Blog
526 posts from the build season and beyond.
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Bumpers, and practice/development
Today the bumpers for team 254 were completed and are currently en-route. The embroidery looks great. The bumper tubes may need to be milled slightly in width, to account for thicker-than-expected fabric. This would allow the attachment pins to insert into the robot further, if they do not quite…
2010 Teams 254/968 Collaborative Build Blog
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Beginning Competition Preparations
Preparations for Competition next week have begin. Numerous teams of students have been working hard to complete the Competition Robot’s superstructure, which will be carried in as part of the withholding allowance. Several students worked to complete a bill of materials and plan out the packing of…
2010 Teams 254/968 Collaborative Build Blog
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Autonomous Development – Part 1
(There was a video here that has sadly been lost in the archives.) It’s a start…
2010 Teams 254/968 Collaborative Build Blog
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Kicker Testing
Kicker testing continued today, after a series of mishaps with the arm last night. We found that we could shoot well from midfield and poorly from either extreme with the current configuration. We milled the kicker plate down by 1/8″ from it’s already shortened state to make it a total of 5/16″…
2010 Teams 254/968 Collaborative Build Blog
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Robot Progress
We field tested the final design of the Gyroscope assembly at the Proving Grounds. During this test, we also tested the robot “Drive Straight” software routine. This works like money. Earlier in the day, students and mentors joined the superstructure to the drive base. We then calibrated our kicker…
2010 Teams 254/968 Collaborative Build Blog
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Bumper Progress
Foam pool noodles have been affixed to all 8 bumper assemblies. The fabric for all the assemblies has been cut, and sewn in the corners. The fabric is currently at the embroidery shop. Currently, we expect to receive the 254 fabric pieces back on Saturday 3/6. They will then be adjusted for…
2010 Teams 254/968 Collaborative Build Blog
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Roller Improvements
Today, several improvements on the roller assembly were completed. The holes on both roller plates were hex broached to accommodate a new lower roller. A design flaw in the previous design allowed the lower roller to free itself and spin in a direction that did not allow the robot to properly hold…
2010 Teams 254/968 Collaborative Build Blog
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New Plates!
Today, the second prototype plates to replace the hard stop plates were completed and installed. These plates included mounting provisions for attaching three trampoline springs to power the kicker and allow the arm to stow properly, two features not included in the initial prototype. Four full…
2010 Teams 254/968 Collaborative Build Blog
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Software and Hardware Testing/Progress
Today in the Systems Engineering and Integration(SEaI) division, students and mentors tested the gyroscope assembly (PN: 1010167) and integrated the part into our system. SEaI also began developing software routines for a closed loop control of the robot when there is no steering input. Tomorrow…
2010 Teams 254/968 Collaborative Build Blog
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Progress
Today, the team worked to optimize the kicker and arm. The surgical tubing on the kicker was replaced with trampoline springs, to make it more easy to get a repeatable and known force. A gas spring was installed on the first stage of the arm to aid in arm deployment. Finally, limit switches were…
2010 Teams 254/968 Collaborative Build Blog
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Design Progress
Today, the design team worked to design the polycarbonate side shields for the robots. Due to weight issues, we will probably not be able to implement all of the polycarbonate shields on the robot. The team also designed the cutouts which will be made on the bumper spacer tubes. The cutouts reduce…
2010 Teams 254/968 Collaborative Build Blog
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Score to Hang – 10 seconds
With mentors as drivers, no less… (There was a video here that has sadly been lost in the archives.)
2010 Teams 254/968 Collaborative Build Blog