Today we are trying to make a machine that doesn't use Programming instead we are using simple machines. Advanced machines are innovations of simple machines (levers, wedges, pulleys, etc.). Our objectives are to make the marble(s) go down the wall that has simple machines that the marble activates or effects the marble to pop balloons!
0 Comments
Only 7843B attended to the Friday meeting, they advanced a lot on their claw and placed the claw in a great place so that it would function on the scissor lift as well as stay under the 18 inches limit for their robot. They also programmed the basic movement for their robot; of course going to be using that as their base and later test drive as well as to see if their are any flaws with the motors or functions of movement.
Today only one group were supposed to attend.. They programmed their autonomous, and following their strategy. They must be able to turn very precisely and move exactly where they want to go; this is very important to win for you get ten bonus points. Today two groups were editing their robot. One team realized that two of their axles were not well placed in the motor, thus making the robot not be able to move as quickly. They also put collars on their axles for wheels and the scissor lift. The other group was working on driving and their techniques for scoring points. Today was a work day for SeaPerch and some VEX groups. VEX was working on minor issues, using more effective screws and putting on collars. SeaPerch was working on the their strategies for their own objectives. Other people that were in neither of the organizations doing stop-motion animations or doing Hour of Code on www.code.org!
Team 7843C competed in the VEX Loudoun Regional Skyrise Competition with their linear lift robot and were thrilled to be Tournament Champions! They also were awarded the Design Award by the judges, which they earned by keeping an excellent account of the design and build of their robot. It was a fast paced day where the team worked well together to achieve high scores in their matches, overcome challenges with the programming and performance of their robot. They were very proud and excited to have won a spot to compete at the VEX Robotics Virginia State Championship.
One of our teams has a member who is moving away in December, so they decided to work very hard to have a working linear lift robot in time for a competition on December 6th. Their cascading lift works well and they installed a limit switch to control how high the arm raises.
In this VEX Meeting only one team was present because of it was a abnormal meeting day. That team stabilized their scissor lift; very crucial to a well preforming robot. Screws were also tightened, some keps-nuts replaced with lock-nuts.
Our team is trying to work on our VEX robot more than once a week. We need more time to finish our robot because of unseen problems; too long, too tall, how to attach something, etc. We have both sides of our scissor lift finished although one side is not the mirror of the other...it needs to be adjusted. Our chassis is a U shaped chassis and one side is not the same width as the other so it needs to be fixed. And our scissor lift needs to be mounted on the chassis. Our goal is to be basically finished with our build by Thanksgiving so we can spend December programming and working out bugs. One of our other teams has decided to scrap the cascading linear lift design in favor of building a simpler lift. They are going to build a pivoting arm with a claw. Sometimes simpler is better. Our third team built a prototype cascading linear lift, but the way they had the chain working caused it to break. Also the lift was not very stable. They are modifying the design to use wide c-channels and they have used tank tread to screw the chain to the lift. They are in the process of building their new lift.
|
Archives
September 2016
|