Week Two and Three 1/2 -Design to Building

It has been more than a week since my previous blog post and a lot has happened! All the departments are gearing up for the intense last few weeks:

Marketing

Even though marketing works behind the scenes, it has a big impact on the team. Responsible for team promotion, fundraising, and scouting, a lot rides on a successful marketing team.

One of the most enjoyable fund raising events our team has is selling concessions at FLL regionals. Part volunteering, our team arrives at 6:30 in the morning to direct teams and volunteers to parking spots. The rest of the day is spent vending soda, snacks, and lunches to spectators, coaches, and team members. Throughout the competition, we see all sorts of people. Little kids, grandparents, parents, and volunteers all turning out to watch and help make the competition a rewarding event. To be a spectator to this a great experience.

Electrical

This year, the space for the electrical board is cut in two so department members have to really watch their space. In addition to the normal components, they also have to deal with an air compressor and related parts.

Website

The website is coming along marvelously and should be ready before the deadline. (A change for the better. I was up past midnight last year fixing up the remaining pages. A move I would not want to repeat.) Actually, I have a test page up on the old website that is a teaser for the new one.

See if you can try to find it!

Mecanical

After moving out of the designing phase, the mechanical department is now in the process of constructing the robot. Parts are coming in and are being fabricated by team members. On part, a hub for a wheel, was going to be ordered but the part was back logged. So instead, mechanical team members are using a lathe to reconstruct the part. After watching for more than a half hour, I was pretty impressed. Those working the lathe had to have the part down to one tenth of an inch and had to calculate how many turns of the lathe it would take to get it there. (1 turn is 4/10 of an inch) Patience and precision are key.

Programming

Gyroscopes, Booleans, and Jaguars. The programming team is responsible for the software of all these things and more. They have to make everything talk to each other. This year, the programming team is attempting to have a live-feed camera. This feature would be a plus for the drive team, especially for the secondary driver. It would allow for a first-person view of what the robot is facing, making it easier to score.

The last thing I want to do is thank our mentors. They come in every day to help us lending their time and knowledge in order to help us learn. Being able to see this is inspiring and about the best part of being on a FIRST team.