I Wanna Drive With Somebody (Who Loves Me)

Dear friends,

Sorry that I didn't write a blog last night. My team was only in the shop for a little bit last night because it was a very important night. It was my team's annual Quizzo fundraiser! Even though I missed them a lot, I am glad that it was so successful.

Today was absolutely crazy! I went for my first drive off of the blocks. At first, I wasn't quite moving correctly, but my team figured out that it was because two of my motors weren't driving. Once they resolved that issue, I had to try going over all of the obstacles. My drivers figured out the direction and gear in which I need to go over each of the obstacles. For example, while I can go under the low bar no matter what, I can only go over the rock wall facing forward and in low gear.

Next, the girls started to test out my hanger. They motorized the tape measure for the first time. While it extended very nicely, it had a lot of trouble winding back up. This made my team reevaluate my hanging mechanism. They are currently working on a tape measure extension system that is similar to one of my original prototypes. It involves two tape measures connected together and being pushed and pulled by a directly driven wheel. The design is working well but it still needs to be improved.

The programmers accomplished much today! They knew that in order to give my drivers enough visibility, I would need two cameras. One will help me to see the hanging bar, and the other will help me to see the ground. They figured out how to toggle between the two today! My programmers also accomplished a lot with the gyro today. It turns out that the gyro that they were working with was dysfunctional so they worked with a new one today. They immediately started figuring out how to wire it. They are working on a program that will help me to know how far off from my desired angle I am so that my motors can adjust me.

My ball collector evolved a lot today, too! My team was struggling with the paint roller cores, so they decided to take a slightly different approach. They made a design inspired by the paint rollers out of metal and plastic. It looks really nice! Plus, if it works, it will be a lot easier to repair at competitions. I am excited to see what happens!

Wow! Today really was busy. I can't wait for tomorrow!

XOXO
Robot