10 Days Until Competition

This week our group put in our longest days of the semester. It was worth it though, because we managed to get EVERYTHING completed.  We finished our brackets, bent the cage wall perfectly, added holes to our pulley tower, pivot arms, and cage walls. And to do this, we only broke one drill bit and two taps.

Our greatest accomplishment of all, however, was the completion of our secret weapons: the rollers. The rollers are a key component to our bot if we want any chance of winning the competition. At the beginning of the project, we found that the squash balls do not easily roll when pushed by a plate at any angle. By experiment our team was able to discover that the balls roll with extreme ease when being pushed by a rolling rod. Our conclusion was this: in order to score, we need to push balls; in order to push balls, we need the inside of our cage to be lined with a circular rod. For the entirety of the project, the rollers have been an afterthought--something we would deal with at the end if we had time. And thanks to our long hours in the shop, we were able to have the time needed to plan and execute our golden plan. One group member, Neil, was able to solve the problem of how to attach the rollers to the inside of the cage walls. Once the idea was formed, our bot really started to come together. The rollers were created for the long threaded rod given to us in our kit, and cut into sections. The sections were then mounted to the inside of our cage in such a way that they are still able to freely roll. Because of this accomplishment, our team might actually stand a chance of winning...that is, if we figure out how to the thing turn...

We did still have problems, however. Breaking off bits and taps into some of our parts was a bit of a set back for starters, and a few other problems presented themselves as well. During our first attempt at running our bot, something in the gearbox broke. Not only did this mean that we had almost no time to plan around with driving the thing, but it also meant that the double gearbox had to be taken apart and fixed. The pivot arms also presented a few problems. When they were screwed into the front wall, they wouldn't sit straight at first. If the pivot arms didn't sit straight, then it also meant that they wouldn't fit between the brackets we made for them. By playing around with the configuration a bit, we were able to fix it. Some of the other obstacles were minor, and for the time being, it looks as if we have conquered them all.

As for this week (the week of the competition), we will be making a few minor adjustments I'm sure, and also we plan to practice driving and such so that we can be ready for the game.

I hope we win!!!!