Mandatory Reorganization Wednesday Meeting

April 5, 2009

Hey Everybody!

The Wednesday after vacation will most likely be one of the most important dates after the competition season. This is the day when we annouce next year’s officers!! Also, this year’s leadership has decided to completely reorganize the whole system and restructure the hierarchy. There will be just as many officers, but at the same time a lot more leadership opportunities for YOU!

I will let the suspense build up until wednesday on who is the CHOSEN ONE(s). If you do know, don’t spill the beans, just for fun. So make sure you come because if you don’t you will be missing out on being part of the leaders for next year. If your parents aren’t letting you, just tell them that the leaders have “titles” and that it’s for your own good and that it will get you into a good college (or something like that). Just make sure you come!

Less than a week left until Ship Day…

February 11, 2009

Olivier, Derik and Eric working on the conveyor belt

Today is our last meeting from the build season. Our build team was busy at work testing and putting final touches on the conveyor belt lifting system. Our drive is fully working and ready for testing.

The graphics team worked on painting the robot with our new flame design using spray paint and stencils. We printed large versions of our design at Kinko’s and cut them into custom stencils for the spray paint.

Since the website is due tomorrow, the web team has been busy updating contant and creating a uniform design throughout the site.

New T-shirt and Flag Design

February 2, 2009

I edited the new flag and t-shirt design.
The fleurs and shield are now larger and it’s in two colors (helps save $$$ this way)

The flag is going to be the horizontal one and the t-shirt the vertical unless anyone has any suggestions.

If the colors for any reason seem messed up, please give me your email and I’ll send you the designs.
Thanks everyone ^^

~Angela (w/ the teddy)

New Shirt Design:

New Flag Design:

Sunday Update

February 1, 2009

First off, I want to thank everyone who showed up today. I know that with finals coming up every second studying counts, so I was really surprised and pleased by how many people showed up.

Hugo working on the pool tubes

We were able to finish most of the bumpers and what little is left can be finished rather quickly. The biggest success was actually the prototype for the ball handler. With a few extra adjustments, we are confident that we will be able to have a fully functioning ball handler soon.

I also want to thank Teresa for bringing a HUGE cake (seriously, it was really big), and the wonder duo, Kevin and Michael, for working so hard to attach the bumpers. Keep up the good work guys, I really appreciate it.

Meeting Updates and Trailer Build Notes

January 30, 2009

Our meetings have been going well: our robot drives reliably and we are working with sensors to program traction control. Another segment of our build team has also been working on bumpers. We chose to program in C++ instead of LabView because our programmers and mentors have more experience working in a similar environment.

My dad and I recently finished building the trailer, so here are some observations and tips that would help with building the trailer.

First, hot gluing the pipes into the trailer does not work. Instead, we cut bigger rings of PVC and glued them to hold the pipes in place. The bottom ring prevents it from falling through the bottom layer of the trailer and the top ring prevents it from wobbling up and down. This design works well, but it requires the pipes to be put in the trailer before the bumpers are attached, because they can’t be put down through the top later.

Next, the design that holds the trailer tongue with three wood screws seemed flimsy because the trailer would be dragged around by it. I attached additional brackets around the pole so that it would not be broken off on accident. The wheels were supposed to be attached by a long bolt to a bracket on only one side, so I reinforced that by attaching a metal bracket on the other end. The image on the right shows both of these improvements.

Here I am with the finished product:

Robot Design

January 24, 2009

Hey everyone! This is Angela (the one with a teddy bear). I finally finished editing my robot design. The left, back, and right panels are the same as before (except I finished adding our sponsors’ logos and editing the text). But please take a look at the front panel (I made it so it doesn’t look like the Turkish flag/Islamic symbol anymore) and give me suggestions/comments. By the way, if you can’t see the picture clearly, then just zoom in. It shouldn’t blur since it has a very high resolution. Or you could email me and I’ll send you the document. Have a nice weekend! ^^

~Angela Liu

Credits (cuz i’d feel bad if i get all the credit x.x):

Angela (other one)–suggestions on fire
Anusha–suggestions on shape of fire/research
Dominic–front panel suggestions
Eric Sun–front panel suggestions
Hugo–fire suggestion
Marc-Antoine–color suggestions
Mary-Numbers
Olivier–SR symbol
Other people (sorry I don’t remember everyone and some of you wouldn’t know them anyways ._.”’)

Thanks pplz!

Final Robot Design