“Because Robots!” is going to be a theme that we’d like to pursue throughout our outreach activities next year.  It involves campaigning throughout our community while spreading our interest of robotics to all people.  We think that a program like this can help quantify the impact we have on people, because it really gets them to think about robots and technology, and then gives us a reminder about the people we affected. Wherever there are people to be inspired, we will be there!

We will also be opening up a website at www.becauserobots.org where people can share links and videos about exciting new developments in robotics with other people.  It will be an exciting online community where people can get inspired with new ideas.

Be sure to stay tuned for more updates about this exciting new program, and remember, Because Robots!

Lynbrook Robotics FIRST Team#846

Start Time: 7:04 PM

Attendance

Officer Reports

Notes: DRI = Directly Responsible Individual

Old Business

1. Prove pi = 4 [DRI Mr.G](7:04)
   1. circle in box R=1/2
   2. C=4
   3. minus corners of box = 4
2. Mr. Lowd’s Poem Introduction (DRI Mr. Lowd) (7:09)
3. Sweaters [DRI: Alric](7:12)
   1. confusion with custom ink
      1. received sweatshirt 4/26
      2. opened box 4/30
      3. when open not our team sweatshirts
   2. If resend past Tuesday 5/8 custom ink refund
   3. Annie volunteer distribute
   4. Change Brent distribute [DRI Brent]
4. Photo Journal [Eric] (7:16)
   1. pretty much done
   2. Expensive
      1. take out 4 pages 42 dollar: hardcover
      2. soft cover 10 dollar cheaper
      3. 50 dollar hard cover
      4. 40 dollar soft cover
   3. Decide soft cover :12 people -7 people
   4. Get in by 5/22 [DRI Eric]
5. Participation Pins [DRI: Annie] (7:21)
   1. Out of stock
   2. Not a lot of people interested ask Annie if want one
6. The Manual [DRI: Brian] (7:22)
   1. Mr. G couldn’t connect to page
      1. permission might be set up wrong
   2. down for awhile up and running again
7. Miller + Hyde Demo Status [DRI: Brian] (7:23)
   1. Went to Miller refer to science department
      1. Couldn’t contact department because teacher sick
      2. Talk to Mrs. B
   2. Presentation
      1. Put up master slide
      2. Make presentation tonight
      3. Wed. afterschool
      4. Seniors should be apart of it
8. Summer Newsletter [DRI Jackie]  (7:26)
   1. Due Date
      1. May 26 distribute newsletter
      2. May 3 rough draft
   2. 2 tasks
      1. Picture collector [DRI Matt]
         1. collect pictures on hard-drive
      2. Review
         1. review the rough draft
            1. Annie, Lucy, Robert, Abhiram volunteered
   3. Camera
      1. Reo -> Eric -> Anurag-> bring back from crab feed
      2. Transfer pic from house to crab feed then bring back in blue bag
      3. still missing
9. Botball Updates [DRI: Eric]  (7:35)
   1. Only go competition
   2. no need help
      1. don’t plan go help
      2. Mr. G go as thanks
10. Banquet Updates – Present List of Options + Vote [DRI: Aneesh]  (7:35)
    1. Restraunt
       1. cancel
          1. dynasty expensive
          2. bombay garden: had last year
          3. BJ only after 8:45
       2. Possible
          1. Kabul
             1. Can hold us
             2. about 16 dollars
             3. between Mary and Melinda on El Camino
             4. Afghanistan cuisine
             5. Anytime because early
          2. palace barbecue
             1. 13-30 dollars
             2. 13 minute away
             3. between Wolf and Lawrence on El Camino
             4. Korean Barbecue
             5. can have 1/3 of restaurant
    2. Vote = everyone-0
    3. Kabul Win
    4. Picture Powerpoint to show during Dinner [DRI Raphael ]
11. Summer Picnic – Activities [DRI: Nikunj] (7:43)
    1. Trouble thinking of Activity Ideas
       1. water balloon
       2. water guns
       3. Kick ball
       4. newspaper tag
    2. On 6/16
    3. Send invite by next week [DRI: Nikunj]
12. Proposal – Second Workstation [DRI: Brian] (7:46)
    1. Because of excellence of education, want another workstation
    2. Prices
       1. With Monitor, keyboard, mouse…
       2. $630 with extra keyboard and flash-drives
       3. $1000 with faster computer
          1. better for animation
          2. discuss not really needed
13. Revised Team Photo – Mentor List [DRI: Brent] (7:49)
    1. Picture
       1. Want a more formal picture
          1. “it’s just kinda interesting” -Alric
          2. consider will go to principal, mentors, etc.
       2. Make sure picture mat does not cover picture
    2. Words
       1. Discuss better if thinner words for awards
          1. Decide not to change
    3. 5/19-5/29 picture should be ordered
       1. buy frame first, return after
    4. Send spread sheet know who want to buy
    5. Mentor List [DRI presidents]
14. Year End Report [DRI: Diane] (8:00)
    1. It’s done (Miles)
    2. Diane not present
15. CD Bots [DRI: Robert] (8:01)
    1. Don’t want to program in middle of AP testing
    2. After AP testing continue
    3. Need to put on wheel, motor, fix board problems…

New Business

1. Great America Demonstration (8:02)
   1. WRF want teams demo
   2. May 4, 11,18  9:00am-5:00pm
      1. 5/18 already taken
      2. 5/4 too early
   3. On 11th
      1. 3 people volunteer
   4. Can’t do it too few people
2. Epic [DRI: ?] (8:06)
   1. took picture of room
   2. too short notice unprepared
      1. wanted a demo
      2. was in a meeting in other room
   3. Need to ask for another time to take more pictures
3. Season Highlight Videos [DRI: Raphael] (8:08)
   1. Ask for more videos
   2. Include pictures
   3. 5/9 get it done
4. Champs Competition(8:10)
   1. Curie (Mr. G)
      1. Leland, Bellarmine , 971 Mountain View
      2. noticed veterans got selected more often ( Mr. G)
   2. Newton ( Miles)
      1. triple balance
   3. Archimedes (Miles)
      1. triple balance
         1. use “stinger” to balance
   4. Galileo
   5. Einstein
   6. Finals
5. Calgames (8:26)
   1. strategies noticed from Champs can be applied to our robot
      1. key shooting (Miles)
      2. use light beam to aim (Robert)
         1. not right focal (Mr. G)
            1. change optic of flashlight to make a “clean light”
      3. triple balance
      4. Co-op useful

End time: 8:33

Some of the ongoing projects and activities are:

1) Year End Report
-Google
-Western Digital
2) Chronograph Speed Sensor
-Measures the speed of balls; can be used for shooter testing
3) Drivetrain Design
4) Key Tracker
-Make improvements
-Implement a line follower as a side project
5) Auto Aim Improvements
6) 2CAN Reliability
7) Control System Improvemnts
-Drivetrain
8) IMU
-Move I²C communications to BeagleBoard
-Auto-balancing
9) Second Workstation
-Specify parts
-Assemble
10) GibbsCAM
-CNC wheels
-Write down questions
11) Local Machine Shop Sponsor
-Plasma cutting
-Laser cutting
-Water jetting
-Power cutting
12) Prony Brake
13) Constant Force Spring Motor
14) Broach Press
15) Team Schedule for Build Season
16) Build Season Report: What Worked and What Didn’t
-Annual report
-Weekly report on schedule/progress
17) BotBall
18) Demos
-Sponsors
-Middle schools
19) Physics Turntable
20) Website Improvements
-Add content
-Technical improvements
21) High Altitude Balloon
22) CD Bot
23) Battery Tester
24) Because Robots!
25) Ideas on How to Make the Club More Fun
-Remote controlled cars

If you have any more ideas, come in and share them with us!

Members: Mishan, Matt, Abhiram, Raphael, Brent, Tony, Anurag, Michelle

Officers: Annie, Miles, Brian, Robert, Diane, Eric, Vincent

Active Member Meeting – April 10, 2012

Lynbrook Robotics FIRST Team#846

Start Time: 6:00 PM This Agenda is closed to editing at 5:30pm.

Officer Reports

Notes: DRI = Directly Responsible Individual

Old Business

Because robots:
-every member had to write phrase and take a picture
-t-shirts?
-Customized words?
-zazzle?: customized stamps
-find any cool links: post it to website email alias becauserobots@lynbrookrobotics.com

Newsletters:
-no DRI
-brought it to crab feed
-able to pull off another one?
-robot profile (cool features), SVR, Because robots, crab feed (blurb), closing senior comments, superlatives, alumni comments
-next one out by team banquet

Crab feed:
-met superintendent
-suggested entering photo journal to the art show
-Sandeep: need to fix money issue: money not machine

Participation pins:
-in room 612

Team Manual:
-officers, pit crew tasks, etc.
-assign tasks
-content outline down
-wordpress like google docs
-members set up pages and update table of contents
-people need logins, individual or together
-track wiki SVN intergration
-Brian: DRI
-less technical robot aspects, for that there is a separate wiki

Team Photos:
- get them printed, decide to who distributed, Costco
- Photoshop DRI brent

Bot ball:
-within standardized testing
-not responding to us, let’s not push them
-hold off until they ask for help

School projects
- still working on turn table
- need to be faster
- should we order parts?
- cad bones: Mrs. Alonso not found at lunch
-should make models not talk

Team banquet
-location: Bombay garden, BJ’s pizza, spaghetti factory (poor service), Siam Thai (maybe too small), sneha (high quality buffet system), banana leaf (Malaysian), Kabul, Nagin (persian
-call restaurant up for info, $30-40 inclusive, around 40-50 members
-spreadsheet being set up for all research
-spread sheet of old choices
-price per person: $40

Summer picnic and social:
-social between now and summer picnic
-social: usually bowling, movie, pool, ice skating, laser tag, paintball (maybe not)
-DRI for social: Abhiram Kothapalli

Talks:
-miller: recruitment
-what robots means, join or how cool field it is
-tedex: before AP testing
-first aquire licence
-each speaker including us, Monterey bay aquarium, etc. gets 18 minutes
-mostly elementary kids
-Thursday 11AM for talks meetings
-volunteers come to the meetings

Company demos:
-yearend reports for company’s
-Symantec (last year there was a district wide presentation invitation), western digital
-mid-summer
-just talk to company’s if able to speak about achievements
-maybe talk to Sony to bring them back on board
Sweatshirt distribution:
- need to get them out

New Business

Constitution changes:
- need to get on team docs

Grants:
- should be done by co-president

Newsletter:
Historian or PR manager

Cad workshop:
Hardware lead

Photo journal:
PR  manager or Historian

Outreach coordinator:
-can fit into PR
-FLL and Botball
-not a good idea (Mr. G)

Website:
PR: directs the look and feel of website
Webmaster: does the technical portion of the website (might not be a single solid position: Robert)

PR manager:
-Newsletter
-Photo journal
-Website requirements
-Year-end Reports (cover letter)
-publicity
-PR responsible for website, publicity and year round (cover letter), w/o grants 11 yes 1 no 1 abstain
-Photojournal: PR responsibility: yes: 8 no:3 abstain:2
-PR final: Newsletter, Photojournal, website, publicity, and year round(cover letter)

For postitions:
-find the constition
-too many writing for the applications
-low minimum no maximum (Diane)

Meeting adjourned at 9:50

The purpose of National Robotics Week is to:

• Celebrate the US as a leader in robotics technology development
• Educate the public about how robotics technology impacts society, both now and in the future
• Advocate for increased funding for robotics technology research and development
• Inspire students of all ages to pursue careers in robotics and other Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math-related fields

Why is robotics important?

• Robotics technology is a growing industry which creates high-tech jobs in the US
• Robotics technologies are helping to improve healthcare, national defense, homeland security, energy, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, agriculture, education, consumer goods, and many other sectors
• Robotics provides an exciting, hands-on way for students to learn Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math

Learn more at: http://www.nationalroboticsweek.org/

Members: Mishan, Nikunj, Joshua, Anurag, Akshat, Brent, Michael C, Eva, Jackie, Raphael, Tony, Achilles

Season Debrief Agenda – April 10, 2012

Lynbrook Robotics FIRST Team #846

Start Time: Tuesday 7:00 PM

Notes: DRI = Directly Responsible Individual

Agenda

1. Mr Xie’s Presentation (7:18)
   1. Robot Design Process
      1. look back on our design process
         1. concept
            1. Hybrid: fender shot, key shot, top level w/ middle level shot
            2. Tele-op: 6 wheel vs 8 wheel, long design, go over bump, two speeds, servo shifter, roller belt design, double belt to avoid ball jam, belt guide with notch and tie wrap, position open/close loop control with encoder and camera, bring target coordinate back to driver, tilt sensor
         2. decision
            1. Hybrid: key shot w/ fender shot; top level w/ middle level
            2. Tele-op: 6 wheel w/ idler, long design, two speed shifter, same as concept for ball handling, no target coordinate back to driver station, red/blue to beige line detection, followed concept for bridge titlt
               
         3. implementation
            1. Hybrid: Key shot and top level, move back and bush bridge down
            2. Tele-op: same as decision & pneumatic shifter, add ball centering plate, ball collector and auger, drive train control system has been tested on 2010 robot with camera, no final demo, drive train encounter instability, carpet sensor seems to work, no final performance report to team, solutions like dynamic braking and low pass filter are not implemented until problem happens, shooter speed control with dynamic braking algorithm, auto balance is tested on testing bridge, pulsing input control to window motor with relay to avoid severe impact
               
         4. effect
            1. Hybrid: Key shot is winning strategy, particularly when we need to move back to push down the bridge, middle level shot is necessary to work in harmony with other teams, alignment or shooter speed inconsistency, robot can not go straight back, not able to climb the bump
            2. Tele-op: instability of 6 wheel configuration in fast movement, pneumatic  shifting works well after fixing shifting block failure during demo, low speed is sufficient for qualification, not for elimination, performance as good as predicted, most of other robot use ball diameter deep groove for ball guide. Design is simpler, robot width collector over bumper by other teams is more durable and effective, camera image detection encounter hoops shadow issue on field fixed at NYC, robot can not go straight, shooter speed control encounters instability, manual balnce
         5. lesson
            1. Hybrid: long shot has sufficient accuracy, our design concept should aim at high performance robot which is in line with our team goal, our design concept have missed pushing cooperation bridge, our game analysis is not thorough, our design has not reached top performance robot level, particularly in control system
            2. Tele-op: use 8 wheel design if possible, use pneumatic shifter as the fist choice, servo the second, bearing block failure need to be addressed. New servo should go through off season life test, We have spent too much time on drive train and shifter. Can we just standardize super shifter in normal game to save time and effort, center of gravity location importance, adopt deeper groove design. need off season test, ball centering is critical for ball shooting direction, did not think about collectors and wider collector over bumper at earlier stage, analyze the game a little deeper, control system is chronic problem for team, see troubleshooting section for details, team should adopt a right design process, team should solve the problem before CalGames, jaguar speed controller linearization algorithm should be included in any close loop control, standardize window motor pulsing control, need to improve dynamic analysis
         6. compare our robot design with the top performing robots
            1. shifting (encoder vs pneumatic), shifting vs no shifting,
         7. emphasize on identifying weak links
      2. Improve efficiency of our design process
      3. improve ROI (return of investment) of members and team
      4. Perform experiments on software, hardware, etc. and build a database where future members will be able to go to to learn more.
         1. test robots, outreach groups, test materials, test ideas, etc.
   2. List of Problems with Known Solution
   3. List of Open Problems
   4. Problem Solving Approach – 7 steps
2. Competition Improvement
   1. Reliability problems this year
      1. on robot: wires damaged (bound too tight); air leaks; broken connectors on pneumatics; e-clips on chain idler shafts; loose control wire on spike; calibration (bring ultrasonic distance measure)
      2. on field: game pieces not loaded; robot moved; 2CAN;
   2. Robot Checklist [DRI: Diane]
      1. How to keep the check list working: [dg]
         
         1. Problem: checklist goes unused when robot is operated successfully several times so that the importance of the checklist is forgotten.
         2. Possible solution:  Combine checklist with log of performance and hardware/software changes for debugging and “permanent record”
      2. Proposed Checklist format:
         
         1. header: match#, sched time, players
         2. precheck | field-check : code/hybrid routine/pressure | pressure/game pieces/alignment/refs/2CAN/
         3. post: comments on robot performance for debugging
   3. Competition Tasks
      1. Robot Rescue Team [DRI Brian]
         1. Walk around the pit to help other teams
         2. restaurant buzzer
      2. Learn about other robots
         1. Photograph closeup details of robots
            
      3. Volunteer on the field
3. Building Improvement
   1. Design Chat [ey]
      1. We do everything every year, no need to spend time deciding that
      2. We can start drivetrain designs way before build season and just repurpose
         1. Design components common to every robot in the off-season
            ie wheels [am]
      3. A doc like 2011 [ey]
         1. all brainstorm ideas, findings, suggestions, updates…….
         2. make a template
         3. take notes during build season
            1. what needs to be checked before matches, tests needs to be done, special tools……
         4. list of priorities
   2. More Experience Members
      1. teach over summer[DRI: Aneesh]
      2. have newer/inexperienced members “shadow” them.[DRI:Aneesh]
      3. Possible training [ey]
         1. Machining
            1. use of machine shop, CNC
            2. get some tricks from machinist to speed things up
         2. drive train design,  more design practices
   3. Template parts [ey]
      1. take what we are experience of, improve them during off season, and implement them (spend less time) during build season
      2. Drive train, Elevator, Conveyor System
   4. System management system
      1. how to not let it die?
      2. Officers need to use it
   5. Driving practice
      1. Consider additional off-season event – Madtown Throwdown [miles]

End:8:52