Week 2

Over the week, we worked on the robot and it got significantly closer to being finished. We made the upper part of the robot, as well as a place to hold our electronics board.

Building the Robot - January 12, 14, 16, and 17, 2009

We kept on working in our perspective groups. Except the build team focused on working on the collector, and the frame for the top part of the robot. This involved eight posts that were almost 4' 6" tall. Four were for holding the electronics board, and the shooters. Two were for holding the rollers, so they would stay in place, yet be able to rotate. Two were for the 1/8th lexan, which would give the collector a compression on the orbit balls to make for good grip. When we saw how effective the rollers could be, we immediately started to make ten, enough to go up the entire collector posts. We did this by putting blue pool noodles around a 1" PVC pipe, wrapping them with shelf liner, and tied the package tight with standard blue and clear zip ties. Also, we finished the construction of two trailers, one for the robot to be attached to, and one to practice shooting orbit balls into.

In the middle of the week, we moved from the physics room to the architecture room. This was because the physics room did not have a proper place to store a robot that was 28" x 38" x 60", and the architecture room did. Also, the architecture room had more floor area where we could work on the robot. Both were very good reasons to move, and we will use this room for years to come.

Next, the electronics team finalized the electronics board. It was made on 1/4th inch lexan, and has a spot for the battery to go, as well as a place for the gear boxes to sit on. The places were needed because we made a table for the electronics board and the gear boxes to sit. It was placed 10" off of the floor to allow for orbit balls to go under the electronics board. And, more importantly, this allowed the robot to have a stable to place the electronics board that wouldn't impede on its ability to get balls to the back of the robot. An example of week 2's robot in action can be seen here.

While the electronics team was working on the electronics table, the build team made the first shooter. It uses a CIM motor to turn the axle to ensure that the shooter will be able to have a high speed, and relatively high torque. At the end of the week, we had a working, but not attached shooter. We took a video of our progress.

Go to week 1 - Return to the 2009 build page - Go to week 3