, wrong, or unnecessary language. It’s going to take a couple more days to actually finish the editing, but we think it should be done before we leave for winter break. Plan: Continue rewriting the business plan. -LF, AB | |
Task: Today we learned more interesting things about Java like adding parameters. We learned to declare one method after another. We can customize all other methods to accept parameters except parameters themselves. Plan: Learn more java from codeacademy. Finish one more lesson hopefully. - JH, BL | |
Task: Continued to edit the business plan. I made an outline and should be able to get a lot more work done tomorrow. Plan: Keep working on it - AB | |
Task: We built the outer parameter of the maze. We used tape and cardboard. We added extra stability in the weak spots. Plan: We will continue the maze tomorrow using the same process. EH, HM | |
Date: | December 6th, 2019 |
Meeting: | #23 |
Task: We learned more java on code academy.We learned about reassigning field, returning and the tostring() method. By reassigning instant fields, we can change the state of objects. Returning allows us to use values outside of its scope. The tostring() method is a type of returning that makes printouts more descriptive Plan: We are going to continue to learn more Java -- BL JH | |
Task: Our old sponsor letter has mysteriously gone missing, and I have no way of finding it, so I was forced to rewrite the entire thing. On the bright side however, it seems a lot better written than the last one (at least from what I remember). Reflection: Stay better organized in the future so that things won’t get lost again. I think that the best course of action would be to write everything in our google drive folder for anything else I write. -LF | |
Task: Continued to edit the business plan. I made an outline and should be able to get a lot more work done tomorrow. Plan: Keep working on it, hopefully finishing the business plan. -AB | |
Task: We cut the inside pieces of the maze. The inner pieces are 6.5 inches so it will be easier for the player to see what they are doing. Plan: Finish cutting the pieces and put the final maze together. - HM, EH | |
Task: Worked on programming an encoder drive function. The function uses the encoders built into the motor to drive the robot a certain precise distance. I have written it so that it slowly accelerates and then reaches a variable max speed and then decelerates as it approaches its target. We will be using this greatly in the autonomous program to travel a certain distance on the playing field. | |
