It was Valentine's Day! That means it's time to sing love songs to the robot! (And now you have to listen. Or read it. I guess you don't really have to read it if you don't want to.)
L is for the way you look at me (with that super dooper cool camera we have that's fully functional! Yay! We're using it to aim our little hooky things to pick up the totes and such.) O is for the only one I see (Since we're basically here every single day. The next day, and then the next day, and then the next day, and then the next day, and then the next...) V is very, very extraordinary (The robot can pick up two totes and a recycling bin at the same time! Wow! Truly extraordinary!) E is even more than anyone that you adore can... (We will love you forever, you hunk of metal.) Ah yes. We had our open house yesterday. It was basically the day we consecrated (or consummate, if you swing that way) our love to the Guillotine. Many families of our very own Protonians came to see how the robot was doing, and we had chili hotdawhgs made by PLovey. Thank you!!! We've made significant progress in every part of the club, as our robot is completely up and running! Woo hoo! Three days before the bag date too! Today, we have just been working on tweaks. For example, our robot is over the weight limit, and we have been putting it on a diet and exercise program in order to shave a few pounds. (We're just shaving off some metal bits and swiss cheesing some stuff). Electronics is finishing some connections and attaching the limit switches, while the programming team is ready to practice and refine their autonomous code. The team is also working on the two plastic side shields to go on the robot, and the fabric to get our team number on the robot. Finally, our dedicated CAD engineers are virtually done with the bill of parts. Each robot we've made is quite the bucket of dough. And today, we made history by coming in on a Sunday. Woohoo. Many woohoos! Also, we're trying to name our robot, while making the finishing touches on our robot. Here are some of the names we've come up with:
Feel free to express your opinion to anyone on the team or right here on this post! Polish that robot up, Team Pronto!
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bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum
okay there's your intro guess what chicken butt Except not. This is much better than chicken butt. Let's have a drumroll........ OUR COMPETITION ROBOT IS LIKE BUILT AND STUFF. The builders and electronics teams have gotten the robot completely built, WITH THE ELECTRONICS BOARD ON THERE AS WELL. How exciting! The programmers have had time to program the robot as well, and I quote, the programming is "virtually done," besides the autonomous code, and limit switches. Several things have to be done before we stuff our robot into the bag, though. We're making things like our robot home (a crate, which is quite the 5 star hotel for robots), better support mounts for all the motors on the robot, 3070 signs on the robot for competition, and even stylizing our tent/pit. We're awesome. We're a... seven nation ROBOTICS TEAM. (If that makes any sense.) Oh, also, the dreaded Bill of Parts is being put together by our diligent CAD captain. (oh my god thank you so much that thing is like the devil's father reincarnated in hell's toilet). In other news, Team Pronto has had yet another successful outreach event. The outreach squad went to Echo Lake for their Science Night, and preached the good word of FIRST. Many more children got to catch the ball Chuck threw, and many were enthralled by the LEGO® MindStorm robot we brought from the FLL team at Cascade Elementary. Woohoo. We are so close!!! SOOO CLOSE. Don't give up now! Finish strong, Team Pronto! The second to last weekend has past. We can count the rest of the build days on our fingers. We are counting the days to the Armageddon. We can hear Gabriel blow his horn as we are approaching the end. I am sounding very dramatic right now. DUN DUN DUN *organs blast a very, very deep note* The robot bagging day looms ever closer...
Buuuuuttt the robot is getting closer and closer to completion as well! The robot frame already has the entire base completed, the motors mounted, and the supports attached. The build team is moving towards attaching the pulley system, which is very close to the last steps of completing the hardware of the robot. The build team has also worked on constructing the specialized worm-drive motor that we are using in order for the pulley to complete the task we are working towards (stacking totes, if you weren't aware). Each of the four cars going on the track of the robot are also being polished and carefully constructed in order to slide up and down the track nicely. The programming team is currently on standby, since they have already finished completely programming to the limit! ...switches. They have not been able to program the code that manages the limit switches, which we hope will allow us to track how many totes we are picking up at any given time. They are not present on the practice robot, but will be on the final robot. So kudos to you programming team, for being on top of everything! *smooching noises* The electronic team has been ever busy with working with the electronics, and they have been just as on top of things as the programming team. They have finished the electronics board, but since the builders are still working on the robot itself, they have yet to mount it on the robot and wire everything in. Friday night, we also had a team outing to King's FRC Team's annual robot reveal! Various teams from around the area showed off their robot's design, or in our case, talked about what our robot was all about. (And in the case of our guillotine robot, it's all about cutting off the metaphorical heads of our problems.) Team Pronto had a blast. The build season is officially only in its thirties, but it definitely feels like we've already had 10 mid-life crises. But nonetheless, the team is building with a passion that mirrors someone who has only had one! We've got the stereo on, and while we're hammering, sawing, and drilling away, we're simultaneously dancing to jazz and rock (in a safe, non-extreme manner, because we are in an auto shop). We're close, so very close. The apprehension in the team is palpable. But y'know what, we know how to express those feelings by singing the Bohemian Rhapsody. SING IT OUT, Team Pronto! (And finish the robot. I didn't say that because it doesn't sound very motivational.) ARE YOU READY, HEY! ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?
Are you hanging on the edge of your seat? yeAH, you should be, because we are on the edge of glory. Each day, the build team and programmers have been able to inch forward towards the completion of the Guillotine. The carts are completed, the practice robot is completed, the competition robot is taller than ever, and all we have to do now is complete the building of the final robot. A robot that's unnamed I might add. *Hint hint* *Nudge nudge* *Ladylegs, ladylegs* OH YEAH, we also went to Cascade Elementary's STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) Festival, which was a blast. Our poor ol' Chuck wasn't working for the first half of our stay there, but in the latter half, we got to throw last year's competition ball to many excited children! NONE OF THEM SURVIVED. THEY ALL DIED FROM EXCITEMENT. We're all getting a little tired from this grueling build season, but the team has been doing what this team does. Pronto-ing LIKE SOME BOSSES. boo yah. Boss it up, Team Pronto! We are in officially in February. Fe-bru-ary. That's kind of spelled strangely, isn't it? Weird. Kind of like WEEK 5. IT'S AN ODD NUMBER. IT'S ONE WEEK AWAY FROM BAGGING THE ROBOT. GAH. GAGUJAHNGUJAKM. But we're totally okay. No we're not. Yes we are. Maybe we're not. Regardless, the practice robot is close to completion. The guillotine is looking more and more guillotine-ish. heheheh.
The "head-chopping" mechanism is growing in size and weight. Our baby robot is growing so fast! *sniffles* The pulleys are all put together, they're attached to the cars, the tracks have guards on them, the wheel arms are attached to the robot, the electronics board is completely wired, and there has just been so much progress! We may be around two weeks behind, but we definitely know how to use our nimble fingers to put together a piece of artwork. If you can call the guillotine a work of art. It's always so exciting to see the robot moving, too. We usually have to carry it around like some 100 lb corpse. The programmers and electronics have been right on the heels of the builders. The code for the robot is completely up to date to the practice robot based on the current design of the robot. Way to go, programmers. And the electronics have been just as productive -- the electronics boards are constructed, and they have been creating a cooler electronics board for Chuck. Chuck will be in the new Shorewood Lip Dub after he gets a nice renovation, complete with a pedicure, manicure, and full-body massage. (As well as a completely organized re-wiring.) In other news, the CAD team also has a completely up to date rendering of the robot on the computer. AHHhhhHHhHH, it's totally crunch time RIGHT NOW, and we are totally doing a ton of CRUNCHING. While the practice robot is almost done, the competition robot is also being constructed parallel to it as well, and it's looking quite like the father-robot it is being made to be, if not better. So many robots this year. Robots everywhere. Push it to the limit, Team Pronto!! GUESS WHATTTT??? No, this time it has nothing to do with butts. Maybe. Do robots have butts? Anyway. The robot we have been working for Recycle Rush... MOVED!!! *cries real tears.* The build, electronics, and programming teams worked together in "perfect" (adjectives are subjective) synergy, and got the electronics board mounted to the robot. The motors got wired in, and the programmers got to make code for the robot. And lo and behold, the magical wheels turned and moved the robot forward! HALLELUJAH! Praise the robo-God.
However, all teams still have a ways to go. The build team is still figuring out how to support the entire robot. It's big, it's not that bad, and it's pretty ugly. (At the moment.) The builders are also continuing to work on the pulley system, as well as perfecting the claw systems. The cars on the pulley, which contain the claws, must work with each other, and that is currently what is being worked on. The electronics team is putting together all kinds of boards. For last year's robot Chuck and for our final robot for this year. They're always busy with stuff. Tiny zip ties, crimping, wire stripping, and wago tooling galore. The programming team, unfortunately, is on standby. Without a completed robot, they cannot work on any code. They've soaked in a lot of lessons from programming Professor French, and they are DYING TO CODE A ROBOT. DIGGING THEIR GRAVES AS WE SPEAK. RISING FROM THE DEAD TO TELL US, "uaaaauuuugggghhhh," which translates to WE NEED A ROBOT NOW. In other news, we had another Pronto birthday on day 21. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KATE!!! Day 21. Wow. Three weeks have past. Are we in panic mode? Yes. But we are calm. Because the build season is officially old enough to buy booze. And now you know why none of my writing makes any sense. Just kidding. That was a joke. Stop doubting me. Party hard (by building a robot), Team Pronto! To my nonexistent fans and frequent readers: I've been pretty lazy about updating this as often as I should. I'm so sorry! I'm like an absent father. Missing my child's first drive, sweet sixteen, high school graduation, college admittance. My god, I'm horrible. At any rate, it's already the fourth week in the build season. Three out of six weeks have passed, and we're halfway through the season. Time flies when you're having "fun!"
But let's get to the big juicy, meaty, catch-you-up stuff. The team hit some bumps these past couple days, ranging from design flaws and miscommunication to discovering cracks in our team's structure. Despite this, the team knows that they no longer have the luxury of time. Dreaming about getting the robot done in the fourth week are no officially over. Now is not the time for dreams, it is now time to make those dreams a reality! The programmers, without an actual robot to program, have simply been furthering their understanding of robot code. Their handy kit-bot, which has been nicknamed Sensor Bot, has been a handy tool for them to experiment with autonomous code and other miscellaneous coding methods. And here is your weekly reminder that I often have no idea what I'm talking about when I'm writing about the programmers. Oops. Javajavabooleanboolean. The electronics team ran into their own little bump in the ballroom dance of life (totally just took that metaphor from English class) when they discovered that the chassis team did not communicate with them the structure of the chassis. They had to reconstruct their board, but as of now, they are almost done with it! It actually has to be mounted upside-down now. Screw gravity! (More importantly, screw physics. Why does it have to be so hard to understand if it's all around us. D:< ) The build team has a lot of stuff going on. Many, many thing going on. Progress is coming along, but it's kind of like the progress you see at the DMV. But it all seriousness, Everything is coming along really nicely. The pulley team actually has their pulleys all constructed. They have their axels, strings, belts, and motors all ready to run. And even the claws are on the track as well! And guess what? "What?" You ask. "What what?" I ask, in response. "What, what in the butt," you reply, because you're just that type of person. But what's really in the butt is that it can pick up two totes with our double claw action and set those two totes down on each other!! I AM SO AMAZE RIGHT NOW. (And completely overjoyed.) A second chassis frame has also been completely constructed. Things are really coming together. In addition, the team has devoted a group of builders to pursue arms that will go on the front of the robot that will pull in totes. It's really cool. Cooler than I can make it sound. Finally, there are a couple builders making a bench out of a surf board. The bench will be donated to the Booster Auction, and the team may gain some funds if someone buys it. Pulling in the dough. Sorry for the big waterfall of text. Want to have a tl;dr? Well, we did things. Progress was made. We are picking up the pace and cutting the slack. TIME STOPS FOR NO MAN. *explosions* Manipulate those totes, Team Pronto! (but not their feelings. That would be mean.) Perhaps you have already long forgotten me. It has been ages, generations, and centuries. I am a figment of the past, but I have a story to tell... of the last four build days.
Sorry about not updating more frequently, but it has been hard with THE DREADED FINALS' WEEK UPON PRONTONIA. But even though it is the terrible time of the year where all the teachers band together to push students a little beyond sleep deprivation (more like, zombification), Team Pronto has been working harder than ever in an attempt to finish the robot! You must be wondering how the physical robot is doing. WELLLL, they may be on track, but the "track" their on is a little off kilter. While teams are hard at work, (and very efficient work as well) our President and Leader's plans had us with a fully functional robot last week. Thus, we're a little behind. BUT WORRY NO MORE, RANDOM CITIZEN READER, we are so, so close. The claws are up and ready to go after a few little tweaks, the gigantic track system is getting put on the robot, and the chassis is virtually ready, besides the little tweaks to bits and pieces they are working on as we speak (read?). Great work, build team! Can we BUILD IT!? YES WE CAN. BECAUSE WE'RE PERFECT. THERE IS NO FIXING. Meanwhile, the electronics team is also close to completing their mock electronics board for the practice robot. Woo hoo! Programmers have also been working hard on learning how to code for autonomous. Every so often, the kit bot would whirr to life and go like grrr grrr woom woom. Robot speak. We wouldn't understand. Its probably insulting our fashion sense. It's a really difficult week to stay focused, Prontonians, especially with all the finals, sleep deprivation, the State of the Union and fangirling over the president, all the primetime drama TV shows starting up again finally, after the midseason breaks, and the... well, you get the point. Freaking January. Nonetheless, our team is sticking to their guns and getting the work done. Good luck with your classes, and finish the semester strong, Team Pronto! OOPS. OOOOOOPS. Don't fire me. (You probably have enough dirt on me to send me off the face of the planet, but let's not get into the nitty gritty details.)
Weeeeellll, anyway... all teams have been perfectly on track! That pun was totally intended. It has been super exciting to see all the team's work already becoming things that look like robot parts. And it's only been two weeks!!! One of the most exciting things to happen in this three day period has been the creation of the up-to-size pulley system. It's really starting to look like a very scary guillotine. Like, it fits people's head in it and everything. And it stands in the auto shop every build day for people who dare try and defy the will of Prontonia. But everyone treats each other with respect and love. ❤❤❤ (We will tolerate no such revolution or storming of the sheds.) BUT ANYWAY. Yes, the pulley system has been developed, and even with a track system. The groups are now currently trying to figure out how to integrate it onto the robot frame. And on that note, the chassis has also been coming along very nicely. The frame was completed, and the wheels are currently getting put on. The build team has also begun to make a field for us to practice on! Yay builders! Meanwhile, the programmers have been hard at work to prepare themselves for programming the actual robot. The real deal. They have been currently creating code on the one of the kit-bots, practicing crucial code for autonomous such as encoders and turning in autonomous. They've got it working! The electronics have also been hard at work, maintaining and creating electronics boards, as well as making old robots work. A resurrection of Hank! The CAD team has also increased by one, creating a pair that have been CADing hard every day. And also, on Thursday, a most imporant day... PROUDLOVE'S BIRTHDAY! Yippee! We had cake and became robot unicorns. Hooray! (We also got to listen to demonic candles sing 'Happy Birthday' on loop like slightly off key.) So, grrgragrggarggagrgag. Pretty much sums up my feelings. The team has been busy, busy. And next week, the dreaded finals week comes upon us. However, we will continue to work hard on our robot as well as on our school work. (Don't worry, parents. 👌) SLICE THE HEADS OFF OF OUR ENEMIES (and problems), Team Pronto! Progress. It's really nice. But sometimes, you can't really see any physical progress and you start cursing the world and wanting to tear out your pathetic eyes for not being able to see the unseeable and then jump into a fiery pit of lava because burning to death would be a faster death than the anxiety from FRC. That is what I feel like right now. I truly, truly know that we are making lightning fast speed with the work we are doing: drawing detailed schematics, creating comprehensive prototypes, training for the real robot code, and so much more. BUT IT'S LIKE WE'RE AT THE TOP OF THE ROLLER COASTER AND WE'RE SO CLOSE TO FALLING AND I JUST WANT TO SCREAM ALREADY. But yes, I am capable of being patient. Err, somewhat capable. But anyway, enough rambling.
Some notable milestones:
We also had a wonderful dinner provided for the builders by Sam and Ian's moms. Thank you so much!!! Yes, progress can be slow, but it's like itsy bitsy spider. It just kept slowly going up the water spout despite the heavenly rains being more than a jerk to it. Morals to be learned by songs we wish would just leave our memories. Also, ew, spiders. Keep creeping up that spout to success, Team Pronto! |