Packing for the Pack Expo

The team met again today. Our main goals for today were getting the tool boxes ready for our trip to Chicago, getting Murphy also set to travel, and working on some press items.

Bryce, Brandon, Tyler, and Bydlon are taking a very short trip to the Pack Expo in Chicago on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. The Pack Expo is a very large convention at McCormick Place for packing manufacturing companies. Alexandria, MN has a wealth of packing machine manufacturing companies (including the PMMC, one of our biggest local sponsors). Due to their generosity, those 4 team members are being provided a van, gas money, hotel rooms, and a presentation booth for Monday. We are SO EXCITED to be able to share the values of FIRST, the evolution of our team, and the fantastic sponsors we have with the over 100,000 attendees of the Pack Expo.

In preparation for this awesome event, we did a lot of work today. Bydlon picked up the van from Massman (THANK YOU!) that will be driven down. Demian and Alex mounted a cylinder on Murphy just so we could demonstrate our ability to use pneumatics. Miranda and Alicia rewired some of the shooter and conveyor components so we had more shooter power. This was a big process because spike relays are really annoying and hard to get to work. We ended up using a Jag instead. Bryce did a total makeover organization of the toolbox so we bring the right amount of tools and supplies if (when) something goes wrong. Brandon helped with that and continued thinking about a bridge lowerer. Allen tested all the code and made sure we were all set to go at Pack Expo. He also uploaded the next Java Tutorial. At the end of the day, Brandon and Bryce took off the ears and shooter of Murphy so we can fit it into the van.

While all that robot work was going on, up in the computer lab, a lot of work was going on. Kacy worked on a press release about our fundraising experiences last Saturday. Carson made a new banner for this website using our new color scheme and revised logo. It looks great! Taylor and Hadley worked on thank you cards for Elden's and 3M. Tyler started working on making plans for a wooden practice field. This is a HUGE project that will take us all of November to complete.

So it was a big day for the team preparing and working but A LOT was accomplished. Great work! Pack Expo will be so much fun!

Keep your eyes on our Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and this blog for updates from Chicago!!

Goofing Off

Some of the team members met today after school. We did not have a ton to do.

The build team took off the back chains and tried moving around our crazy wheel arrangement. It didn't really help but at least we tried.

Allen from the programming team started making Java tutorials. You can view the first one here and the second video here.

Gabe worked on a script for the Chairman's Award. We made a presentation for our trip to Massman Automation Designs.

Everyone who was at the meeting went up into the computer at some point. We made a Gmail Chat and goofed off in there. Eventually, Gabe and Allen worked together to make this happen. Please click that link and laugh. That's our head coach's face repeated. So funny.

Sometimes it's good to just have a pseudo day off. We worked hard on Saturday at fundraisers and have a presentation on Tuesday.

Light as Air

The team met today to work on some random projects. The most exciting development was that we put the camera on Murphy and drove it around. You can check out the video here.

Build Team worked on putting pneumatics onto Murphy. After getting pneumatics to work on Rover, we transferred them over to Murphy so we can use them to lower the bridge. Pneumatics is just like hydraulics but with air as the fluid.

We also sent out an email for the Fargo Kickoff. We will host and set up some workshops after the Kickoff.

Allen taught Bydlon and Bryce some basic Java programming ideas.

The rest of the day was spent playing around with weird picture techniques. Not a very productive day but Wednesday was super awesome so it was ok that we sort of took a day off. 

Electrifying Results

The team worked on lots of different projects today. Bryce, Bydlon, and Miranda worked on Murphy's electrical board. Brandon and Tyler worked on Rover's pneumatics. Carson created more posters. Taylor worked on apparel. Kacy researched more PR activities. Allen and Dalton worked on image processing for the camera. Our overriding goal for October and November is to get everyone (especially new people) around to each different mini-team so they can make an informed decision about what they would like to do.

Bryce, Bydlon, and Miranda worked on the Electrical Board on Murphy. When we originally designed the electrical board, we decided to do a "stack" which turned out to be a really poor decision. It left us no room to work and was always a complete mess. But you learn from your mistakes, and this time we are making a really wide open, spread out electrical board. We made a stand for the cRio near the back of the robot, next to the conveyor. The victors were put on stands above the wheels to side of where the original electrical board was. Miranda, Molly, and Hadley went to Alex Tech to make the stands for the victors and cRio which was a huge help. We twisted the wires for the Victor fans which looks really cool and clean. Now, the only items in the actually middle of the robot are the Power Board and Digital Side Car. It looks much cleaner. All that's left to finish it is wiring all the victors up, mounting the router, and the battery. Then we're done! We should finish by next week.

Brandon and our college mentor, Tyler, worked on pneumatics. Pneumatics is using air pressure to control cylinders. Our team does not have a ton of experience in this area so having a mentor like Tyler around to help is a really great thing. Our plan is to put pneumatics on Rover for the time being. We just want to give everyone experience with programming, wiring up, and mounting pneumatics equipment. Brandon and Tyler got an idea on what to do the next steps are turning that idea in a reality.

Up in the computer lab by the shop, lots of activity was happening. Kacy made task lists for everyone so they knew what they needed to accomplish. She also looked through some presentations by other teams. Taylor researched some new "swag" items or apparel for the team. During the Regional, teams pass out items to other teams to advertise. We could also use the swag items to advertise in our community as well. Carson made another really nice poster for the Bydlon Beard Off, our team fundraiser in November. Gabe watched a bunch of Chairman's Award videos and took notes on what he liked and didn't like from each video. He also made a list of shots and other things he will need to do.

Allen and Dalton worked on the vision processing component of the programming. Eventually, we want our robot to automatically adjust depending on how far away it is from the hoops. They can do this with our camera and Java programming. They also worked on Kinect programming as well.

Parade Projects Completed

The team started and finished a wide variety of projects today. From the float to programming to building small parts, the team had the usual fun attitude and hard work ethic it takes to accomplish our goals.

Bydlon volunteered for some games during the school's Pep Fest today. So he was covered in chocolate sauce and whipped cream when the team met. He went home to change. While that happened, Kacy and Carson went to get more duct tape and tissue paper to finish the float. Then, they proceeded to cut the tissue paper and streamers to fit on the float. It was a tedious but necessary job.

Alicia, Taylor, Brandon, Gabe, Jesse, Kacy, and Carson worked really hard on the float today. Kacy and Carson taped up all the streamers along the bottom of it. Kacy also decorated the chair that Molly will be sitting in. Alicia, Brandon, and Taylor especially worked super hard on the tissue paper stuffing today. Luckily, more hands make less work. We finished the float and it looks so good!! This paragraph seems really short considering how long they worked, but it was a very repetitive process. GREAT WORK EVERYONE!

Allen worked on many different programming issues. The biggest and coolest project he finished was that we can drive both our robots with a wireless xbox controller!!! AWESOME! This is convenient for Murphy especially. We will use this in the parade tomorrow. Also, with Bydlon's help, Murphy is now wireless too which is good. Allen fixed a bunch of issues with programming. Murphy is done in Java, Rover is less sensitive and thus safer to drive. Allen did fantastic work today. So much progress!

Bryce, Brandon, and Bydlon worked on a bunch of random projects. The first one was to secure the laptop stand to the harness. Zip ties came in handy (they are the duct tape of Robotics). The steel rods we made yesterday worked exactly like we planned. The harness didn't stop there... Brandon, Bryce, Allen, and Bydlon worked together to make a stand for the xbox controller. IT LOOKS SO COOL! Check out this YouTube video to see it in action. Brandon and Bryce put a basketball hoop on the back of the trailer for the parade. They also hung up the flag. A project that Bryce and Bydlon worked on was a tower for Rover. We are going to network wire up the robots tomorrow to prevent interference. Because Rover can spin and stuff, the wire gets complicated. So we built a tower to keep the wire under control.

After working so hard and accomplishing so much, the team needed to unwind. So we all played Rock Band for a couple hours. Super fun and good team building. Can't wait for the parade tomorrow!! Team members report at 11am to the back of JHS. Everyone else, watch us in the parade starting at noon!

Float-ing On Air

Today was, yet again, spent preparing for the Homecoming Parade. The parade is Saturday at Noon on Broadway in Alexandria, MN. Come check it out!! The team accomplished so much today!! Wow! Click on any picture to see a large version.

As usual, the team met in Bydlon's room to begin. We discussed our ideas for a West Central MN FRC Get Together. We would like to host many of our other regional teams to gain more knowledge and make some bonds with teams close by. Then everyone learned their jobs for the day.

Molly and Bryce went to Menard's to buy plywood for the "stage" on our float. Rover will be on the float with Molly and we want everyone to see Rover so we made a stage out of chip board and palettes. Brandon and Bryce worked on making the whole stage. It looks great! Molly and Bryce also picked up some steel rod to make a harness for our drive station. Molly took it over to Alex Tech and they made the steel rods into mounting brackets. Look Ma, NO HANDS!

Allen was alone today programming but made a TON of progress. Gabe brought in an XBox controller for Allen to start programming with. It will replace the joysticks we have used in the past. Allen also worked on the programming for Murphy (Rover programming is complete in JAVA). He got the drive train working and the fly wheel. Spike relays were causing problems so Bydlon switched the conveyor into a Victor controller. And it worked! Allen even got the fly wheel and conveyor speed to be adjustable. WOW! Great job Allen!

Kacy, Alicia, Taylor, Gabe, Vincent, and Carson worked insanely hard on getting the trailer transformed into a float for the parade. THEY DID SUCH AN AWESOME JOB! It is incredibly tedious work putting all the tissue paper into the chicken wire and streamers on the trailer. But they had a positive attitude and worked hard. Bydlon tried to help with the tissue paper but didn't do a very good job. Oops. The decorations look soooo good! All that's left is the other side of the trailer and we are done. Kacy worked on the back ramp part of the trailer. It looks great too!

Eddie and Jesse worked on making Rover all pretty. They hid the nasty wires that were cluttered all over the top of it. Black wire covers are awesome.

The team worked so hard today and did such a fantastic job. Our float is going to kick everyone else's float out of the water!

Perfect Parade Preparation

The team spent the entire meeting time today working on different aspects of the Homecoming Parade which happens on SATURDAY at NOON in Alexandria. Be sure to come out and see our float and robots!

The team started the meeting in Bydlon's room. We assigned jobs for the parade which is really good. Everyone has a job and knows what that job is. We will meet at the back of JHS on Saturday at 11am to load up the trailer.

Taylor, Alicia, Kacy, and Carson all went out and about to get decorations for the trailer. They visited a bunch of different stores to compare prices and find the exact decorations we need. They got streamers for the bottom of the trailer, tissue paper to decorate the chicken wire which will go on the sides, and duct tape to attach different other things.

Brandon and Bryce worked on getting Murphy (our basketball shooting robot) in working condition. They did some tune ups and made everything secure. Bydlon uploaded the code to the cRio so Murphy is all set to go for Saturday! We will be shooting basketballs the entire parade route.

Allen and Dalton continued working on fixing the bugs in the Rover code. They are rewriting the code in Java  which is a new language for the team but old hat for them. It was really awesome seeing them work together to fix everything and get Rover going. It works just like it used to (or better even). Really great job by those two. Next up, rewriting the Murphy code.

Eddie, Molly, and Tyler worked on getting the uneven, bad lifts off the robot cart. They made the cart drive weird. We are going to push the cart the entire parade route so we need the cart in top condition. The three of them did a great job.

Gabe wrote up a half sheet of information for people to hand out along the route. It lists some small details of the competition and all of our team contact information.

We will also meet Thursday and Friday after school to continue getting ready for the parade. It will be super fun! and we are soooo excited to continue spreading our community involvement!!