Blog
526 posts from the build season and beyond.
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First Shots
The robot took its first shots today, shooting racquetballs. The robot shot extremely far, with distances yet to be officially measured. For today’s shots, the robot’s tanks were filled by a shop compressor in the lab to approximately 100 psi. Early next week, we hope to start powering the shots…
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Indexing & Tilting
After many days of work, the robot is almost complete. Today, we completed the indexing and tilting mechanisms and tested the robot in the lab without a projectile. The whole system seems to be working great.
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Revolver Mounted
A ton of progress was made today on the robot. The valve block was tapped for the 1″ NPT hose. Furthermore, we were able to get the pivot shaft for the revolver completed so that we could mount the revolver on the base. In the next few days, we hope to complete the indexing and […]
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Programming, Machining & More
Today, at the lab, we started programming the VEX controller on the robot. We finished the drive code and wrote simple code to open the main valve for a certain number of milliseconds when a button is pressed. Furthermore, the VEX controller was wired to the main robot power source after we…
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Wiring Complete
Today, we completed the wiring on the T-Shirt cannon. The large gauge wire and the signal wire was run successfully. Furthermore, we tested the valve,shooting T-shirts and small balls on a test bed outside the lab to test the range of the robot.
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Take Flight for Kids Demo
Team 254 and its robot, Devastator, had a great day at the 2010 Take Flight for Kids Festival. We had hundereds of visitors who all loved the robot. Some of the younger kids especially liked rolling the balls into the robot’s intake and letting the robot suck the balls up. We also had a large […]
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Powder Coated and Wiring Started
The robot returned from the powder coat shop today. The scuba tank also returned from hydrostatic certification after passing its tests. We hooked it up to a test bed and successfully tested the valve. The machining on the valve block has begun and is coming along great. The block will be…
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Frame Welded
The T-Shirt Cannon’s frame has returned from welding. The frame was prepped for powder coating today and will be brought to the powder coat shop tomorrow. The high-pressure scuba tank will be brought to Ace Fire Equipment & Services in East Palo Alto tomorrow to get its hydrostatic certification…
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Frame Ready for Welding
After several days of hard work, the frame of the T-Shirt Cannon is ready to be welded. The framerails have been machined and riveted onto the baseplate. The superstructure frame has been pinned to the drivebase. Finally, the mounting blocks for the sideshields have been cut and a welding jig to…
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Frame Assembly
Today, we received our parts from BAE Systems, one of our sponsors who generously provided machining for this project. After bringing the parts to the lab, we started assembly. Furthermore, we cut the stock for the round barrels and began to assemble the revolver assembly, which will be welded…
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Metal Arrives
The metal arrived at school today and we delivered the aluminum plate to BAE Systems, one of our sponsors. BAE has generously offered to provide waterjet cutting for our project. The parts are expected to get cut on Monday. Meanwhile, at the lab, machining has started on the chassis rails. They…
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Ordering Material
Today, we compiled the master list of the material that we need to purchase for the robot. We already have some of the metal at the lab but most needs to be purchased. After the list was completed, we ordered material which is expected to arrive on Friday.
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