Progress: Week 1

Drive train:

• We have decided on a four-wheel drive train with 12.5" pneumatic (inflatable) tires
• James, Matt, and Arkady have led a team building a prototype chassis and drivetrain out of wood
• On Monday, James made some mounting blocks out of wood to attach the electronics from the Monster

End Effector (the device that interacts with the game piece) (Kicker)

• We have decided on some kind of kicker
• Caitlin and Dr. Newman headed up a group to test out several pneumatic cylinders, and found that none released the ball with enough speed
• Attaching the cylinder to a lever gave much better results
• A selection of cylinders are on their way from Bimba for further testing

Electrical

• Emily and I removed unnecessary components from the electronics board on the Monster
• The Monster is now ready for programmers to begin working with encoders, and can be swapped over the the prototype drivetrain

Programming

• Software is installed on Terrence (our Classmate PC) and the FIRST desktop

Field Construction

• James and I have completed a ~4ft wide section of ramp
• The goal is currently a work in progress
• All of the parts for the tower and goal should have arrived from McMaster-Carr
• Arkady may be able to get us some free carpet for the ramp. It's not quite FIRST spec, but it's free
• Any mentors who can come in this week to work on field components are encouraged to