Lynbrook RoboticsFIRST Robotics Team #846

Today, we did more work in Room 612. We tested a previous shooter, mounted the CNC, assembled the barrier, fixed up the 2010 robot to run tests on the barrier, and mounted the de-burring wheel. We also had our second design meeting later at night.

Shooter: One team took the 2009 robot to test its shooter’s accuracy and power. We also laid it on its back for a vertical test. The ball ended up flying just 38 inches in the air. The distance from the max robot height to the highest rim just happens to be 38 inches as well. If we decide on going for that top hoop, we will need to add some extra power. (Workers: Miles, Michael L, Pradeep, Annie, Eric)

CNC: A second group continued to work on the CNC. Yesterday, we managed to get the machine into the room. Today, we mounted it onto its base. Of course, we used a small crane. Just imagine having a group of students and mentors trying to to lift a 1300 pound device that costs thousands of dollars… (Workers: Michael L, Anurag, Mr. Peake, Mr. G, Mr. Haas, Mrs. Haas, Mr. Harrison, Mr. Lowd)

Barrier: With help from Mr. and Mrs. Haas, some of our students completed the task of making the barrier. Brian, one of our software guys, took our 2010 robot (yes, we reuse our past robots quite a bit) and fixed up the code so we would be able to run tests later. (Workers: Miles, Annie, Pradeep, Mr. Haas, Mrs. Haas, Brian)

De-burring Wheel: Akshat took our de-burring wheel and mounted it on a new black stand. Now, whenever we go to de-burr something, we will be able to admire the shiny new stand.

At night, we had our second Design Meeting. There wasn’t much time between 612 work and the meeting, so some people did not even have the opportunity to go home. Others ran home, grabbed dinner, and headed right back. (I watched Miles as he ate his hamburger. It looked pretty good.) The meeting started off with Ms. Zhang giving a presentation about project management. This focused on how to stay on schedule and finish with a working robot.

Mr. Xie then continued his presentation from Monday. We went over some ideas and design concepts. Originally, we were going to split up into different groups, but we ran out of time. Hopefully, we will be able to do so on Friday!

It’s finally arrived! Today, we moved our shiny new Tormach PCNC into room 612. The process, which all in all took around 5 hours, started with us going to Lynbrook’s boiler room to pick up the package. We moved the 1,300 pound beast in front of room 612, where we uncrated the machine. However, before moving the CNC through the door, we needed to figure out exactly how to orient it so that it would fit. We didn’t want to end up moving it up the door, only to realize that there is no way to make it fit. We modeled the shape of the CNC with a large piece of cardboard, and used that to experiment with the opening. In the end, we took off some of the motors and were able to find the right orientation so that the machine would just fit through.

Some of us were only able to go home for an hour for food, before we had our weekly Active Member’s Meeting. As usual, we went over the administrative tasks that needed to be taken care of. The highlights included talking about awards writing and planning of our upcoming New York City regional. For the complete meeting minutes, please refer here.

In the end, today was just a regular work day. There was not much talk about the robot design. We will leave that for another day.

Today, our Treasurer, Miles Chan, brought the team’s 2006 robot turret with him to school. Thanks to some extra care throughout the years, the motors were still wired and operational. We hooked it onto a power supply to test and see how accurate the shooter is at hitting its target.

Later at night, the team gathered in room 608 for the first design meeting. First, one of our mentors, Mr. Wes Harrison, gave a presentation about approaching the task from a systems standpoint. He split up the design process into nine different systems: Location Detector, Guidance & Control, Payload, Target Locating, Payload Delivery, Power, Software & Controls, Communication, and Command & Guidance.

Next, our mentor Mr. Giandomenico went over some “Street Talk.” He showed us various videos about the new game and field (links enclosed at the end of post). He then went on to encourage us to look around different websites, such as ChiefDelphi and FIRST Forums, to see what other teams have accomplished.

After presenting the numbers that were gathered earlier today, Mr. Xie, another mentor, started on his presentation. He talked about strategies for hybrid, tele-operated, and the finale.

Today ended up to be more of an introduction to the season than an actual design meeting. However, a lot was still accomplished today, and we are now prepared to start formulating solid ideas for the robot!