Work Backwards To Go Forwards

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

-Soren Kierkegaard

New YouTube video is up!

Prototype Robot - Haaaaaaapper and Loader

There was a lot of paperwork to be done at the beginning of the meeting today. We filled out purchase orders for many different items. Mostly team swag (wristbands, lanyards, etc.) and robot parts. This year, we want to build an entirely new robot while also keeping our prototype intact for testing and practice in between box up day and our Regional. We did A TON of fundraising this fall and have really opened up our presence to our sponsors (thus larger donations). This means we finally have the funds to do a full prototype robot and a real competition bot. At any rate, deciding what to buy and ordering all the parts is a major annoyance but worth it.

We also used up all of our FIRST Choice points. We spent most of them on pneumatics system parts. We are using pneumatics for the first time on our robot this year. They were always a mystery to us until we spent a bunch of time last spring and this fall playing around with them. Takes time to get used to all the different components of robotics...

Jade and Kacy kept working on Business Plan refinements. We keep thinking we're done when we find some other area to tweak. This time, we are changing the Executive Summary to a "bullet point format" as opposed to a paragraph form. At least for now... 

Dalton's dad is AWESOME and came in to help us get started on putting the Pyramid together. We got the bottom and middle rung done. Last step is getting the top together. Pretty excited to see it finish and practice hanging!!

Jesse started doing Chairman's video interviews. Look great so far!

Carson made a poster for our Pizza Selling fundraiser. It's awesome. Can't wait to share it. 

The build team worked on a couple of projects. First off, our hopper idea is kind of brilliant and very cost effective. We used a 5 gallon bucket. Cheap and easy to attach. This way, we can hold our 4 frisbees securely. We also put on a cylinder to load the frisbees into our shooter. 

We are definitely "building backwards" this year. By that we mean, working on each component individually and making each of them work as we go along. Last year, we built separately and then had to work hard to integrate each system. This year we started with the shooter and worked backwards to feeding. David, Miranda, Molly, Bryce, and some others did a great job on the loader and hopper. 

Big goals for tomorrow: finish Executive Summary changes, build a feeder ramp, pick up a frisbee, and finish pyramid. Busy day planned!