Day 16

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, busy building a robot and all that. We've narrowed the shooter designs down to two: the one that currently works is spring-loaded arm that sidearms the frisbee, similar to an actual human throw. The other one hasn't yet been tested, but it is a 90-degree shooter wheel that utilizes a pneumatic wheel to grab the frisbee and spin it.

We received our pyramid just a few days ago and have been busy thinking of different climbing ideas that will (hopefully) work. If I remember, I'll get some pictures on Monday and they'll be up here that night.

Daniel Mitchell,
Head Programmer

Day 10

I suppose it would be a good idea to show some pictures of the shooter that I have been working on for the past few day... I apologize in advance for not picturing other prototypes we are working on but most of the time I'm a bit busy and tend to overlook documentation. 

The second iteration of the linear belt shooter, first version had two belts at different speeds. Looking

back on it I wish I stuck with that design and made it a bit simpler. Oh well. 

Another view of the shooter 

 PROGRESS! The third iteration of my belt shooter, simple, and clean. Does it work though? 

Nope, doesn't work at all, back to the drawing board. Need stiffer/wider belt(or just a better design in general). Fourth iteration currently being assembled. 

Not to be discouraged though, we are working on a few other shooters, including but not limited to Clay Pigeon style throwers, pneumatic tomahawk launcher (at least that's what I call it) and 90deg curved shooter. The 90deg shooter is the most promising design so far, but it wont be at full capacity until we get a hold of some pneumatic wheels. 

Marcel Karczewski,

Designer/manufacturer 

Days 6-8

The various shooter designs have been mostly finalized, and some minor changes are being made before we see which one works the best out of all of the designs. Nothing radically new happened over the past few days, just various refinements of the several shooter designs. Hopefully, early next week we'll have a quick well-functioning shooter design, but for now that is something that we're still working on.

Daniel Mitchell,
Head Programmer

Days 4 and 5

The prototypes are currently going through several stages, and three separate models are underway. One is a large slingshot designed to catapult the frisbee, another is an arm that hits the frisbee to move it forward, and the third is a design that uses a motorized wheel to provide the forward momentum for the frisbee. Currently, no one design has been tested as the best.

In the programming sector, the new software and updates are being installed so that the laptop from last year is ready for this year's competition. Following these software downloads, the coding and testing will begin for the robot. The use of several sensors to calculate the distance from the robot to the goal is currently being checked to see if that would be a feasible option for this year.

Daniel Mitchell, 

 Head Programmer

Day 3

You may have noticed there is no Day 2 posted, this is because we do not work on Sundays, and Day 2 was a Sunday. Just FYI, in case you're fervently following this every day, and were heartbroken about the lack of a day.

For Day 3, we met up at the shop and split into various tasks. The build team met to discuss what design of robot we thought would be best to play the game, and also how we should go about playing the game. Many ideas were tossed out, and prototypes for the more popular ones are now underway, so we should be able to see a more complete design by the end of this week. The younger people headed to the Multipurpose Room to make sure that everything there was set for another busy season. The old materials were dismantled, the room was cleared for a new season, and now some of the field elements are under construction.

Meanwhile, in the programming/electronics sector, I hooked up most of the new components of the electrical board so that I can begin testing the camera code and some sensors hopefully by Day 4 or 5. With any luck, and a bit of skill, we should be able to have vision tracking for this year's robotics tournament.

This task will be much simplified by the fact that we acquired a wireless internet connection up at the shop today. Now we can look up important information right away, so that should greatly ease the design, testing, and coding processes.

That's all for Day 3, and make sure to stay tuned in to what is happening with Stag Robotics!

Daniel Mitchell, Head Programmer

Day 1

Well, the 2013 FRC season is now underway! The new game, Ultimate Ascent, involves both Frisbee Throwing and Pyramid Climbing, and we should once again see some pretty interesting ideas on how teams accomplish one, or both, of these tasks. The video describing this year's game can be found here: Kickoff Video. This video is a quick 2 minute walkthrough of what the game is, and some basic rules for this year. Share with your friends so that everyone knows about the coolest game in town!

Following the kickoff video, the team started our first planning session of many throughout the season. After some basic ideas were tossed out and a team picture was taken, the team disbanded for the day. Several members of the team made it up to the shop, where the Kit of Parts was checked to make sure that everything was correct and in place.

The team will meet again tomorrow, Monday the 7th, to further discuss what the strategy will be for playing this year's game, and how our robot will accomplish this strategy.

Stay Tuned,

Daniel Mitchell - Head Programmer