Team Three/Journal

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Contents

January 3rd: Where everything started


  • Day one. Team is ready. Team is willing to show off... but uORC is not.
  • After assembling the pegbot and linking the (fancy) eeePC to our PC via the bot client, we encountered a serious problem. The uORC would not respond because of firmware.
  • Good news : the same program works on a previous version of the uORC (all our work is not vain !)
  • Final positive event : we tore down the webcam in order to get the essential (the printed circuit) and it still works.



January 4th: The grand design


  • Day two. Met in the morning, discussed the game. We have a plan: watermill+waterpark slides+catapult style robots with layers, just like an onion (or a cake).
  • After the group interview, we put all our sensors together and tested them. Everything works! We are on a roll.
  • What's next? CADed most of the components we have already today and will finish the robot architecture tomorrow.



January 5th: The grand design part II


  • CADing more stuff and started vision code



January 6th: The all seeing eye


  • Yesterday involved much work, and we were all to tired to journal.
  • Video code and Cinnamon Toast Crunch abounds, and we are recognizing objects and taking names. (Of the objects)
  • With the rest of tonight we'll be wrapping up the PID controller using the quad encoders -- so far seems good. Tomorrow during the day, we will combine this with the camera error and be ready to win Mock 1.



January 7th: The puppy


  • Some camera/PID communication code went slightly kaput at the last minute, so we took the less elegant approach of not using PID for Checkpoint 5. We still completed it just fine, found balls, etc -- and noted that the robot looked like a puppy chasing balls.
  • Everybody is still helping out with the CAD design, which is looking more and more like a finished product. Where to put the laptop, though?
  • Some people will be working on finishing the CAD and fabricating the robot, while some are working on making the pegbot able to score some goals to win pizza at Mock 1.



January 8th - 13th: Race to Mock 2


  • Audren and Faye are working around the clock to finish the robot from their CAD models. Looks like it will be done just in time for tonight's coding session.
  • Jamie is coding up a storm -- PID, wall detecting, ball finding -- all a piece of cake.
  • Chances at winning Mock 2 without a properly tested robot are small, but we might be able to pull it off.




January 13thpm - 14tham: Race to Mock 2: Part II


  • Coding happened all night long, and a lot got done, but there are still some screw-ups, along with the finished robot product being different from the testing platform
  • After debugging some crashing into wall behavior for quite some time, it was found that a wheel was loose. Hard to avoid walls with a loose wheel; that's what I always say.
  • Robot completion is nearing in the AM. For Mock 2 we will not be able to score over the yellow wall, however we plan to use our incomplete robot to score in regular goals. Retrofitting of a makeshift arm+servo mechanism is underway, and could be promising.
  • A Mock 2 victory is looking very distant at the moment. However, unlike Mock 1, it is a possibility.



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