Team 5295 Aldernating Current

Monday, April 14, 2014

Playoffs; Jacob Wins Deans List; Robots Milk Cows

Oregon State University District April 3-5, 2014

HIGHLIGHTS  On our way down to Corvallis, Oregon we stopped at the Styger Family Dairy in Chehalis, Washington to watch robots milk cows. During alliance selection, the #7 alliance captain Team 1571 "Error 404" selected us and then Team 847 "PHRED" to be on their playoff team.  Judges awarded Jacob "J-K" K as a Dean's List finalist at the Pacific Northwest Championship. After our two day robot competition ended, Scott Card of Team 997 "Spartan Robotics" gave us a one hour tour of the Oregon State University.

PARTICIPATION  Eight students attended all three days: Aaron J. (programmer and primary driver); Guy B. (human player and alliance coordinator); Jacob “J-K” (team captain, program lead & acting safety captain); Janae N. (scout lead, tee-shirt design, pit emergency supply survey, and build); Josh M. (build captain and driver); Jason W. (pit crew chief, design, and build); Kyle (drive captain, electrical troubleshooter, and build); and Todd M. (scout, assistahttp://webmail.earthlink.net/wam/Sendmailntsafety captain, & banner design).  Also attending were Eli "Sam" and Cinthia Johnson-Pettis, Aaron's stepdad and mom.

TRANSPORTATION and OVERNIGHT  Thank you to T.James and A.Lang (Lilly’s parents) for providing their bus to transport us to the competition.  Thank you to C.Johnson-Pettis and S.Pettis for driving our robot and pit supplies in your 20 foot trailer.  Thank you to drivers S. Pettis and A.Walker for getting the team to and from the event.  It took one bus and one 20 foot trailer to move the robot team from the welding shop to and from the competition.  Thank you A.Walker for organizing two nights lodging at the Best Western Grand Manor Inn in Corvallis.

STYGER FAMILY DAIRY  Linda and Andy Styger of the Styger Family Dairy in Chehalis, Washington gave us a tour of their barn where the Lely Astronaut A4 robot milks their 70 cows on a first come, first serve basis.  http://www.lely.com/en/milking/robotic-milkingsystem/astronaut-a4
The Styger Family Dairy is the first dairy in Washington State to use a robot to milk their cows. Linda explained that they prefer to produce organic milk for Organic Valley.  The only place for the cows to get a nutritious snack is to stand in the milking area.  After identifying the cow, the computer determines if the cow was milked in the last six hours. If not, the robot washes her teats (brown to pink), uses lasers to see, and applies suction tubes that do the actual milking.  Each teat may supply a different amount of milk.  The robot chemically analyzes the milk to aid the Stygers is keeping their cows healthy.  Lely used to sell the milking robots for $1 million each. Farmers had to wait months to get one which were made in Sweden.  Now the robotic milkers only cost $250,000. Farmers wait weeks while the factory in Iowa builds them.  It takes three weeks for a technician to install the robot at the farm. The dairy must already have a milking room built to the correct specifications.  Previous to installing the milkers, humans twice a day milked the cows by hand.  Linda said it was difficult finding help for a job that was not forty hours a week. Lely is constantly updating the software that controlls the milker.  The cows adjusted pretty quickly to the milkers.  The humans took a bit longer.  Linda mentioned that there will be a need in the future for technicians to maintain the robotic milkers.  An article by Amy Watkins in the March 24th Everett Herald alerted Alan Walker to the robots in use at the Styger Family Dairy. http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20140324/BIZ/140329538

SAFETY When we set up the pit, we placed the fire extinguisher, battery spill kit, and the first aid kit on the back table right hand side (same location as our other district events).  One day before our initial competition, the team added graffiti to the first aid kit and battery spill kit so everyone knew what they looked like (thank you Team 2557 SOTAbots for the suggestion). Janae N. interviewed the teams in the pit to determine which team had fire extinguishers, first aid kits and battery spill kits.  Jacob "J-K" K. posted this information on the map of the pit. Thank you Safety Captain Brady J. for writing the safety contract and team safety manual.  Thank you 4-H Team 3574 High Tekerz C.J. McAnulty and Carrie C for sharing your entire safety plan with us.  Our emergency supplies were not used at the Oregon State competition.  Our first aid kit was used at our first two competitions.  Our battery spill kit was used at the Shorewood competition.  In all, our emergency supplies were used three times total at our three events. 

PERFORMANCE  After match 18 we were 3-1 and heavily damaged: the 5/8" steel shaft hinge for our arms sheared off; the right motor worked only some of the time; and the entire robot would power down and sit for ten seconds and not move.  Jason W., Josh M., and Kyle D. worked with Manley in the machine shop to create a new hinge shaft from the extra bar stock we brought along.  This included adding a slot and a hole at one end.  We would have saved some time had we brought along a detailed drawing of the shaft.  S. Pettis investigated our electrical power circuit and discovered a loose wire from our power distribution board to the cRIO. This explained why the robot sat on occasion.  With help from student April of Team 4457 ACE Academy, and mentor Terry from Team 847 PHRED, we discovered that our right motor was much hotter than our left motor.  They brainstormed what might be wrong with the right motor.  Did we add lubrication when we built the transmission? Yes.  Does the belt stick during operation? No. The motor may be bad.  Together we discussed swapping in a new right motor but this would take much longer that the 25 minutes between matches.  We could do this after our last match of the day, except we did not have an extra CIM motor.  Team 1425 "Error COde Xero" donated a CIM motor to us.  S.Pettis took a look at the power wire to the right hand motor and discovered it was not fully crimped at is Talon motor controller.

We played match 24 without arms but at full power.  Our alliance should have lost match 24.  In the last ten seconds of the match, our opponents dangerously extended a hand into the playing field for a 50 point penalty.  We were now 4-1 with the hinge shaft replacement almost done being machined.  We played our next match 28 without arms too.  We lost match 28 by nine points.  The referees illegally awarded ten truss points to our opponents for an autonomous ball going over the truss during teleop.  After the match ended Drive Captain Kyle D. immediately stepped to the question box and lodged a complaint with the head referee. This is the only time the team is allowed to dispute a match. Kyle D. represented our team well. The head referee did not change the match outcome.  The replacement shaft now complete, Jason W. and Josh M. reattached the arms.  We won our final match of the day to finish the qualification matches Friday at 5-2 and tied for sixth place. The team decided not to replace the right hand motor until Saturday morning.

After replacing the motor, we had high hopes.  Unfortunately we went 0-5 on Saturday to wind up at 5-7 overall. In a classy move, Team Captain Jacob “J-K” appointed senior Kyle D. team representative for alliance selection.  Team 1571 Error404 from Gresham, Oregon selected us to be on their #7 alliance.  They mentioned they were impressed when a representative of Team 5295 (Janae N.) visited them and spoke about alliance selection at the end of day one.  Alliance captain Team 1571 also selected Team 847 "PHRED", a tall defensive robot to be on the alliance. We were the top offensive scorer on the alliance.  We lost the best of three quarter finals 27-130, 28-0, and 27-150.
ALL COMPETITION RESULTS AVAILABLE AT http://www.thebluealliance.com/team/5295
Our opponent, alliance 2, featured the #2 and #4 seeded robots.  They would go on to be on the winning alliance. After we lost the second match, we went back to the pits and slowly took apart the pit. Due to one of the Alliance 2 robots reaching outside the field in the human area (and potentially very dangerous), the referees removed all their points. Very quickly, Teams 1571, 5295 and 847 got back on the field for our third and final match.

DRIVE TEAM  Four students participated on the four person drive team: Aaron J. (primary driver), Guy B. (human player feeds ball to robots), Josh M. (secondary driver), and Kyle D. (drive captain).  The most important drive position is the cart holder.  This team member has the most influence on getting robots on and off the field safely.  Guy B. consistently did this.  The robot had difficulty picking up the robot.  The team made 3 of 4 high truss shots and 2 of 4 high goal shots.  


AWARDS  Twenty-eight teams competed with us at our third district event, held at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon Friday April 4 8AM  to Saturday April 5 6PM.  Team 5295 Aldernating Current did not win any awards.  Judges interviewed Jason W. and Jacob "J-K" K. as Dean's List nominees of Team 5295. The judges awarded Jacob "J-K" a finalist for the Dean's List Award at the Pacific Northwest Championship.

AUTODESK PACIFIC NORTHWEST CHAMPIONSHIP
Alan Walker made arrangements to get Jacob "J-K" and his grandmother down to the district championship on Saturday at Veteran Memorial Stadium in Portland. The Dean's List judges will use the notes from the district judges to select the six Dean's List finalists for the St.Louis World Championship. Jacob "J-K" will not be reinterviewed.

Our team season is complete.  As a rookie, we finished 113th out of 153 Pacific Northwest teams.  The top 64 teams will compete at the Pacific Northwest Championship this coming weekend April 9-12 in Portland, Oregon. Both Team 4450 Olympia Robotic Federation and Team 3574 High Tekerz will be competing at the Rose Garden.


ROBOT INSPECTION occurred very quickly. We passed robot inspection two hours after requesting inspection. In our two earlier competitions, robot inspection took five or six hours to pass.

BUMPERS  The team expended very little pit time on the bumpers.  The red bumpers sometimes had a loose flap that dragged on the ground.  Referee K.Saxton asked the robot inspectors to review our bumpers.  Jason W. and Josh M. had the machine shop make some angles to help pull the bumpers a bit higher off the ground.  Janae N. is designing a new method to build bumpers in the future.

PIT CREW  The team worked as a well oiled machine.  Aaron J., Guy B., Janae N., Jason W., Josh M., Kyle D. and Todd M. worked well together.  Jason W. again coordinated on arm reconstruction with the machine shop, the third event he has had this task. In a fantastic act of Gracious Professionalism, Team 1425 "Error Code Xero" donated a CIM motor to us which we used all day Saturday.  We returned the motor to them after we were eliminated from competition.

BATTERIES  Batteries were topped off Wednesday and again Thursday.  The team learned to keep one good battery in the bottom of the robot cart.  The team electrically insulated (via electrical tape) the battery terminals where they connect with the pigtail.

PHOTOGRAPHY  If you have pictures or video of Team 5295, please send them to me at AlanWalker@earthlink.net and I will ask our webmaster Lilly J. to add them to our website, http://frcteam5295aldernatingcurrent.blogspot.com/  Photos and videos of our team may be posted at http://www.thebluealliance.com/team/5295


ROBOT TEAM MEETINGS
Shelton High School is on break this week April 7-11.  Our next team meeting will be Monday, April 14th.  We will create our spring goals and determine our future meeting schedule. Robot team meetings are typically Mondays (except following a district event), Wednesdays and Thursdays from 2:30PM-6:30PM in the welding shop at Shelton High School, 3737 N. Shelton Springs Road, Shelton WA 98584.  We also meet most Saturdays from 9AM-5PM. With advance notice, there is a North Mason shuttle.  All are welcome.

OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY TOUR
Scott Card of local Corvallis Team 997 Spartan Robotics gave us a tour of the university. OSU has 23,000 undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. One quarter of all students are engineering majors.  Scott is a dual education and german major.  The school is just over two square miles, 30 blocks by thirty blocks.  The engineering department helped design the Mars Rover robot. The son of Manley, the machinist who fabricated the replacement shaft for our arms, was part of the Mars Rover design team. 
OFFICIAL WEBSITE http://oregonstate.edu/

FIRST SCHOLARSHIPS
For 2014, FIRST has over 170 confirmed scholarship providers that are making available almost 900 individual scholarship opportunities with a total value of more than $19 million. FIRST scholarships are funded and administered by the scholarship providers (colleges, universities, corporations, etc.) not by FIRST.  Each have unique eligibility requirements, deadline dates, and application procedures. Scholarships are usually for use at a specific college or university, but a few can be used at any school. Most are merit-based and cover a broad range of scholastic abilities.  Roughly 35% of FIRST scholarhips can be used for any course of study.  Values range from one-time $500 awards to full four-year tuition ($160,000 value).
SCHOLARSHIP LIST http://www.usfirst.org/about/scholarships/scholarship-opportunities

Team Wins Safety Award

Shorewood District March 20-22, 2014

AWARDS  Thirty-two teams competed with us at our second district event, held at Shorewood High School in Shoreline, Washington Thursday March 20 5PM to Saturday March 22 6PM.  Team 5295 Aldernating Current won Hard Hat Safety Pins, runner up to the Underwriters Laboratory (UL) Industrial Safety Award.  This is quite an honor for a rookie team.  It is quite an accomplishment considering that our safety captain Brady J.  was unable to make the trip.  Lilly J., Janae N. and Todd M. did a wonderful job alternately acting as our Safety Captain.  On Thursday, Janae N. as acting Safety Captain interviewed all thirty-three teams Thursday to discover which teams had first aid kits, battery spill kits, and fire extinguishers. She and Guy B. posted the location of these emergency supplies on the pit map.  On Friday morning, Lilly J. attended the Safety Captains meeting.  On Friday afternoon, acting Safety Captain Todd Mann explained our safety manual to two safety advisors.  He showed them our signed safety contracts and our team safety plan (both written by our Safety Captain Brady J.). Todd M. also showed the safety advisors the risk assessment, disaster supplies and safety plan of Team 3574 High Tekerz, our safety mentor.  Thank you 4-H Team 3574 High Tekerz C.J. McAnulty and Carrie C for sharing your entire safety plan with us.
The team that shared their scouting software with us, Team 4030 NullPointerException won the Innovation in Control award.  Team 2557 SOTAbots won the Team Spirit award.  The Auburn Mountain View event also awarded us the Highest Rookie Seed award.

SAFETY When we set up the pit, we placed the fire extinguisher, battery spill kit, and the first aid kit on the back table right hand side (same location as our other district event).  One day before our initial competition, the team added graffiti to the first aid kit and battery spill kit so everyone knew what they looked like (thank you Team 2557 SOTAbots for the suggestion).  Lilly J. as assistant safety captain attended the safety meeting Fridaymorning.  Thank you Janae N. and Jason W. for sitting for an hour at the safety glass table cleaning safety glasses and reminding people to wear safety glasses upon entering the pit. Thank you Safety Captain Brady J. for writing the safety contract and team safety manual.
On Friday, safety advisor M. Nguyen used our battery spill kit gloves to move a cracked battery.  A student lifted a battery by its pigtails and dropped it four feet.  On Saturday, one student playing on cement fell and bloodied his nose and mouth.  His teammate used our first aid kit to help stop the bleeding.  Our emergency equipment has been used a total of three times in our two competition events.

PARTICIPATION  Eight students attended all three days: Jacob “J-K” (team captain, programmer & scout); Josh M. (build captain and driver), Jason W. (pit crew chief, design, and build), Guy B. (drive captain), Aaron J. (programmer and driver), Lilly J. (head scout, assistant safety captain, button design, & drive team human player), Todd M. (assistant safety captain, & banner design), Janae N. (tee-shirt design, pit emergency supply survey, assistant safety captain, safety glasses, and build).  Also attending were three family members, three mentors and one school official (Shelton).

PHOTOGRAPHY  If you have pictures or video of Team 5295, please send them to me at AlanWalker@earthlink.net and I will ask our webmaster Lilly J. to add them to our website, http://frcteam5295aldernatingcurrent.blogspot.com/  If you would like to be the media focal (photography) for Team 5295, please contact me at the above email address.

PERFORMANCE  On Friday, the team started 1-5 placing 33rdof 33 teams. Scouting efforts stopped.  We added new robot arms in match 3 and match 5.  Now familiar with the new robot arms, we finished Friday with a 2-0 followed by a 3-0 start on Saturday.  With one match to go we were now 6-5 and ranked 14th of 33.  If we won our final qualification match, we would be an alliance captain for the elimination playoffs.  Team Captain Jacob “J-K” appointed Lilly J. head scout.  She spoke to Team 4915 Spartronics head scout Anika who shared her rookie team’s extensive scouting with us.  In match 12, we shot the ball over the truss for the first time!  We lost our final match finishing 6-6 with a #16 seed.  No alliance captain picked us.  As alternate robot #2, we practiced our high goal shooting with a 90% accuracy rate.  We are roughly 90th of 150 teams in the Pacific Northwest district standings.  Our mentor Team 4450 is 46th with one district event next week.  Only the top third (64 of 179 teams in Oregon and Washington) will be invited to the week 7 District Championship in Portland.  Our 33 district points come from qualification (18 points; two points per win, 6-6 Shorewood + 3-9 Auburn Mountain View), Rookie Inspiration Award (five district points) and our rookie status (ten points). For more information visit http://www.district.firstwa.org/PNW/2014

TRANSPORTATION and OVERNIGHT  Thank you to T.James and A.Lang (Lilly’s parents) for providing their bus to transport us to the competition.  Thank you to drivers J.Foss, Jason W. and A.Walker for getting the team to and from the event.  It took one bus and one pickup truck to move the robot team from the welding shop to and from the competition.  Thank you A.Walker for organizing two nights of lodging and hosting two students at your home.

ROBOT INSPECTION consumed all five hours on Thursday, March 20 and another hour Friday morning.  Matt N. of Team 2557 SOTAbots advised Josh M. and Todd M. how to complete our pneumatics system.  Matt N. won Safety Star of the DayFriday for his assistance to us and other teams.  We would not have passed robot inspection without Team 2557’s help.  We passed inspection shortly after 9AM Friday morning (six hours).

BUMPERS  Before the competion, Lilly J. painted “5295” on each bumper with white paint and outlined each number in black.  Guy B. strategically stapled additional red/blue bumper material and some Velcro to give us 100% of the correct color. The team expended very little pit time on the bumpers.  Janae N. is designing a new method to build bumpers in the future.

PIT CREW  Josh M. organized the efforts of Aaron J., Guy B., Janae N., and Todd M. throughout robot inspection process and in-between matches.  Jason W. focused on strengthening the robot arms in our pit and in the machine shop.  J.Foss monitored and advised.  The pit crew trimmed exposed copper wires, removed and reattached the robot arms, modified the hammer to be triangular, and completed the pneumatic system,  In a fantastic act of Gracious Professionalism, Team 2557 SOTAbots donated various pneumatic parts.  Lilly J. organized the pit on Thursday and the bottom of the robot cart Saturdaywhile we waited as Alternate Robot #2 for a playoff callup.  We continued Coach Foss’ borrow list.  The team does not plan to redesign the robot.

BATTERIES  Batteries were topped off Wednesday and againThursday.  The team learned to keep one good battery in the bottom of the robot cart.  The team electrically insulated (via electrical tape) the battery terminals where they connect with the pigtail.


DRIVE TEAM  Four students participated on the four person drive team: Aaron J. (driver), Guy B. (drive captain), Josh M. (driver), and Lilly J. (human player).  The most important drive position is the cart holder.  This team member has the most influence on getting robots on and off the field safely.  In match 12, Josh M. successfully shot the ball over the truss for ten points.  The entire team played a role in this accomplishment.

Winner Rookie Inspirational Award

Auburn Mountainview High District Feb.27-Mar.1

AWARDS  Thirty-one teams competed with us at our first district competition, held week 1 at Auburn Mountain View High School Thursday February 27 5PM to Saturday March 1 6PM.  Team 5295 Aldernating Current won the Rookie Inspirational Award for: coordinating students from three schools to become a team “as strong as an alder”; being thankful enough to list our wisdom sponsor Team 4450 on our tee-shirts; using a three-dimensional printing part on our robot; and having lengthy list of sponsors. Since Team 5295 was the only rookie team competing, we knew we had won as soon as the award’s title was read.  All awards must be won; simple showing up is not sufficient to win an award.  We will be eligible for the Rookie All Star Award at the Shorewood District competition.  Our wisdom sponsor Team 4450 “Olympia Robotics Federation” won the Innovation in Control Award.

PHOTOGRAPHY  After the awards ceremony, the two teams were photographed together.  If you have pictures or video of Team 5295, please send them to me atAlanWalker@earthlink.net and I will ask our webmaster Lilly J. to add them to our website, http://frcteam5295aldernatingcurrent.blogspot.com/  If you would like to be the media focal (photography) for Team 5295, please contact me at the above email address.

PERFORMANCE  On Friday, the team went 1-7 placing last of thirty-two teams. On Saturday, we improved to 2-2 finishing qualifications with a 3-9 record and the #30 seed.  We were not selected to be on any alliance for the elimination rounds.  We are currently 20th of 32 teams in the Pacific Northwest district standings; Team 4450 is 5th.  Only the top third (64 of 179 teams in Oregon and Washington) will be invited to the week 7 District Championship in Portland.  Our 21 district points come from qualification (6 points; two points per win), Rookie Inspiration Award (five district points) and our rookie status (ten points). For more information visit http://www.district.firstwa.org/PNW/2014

TRANSPORTATION  Thank you to T.James for providing his bus to transport us to the competition.  Thank you to drivers J.Foss, Jason W. and A.Walker for getting the team to and from the event.  It took one bus, one pickup truck and one car to move the entire robot team to the competition.

PARTICIPATION  Six students attended Thursday, eleven on Friday and eight on Saturday.  Four students attended all three days: Team Captain Jacob “J-K”; Electrical Lead Kyle D., Build Captain Josh M., and Pit Crew Chief Jason W.  On Thursday with only six students, Jacob “J-K” put into practice his plan to allocate students to the team’s different disciplines.  Also attending were seven family members and friends, six mentors, two sponsors (Bezos Family Foundation) and two school officials (Shelton).

SAFETY When we set up the pit, we placed the fire extinguisher, battery spill kit, and the first aid kit on the back table right hand side. Within the first hour of unpacking on Thursday, a student on a second year team injured her hand. Jason W. retrieved the first aid kit and bandaged her up. One day before the competition, the team added graffiti to the first aid kit and battery spill kit so everyone knew what they looked like (thank you Team 2557 SOTAbots for the suggestion).  Brady J. clearly displayed his Team 5295 safety plan and Team 3574’s more extensive safety plan.  At the urging of Safety Mentor K.Mougous, Jedi Safety Captain Brady J. presented a safety contract for all students and mentors to sign.  Thank you 4-H Team 3574 High Tekerz C.J. McAnulty and Carrie C for sharing your entire safety plan with us.  Padawan Safety Captain Lilly J. interviewed teams Thursday and discovered that keeping an clean and orderly pit was important.  She also attended the safety captain meeting Friday morning while Brady J. was on the drive team.  Todd M. visited all thirty-two pits Thursday and researched which teams had first aid kits, battery spill kits, and fire extinguishers.  On Saturday after obtaining approval from a Safety Advisor and Pit Administration, Janae N. and A.Walker posted the location of these emergency supplies on the two pit maps using dots given us by the robot inspectors.  At the Shorewood District, we will research and modify the pit maps shortly after arriving on Thursday.  Thank you Jacob “J-K” for sitting for an hour at the safety glass table cleaning safety glasses and reminding people to wear safety glasses upon entering the pit.

ROBOT INSPECTION consumed all five hours on Thursday, February 27 and another two hours Friday morning.  Volunteer Robot Inspector K.Luthy patiently explained where our robot did not meet the requirements of Robot section 4 of the Game Manual.  Most items like covering exposed copper or using 12 AWG (American Wire Gage) for our 40 amp motor controllers (thanks Kyle D.) were simple to fix (the robot inpectors donated the 12AWG wire).  The last two sticky points were not.  We had to trim ½” off our electronics box so it did not extend beyond the chassis frame (R02).  One bumper was not tight to the frame (1/4” maximum gap R26B) causing it to sag and start less that two inches off the floor (R22).  We passed inspection shortly after 10AM Friday morning (seven hours).  We hope to halve this at the week 4 Shorewood District allowing us to practice Friday morning before the qualification matches start.

BUMPERS  In the pit, the pit team determined three ways to meet the bumper requirements.  Option A was to flip the team numbers;although we did not have an extra two sets of team numbers.  Option B was to un-staple the bumpers, turn the red/blue fabric 180 degrees, and re-staple the bumper assembly.  This would too long.  The team chose to use aluminum and cardboard washers to tighten the bumper to the frame, eliminating the sag and bringing the bumper to above 2” off the floor.  The district machine shop enlarged the holes in the steel fasteners per student sketch.  This allowed the thicker cotter pins provided by robot inpector K.Luthy to fit.  To speed up robot inspection at the Shorewood District the team is planning to rebuild the bumpers.
Prior to the competition, thirteen individuals helped build our four red/blue reversible bumpers.  M.Logeais of Team 2177 The Robettes made her five page reversible bumper instructions available to us at Chief Delphi.  L.Larson of Sew Now Studio in Shelton donated the proper sewing needles for 1000d cordura. Kenny H. and C.Mann sewed the blue and red cordura fabric together.  P.Cook of Team 4450 and A.Walker provided pool noodles.  Josh M. and J.Foss trimmed the 3.5" diameter pool noodles to 2.5" width (Rxx). Todd M. cut the 3/4" thick boards to the correct length.  Jason W. and Kyle D. fabricated fasteners from steel rod.  Josh M., J.Foss and A.Walker assembled the fabric, pool noodles, board, and fasteners.  Guy B. added velcro to the bumpers.  A.Walker purchased white blank sticky paper. Jason W. and J.Foss cut team numbers and stuck them to both the red and blue bumpers.  J.Niski of Team 230 Gaelhawks suggested making stencils and using paint, but A.Walker ignored this valuable insight.

PIT CREW  Jason W. organized the efforts of Aaron J., Brady J., Guy B., Josh M., Kyle D., Todd M. and William C throughout robot inspection process and in-between matches.  J.Foss monitored and advised.  The pit crew taped exposed wires, replaced wires with correct gage, tightened belts, repaired leaky pneumatic tubing, adjusted the net fitting to fit inside the frame chassis, re-glued the thirty-two team numbers to the bumpers, tightened the bumpers, trimmed ½” from our PVC arms, cut ¼” off the electrical box mounting spacers, trimmed hollowed aluminum tubing, removed the arms broken in match 3, designed and installed an 15” triangular support to prevent the electronics box from wiggling, and listened to the drive and programming teams to diagnose problems.  In a fantastic act of Gracious Professionalism, Team 2929 Jagbots donated a pneumatic pressure regulator to us; one of our regulators leaked.  William C. organized our pit on Friday very efficiently. Jason W. reprimanded A.Walker emphasizing that pit organization should never result in a less efficient pit crew.  After some of our tools went missing, J.Foss started a borrow list.  In future, we will label every tool with “5295”.  On Saturday afternoon, the pit crew played an important role in sketching out design improvements to the robot.

BATTERIES  Lilly J. and Janae N. kept the batteries charged. Team 4450 uses a green/black device in the battery pigtail to show if the battery is good (green) or in need of a charge (black).  The team learned to keep one good battery in the bottom of the robot cart.  The team electrically insulated (via electrical tape) the battery terminals where they connect with the pigtail.


DRIVE TEAM  Six students participated on the four person drive team: Aaron J., Brady J., Guy B., Josh M., Kyle D. and Lilly J. took turns being the runner, fielder, human player, and drive captain.  The most important drive position is the cart holder. This team member has the most influence on getting robots on and off the field safely.  Aaron’s expertise with programming and Kyle’s with electronics enabled them to quickly diagnosis robot performance issues.  In match 3 with our arms extended, we hit another robot head on and broke the arms.  In multiple matches, the robot would just sit.  After investigation, this was determined to be a loose electrical connection.  The drive team had only an hour of practice prior to the competition.  We want to give the drivers more time prior to the week 4 Shorewood District competition.  Georgette L will join the drive team at the Shorewood District event.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014