Today we got back from winter break and we talked about semester one finals. It turns out that two groups won the final from our class, the only two that had physical bridges that matched their CADs. Neither of the winners' bridges we suspension bridges, thats why two groups won, my group and another group. After that we received the letter from 4th period to us and it was less harsh than ours to them. After that we began trying to organize our websites to get them ready for our second semester sites, but we didn't get far. We will continue doing this tomorrow. On another note, two days from now is the release of this year's FIRST Robotics Competition, Stronghold, so I am excited for that.
Today Neato talked to us about civil engineering for about half the class and he showed us some photos along with it, some just looked cool. He showed us a really cool bridge that was a river bridge, for boats, that goes over another river. It was just really cool, you can see it in the photo below of it. Then we went to work at getting our websites organized. We mainly focused on compressing photos and getting them in the right places for website operation. It was a normal day, but I was cold.
Today we watched this year's FIRST Robotics Competition game video for Stronghold, linked down below. We discussed this for a little while and then we moved onto sketch-up. Joey showed the class how to use the move tool and how not to use the move tool. I'm glad that other people are showing the class new tools and not me, it spices up the class. We then exported a photo of it to put onto our websites later. Mine is down below.
Today we sang happy birthday to Neato and then we did website stuff. Joey showed the class how to compress and resize photos to make their website load faster, the smaller the file, the quicker to load. We talked about this for all of the class just to get us up to speed and ready for our second semester websites, this time, they will be more organized. I have already done this because if I hadn't, you wouldn't be reading this. Other than that, it was a slow day, nothing much happened since it was a banking day. On another note, robotics is going well, but slow. This game is far more interesting than last year's, but it is also far more challenging. Right now we are figuring out how many things a bot can do and we are narrowing down the list to things that we want our bot to actually do. After we get a solid list of functions for our bot, we will start bringing up concepts and from those concepts we will vote on a winner, refine the design, refine the design again, then build it. It sounds simple, but its not, it takes a while and wraping our heads around the aspects of the bot is complicated, not to mention making a CAD that everyone agrees on and does what we want. At least this year field crew has a lot to do.
Today Neato introduced the prospect of making our own skate boards to the class. He told us how last year he was nervous about telling the admins about these boards, fearing that he wouldn't be allowed to because they are not allowed on campus and that they are dangerous. Over the summer he brought the topic up at a meeting and his comment was met with many a "that's so awesome!" and "well every friday in the fall we watch football games where a main part of it is running into each other and their heads". So now he is supported by the admins and he hopes that in the future there will be a skateboardictorian, a person who stands by the valedictorian for being the best at designing, building, painting, and riding (well) their skate board. After this conversation, Neato told us that we would be doing the 1 foot cardboard square wednesday challenge where we were to with a partner, make a 1 foot by 1 foot, 2 dimensional cardboard square as accurately as possible with a blank piece of cardboard, a box cutter, and a measuring tool. The pair with the most accurate square wins. I was paired with Nick G and we made our square. After construction we got our laptops and started on our wednesday challenge forms.
1 Foot Cardboard Square Wednesday Challenge FormToday Neato told us that we are going to be focusing on things that roll by first making a cardboard car. He also told us that Keilah and Alvin won the wednesday challenge and how he graded the squares to find the most accurate one. We then did more on websites with the help of Sako. I was bored so I continued work on my concept handcannon model that I have been working on for a while now. I originally started the design last robotics build season, but I quickly stopped because the robot was more important. I picked it back up today with a rough sketch of what I want it to look like from the side in hand. I won't get into the specifics now but when the model is done and I have finalized the perks and stats, I will reveal the handcannon here (and yes, I don't have a name for it yet).
Today we mostly updated our websites for the period, but at one point, we lost power to the whole school. I wasn't very present in the class because I was in the shop, working my ass off to make a concept design CAD for the robotics team. My design is kind of complex, but it makes sense to me. Basically it is a fusion of -02 and Melmen on steroids with a wedge thing on the front to lift the portcullis. Below is a few photos of what my design can do just to give you an idea of what it looks like. The sliders on the front are pulled back originally to fit in the Frame Perimeter which then extend to fit under the portcullis. The wedge shape pushes the portcullis up and over us. The arm on the back exists to hook over the Sally port but not the drawbridge. The slope in the front pushes the Chival de Fris down so that we can go over it (This gap is big enough to fit a boulder. Just imagine that the pneumatic cylander for the arm follows the arm as it moves).
Today Neato introduced us to our first car project, a cardboard car that is made out of cardboard, straws, and wood glue that can fit into a volume of 3" by 4" by 5". Many people just got up and started cutting, but a few people made a CAD first. I was one of those people. My Hand cannon is coming along nicely, but its still not finished. In robotics we decided to go with a design that is a more logical branch off of my original design. It's basically a box that has a square bar arm out front that gets underneath the portcullis that, when lifted, becomes flush with the top so that the door slides right over it. It also has a bar that is attached to the bar arm which can kick a boulder out into the low goal. Below is a photo of that design.
Today we did the 2016 FRC Handout Wednesday Challenge where we were to think of an idea for a handout that we will give out at competition this year. The requirements are as follows: 1: It must be cool. 2: Must say 589 somewhere 3: It must be cheap, less than $0.50 each. 4: Be able to be made in our shop. 5: Be able to make at least 400, 200 per regional. Optional 6: It represents the game. The last one is optional because we can make a handout that doesn't represent the game just as easily as a handout that does represent the game. Cole, Ian, Keilah, and I came up with the idea of a card game that is like the competition game. Each person gets a pack of 4 cards, 1 random robot, 2 random defences, and a rule card. Linked below are a few things that explain the game and their price break down, along with a photo that shows the potential card design. So look at those for details on our idea and to get a feel for what we are trying to get at. The cards are randomized so that no two people get the same thing, some people get rare cards and others get less rare cards. This encourages trading and therefore promotes our team.
Card Game Price Break Down
Today we presented our ideas to the class for yesterday's wednesday challenge since none of us presented yesterday. We didn't get through all of the groups today so tomorrow we will finish with those. Not much occured today other than the challenge, I didn't have time to work on my hand cannon, but that's ok, it's not a priority right now. As of right now it looks pretty cool and I really like my progress. When its done and I have 3D printed it and I have had it for a while, I am going to email Bungie, the creators of Destiny, and show them my hand cannon. I have already mapped out all of the perks so all I need to do is finish the CAD. Hey, maybe one day you will see the Memento Mori Exotic Hand Cannon in Destiny. Yes, I have come up with the name "Memento Mori" for the hand cannon. Memento Mori means "remember that you can die", a very fitting name for a very deadly hand cannon.
Today we finished up the presentations for the wednesday challenge and then we voted on the idea that we liked the most. Since groups couldn't vote for their own ideas, the drawing was more fair. The end result was that our idea, the card game, won by popular vote. All we need to do is wait for the 589 electoral vote to come in. Last night during the robotics meeting I put the color scheme that I liked best onto the Memento Mori which I tease in the photo below. From this what do you think the Memento Mori looks like? What could this photo mean!? WHAT IS THE DEAL!!?? All these questions will be answered soon, all you need is patience... and time. Other than that, today is the end of week 2 of the robotics build season and therefore I am staying in the robotics room for 8 and a half hours again.
Today we worked on our first cardboard cars, the ones that must fit into a 3" by 4" by 8" volume, and mine is coming along swimmingly. Mine is so simple that I made the CAD the first day we worked, and today I fabed about 90% of the dang thing. This is a revamp of my cardboard car from last year but this time I have perfected the design. The axles turn smoothly but I am concerned that the car will not have enough mass to get going and keep going. Other than that I have no concerns for the car. On the topic of robotics, the CAD is... well... interesting at best. It's a very annoying process that is a difficult balancing act between length and width to fit in the 120" perimeter. The problem comes from the drive system. If we make the bot long enough to equal Melman's drive system, the center gap becomes too small to fit the 10" diameter boulder. But, if we widen the bot to fit the boulder, the length becomes too scrunched to make a possible drive system. This was our predicament last saturday and the CADers worked on the bot after the meeting and on sunday so I have no idea how the CAD looks now and how close we are to completing it. Thats all for tonights meeting.
Today we just worked on our cardboard cars for the whole period. Mine is basically finished, I just need to make the final tweaks to the axle gap to lessen the friction on the axles themselves. I might need to remake a wheel or two but I have time to do that later. On the subject of the Memento Mori, I have basically finished the CAD in the aspects of design so all I need to do is design it to be able to reload completely when I 3D print it. I am not going to reveal it yet, but the time is coming. On the subject of robotics, the CAD is just... UGHHH. Our deadlines our coming close and the mentors just keep wanting us to change it. The final chasis CAD is supposed to be done by tonight, the final special function CAD done by friday, and the WHOLE CAD done by thursday, 2/4/16. There is going to be a lot of all nighters ahead for Daniel, Noah, and a few others.
Today we did a wednesday challenge where we were to make something out of 10 post-it notes that can roll down the ramp in the shop as far as possible. All 10 notes must be used, unless you are an all veterens group, they only get 1, and the group that rolls the farthest wins. My group didn't win, Ian, Cole, Keilah, and Alvin won with some distance that I don't care about. They only used one note which, in my opinion, was easier, but all the other groups had to use all 10. This is going to be a short entry because I am too angry to say anything else. No, I am not angry about losing, I don't care about that, its the fact that I spent over 30 minutes writing an email to a few mentors in robotics about a project I am doing for them, just to have me press send, tell me it sent, and in actuality, it didn't send. So now I have to write it again, but angry, and forgeting what I wrote.
Rolling Post-It Note Wednesday Challenge FormToday we either worked on our websites or worked on our cardboard cars. We are going to do the same thing tomorrow and both days combined only add up to day 4 of our car build time. Also, I took the time out and made my concept for this year's robotics competition in autodesk, shown in the photo below. But take a good look at the photo and you will know that something is wrong. What could it be? The model? The window? WHAT? Well I will tell you. In sketch-up, I figured out how to make normal, less professional sketch-up files look far more professional and like autodesk files. All I had to do after I screen-caped the model was to throw it into word (yes I do my editing of photos in word, like my revamped logo at the top of my site.) find a blank screen-cap of and autodesk inventor file, and mush the two together. I was chuckling maniacally the whole time. So thats all I did today, I'm not going to say how to make sketch-up look like that because getting rid of the edges makes moving things quite a pain.
Today we did the exact same thing as yesterday and since my car is done and updating my website is easy, I had nothing to do. So I went to the back of the class with Cole, Ian, and Tyler and talked with them the whole class. It was a fun time and it just added to my already good day. All that is left to do today is the total of 8 and a half hours in robotics straight! Yay! Sorry this is a short entry, nothing much happened today that needed reporting, Memento Mori is basically done and I have no other projects on my plate so, yeah.
Today we learned about the rotate tool and how to use it in sketch-up. I showed the class what they needed to know and then Neato told everyone to make a model of a stack of 6 jenga blocks that are rotated in different ways. After this Neato told the class that we needed to put our b-day stuff back into his website since the old data base got wipped. Nearing the end of the period, Ian, Tyler, Cole, Keilah, and I went to the back table to attempt to put together one of Neato's puzzles that his father had. We think that there was more than 10 of the same puzzle and a few other puzzles thrown in, resulting in our complete confusion. We tried to do something with the parts we were given but in the end, we had no idea what we were supposed to do and what the pieces were supposed to form.
Today we completed our last day of cardboard car building and many people tested their designs in the shop. Cole was the over watch and, since I finished my car on day 2, I was in the shop "testing" it. I was suprised at how many cars actually made it all the way to the bottom of the ramp. However, very few of those cars made it down repeatably. Since I have experience with these cars, mine is a prefected version of my cardboard car from last year. It is very repeatable and very simple, two things that Mr. Wilton loves to have in the same project. There is a twist though, if multiple people make it all the way down the ramp for all three times, the tie breaker is a gate that is placed at the bottom of the ramp. The gap is 5" by 5" so the cars must be accurate to make it through it. A lot of people are suprised that their car made it to the bottom, so getting their cars through the small gate is going to be a challenge for them.
Today we did the reinventing the 2016 handout wednesday challenge where we were to build on the winners ideas for the last itteration of this challenge. The redo should be the castle in some way shape or form which can then be edited to whatever the group wants. Joey, Sam M, Cole, and I were the judges so we just had to judge, obviously. The groups are going to present tomorrow so right now I don't know any results yet.
Reinventing the 2016 Handout Wednesday Challenge FormToday the wednesday challenge groups from yesterday presented their ideas to the class. There was a lot of interesting ones but the one that idea that won based on points was from Logan's group, the candy shooter. The idea that won the Judges' award was from Ian's group, the upgraded card game. The full results will be or are on Joey's site based on when you are reading this. This took the whole class period so car racing did not happen today, but it will most likely occur tomorrow. On another note, the FAB team got 4 drawings for the final robot chassis today, signed and handed to Mr. Miller by me since I am in charge of the CAD drawings. Friday is bound to be a great day.
Today we raced our cardboard cars down the ramp in the shop. Each person got 3 tries to get their car to go as far down the ramp as possible. These tries were not consecutive, each person raced their cars down the ramp once until we got through the whole class, then we started again, giving each person time for a pit stop. I don't know who is winning right now since not everyone got to go 3 times today, so those people will race on tuesday and the results will be shown either at the end of the day or on wednesday. I am just now realizing as I am typing this that I unintentionally wore the greatest and most fitting shirt for the day, my SRL shirt. If you don't know what SRL is it stands for Sparrow Racing League, an event that has passed in Destiny. Down below are a couple photos of my car, CAD and real. I wanted to put a video I took of Xanthe's third run here as well, but that isn't going to work, sadly. (Yes, I did make my CAD look exactly like my real car)
Today we had a sub. We looked at grades first with Cole leading and he said that all the people that got less than a 7.0 needed to go to the back of the room with the website helpers to see what was wrong with their site and so on. Other than that, I almost had a heart attack bacause my computer was acting weird. First, it installed 15 updates when I turned it on, a normal thing to do. Then, when it restarted, on the normal "Starting Windows" screen, it installed a bunch of update things, 54419 I think, then restarted again. After that, it went to the usual "Please Wait" loading screen where it said "Preparing to Configure Windows", which changed to "Installing Windows Updates" and gave me a percentage, followed by another restart. Finally, it went to the normal "Please Wait" loading screen where it said "Preparing to Configure Windows" again, then finally allowing me to sign in and make sure that ALL of my content is backed up on my flash drive. It really scared me, but in the end it was fine. In robotics, according to Daniel, the CAD or at least the parts that FAB can create, is done as of yesterday. The CAD is not completely done, because the CAD's never done, but at least now I can make drawings and send them all to FAB. The programers may finally get the week they have been asking for for years. Not on the topic of robotics or school in general, last Sunday my dad and I went for a trail mountain bike ride up the Arroyo behind JPL. We rode all the way up to the dam, the end of the trail, and then we rode back down. On the way back down the trail, my dad followed behind me with his new GoPro, filming my first real down hill trail ride. Since it filmed in 1080p at 60fps, the video got split up into 4 parts, the first 3 being around 12 minutes long and the last one being only 1 minute. So the whole down hill ride took about 37 minutes and the up hill climb took about 1 hour and 11 minutes, resulting in a total ride time of 1:48:22 where we rode 9.5 miles and gained 656 feet. I know this because of a handy little app called Strava that tracks your location, making a map of your ride/hike and telling you your stats. I wanted to put the GoPro video here so that people who are interested could see my ride, but the file is too big, over 12GB, and I don't think Neato wants a 12GB video on my site. If I can find a way to render down the video and make it a more reasonable size it may show up here, but for now you will have to settle for some photos. The first photo is of the dam we stopped at, the second is of my dad and our bikes, and the last one is of my bike at the end of the ride. The link is to the details of our ride on Strava, the map of where we went, and all that stuff.
Today we did a wednesday challenge where we were to think of an easier way to prop open the two back doors to the class. Currently, Neato and Mrs. Martos have to bend down and monkey with the door clasp to keep it open and to release it so that it can be closed. This is a pain, so Neato and Mrs. Martos want to replace it, our job is to think of ideas about how to do that. I am with Cole, Alvin, and Keilah, but nobody presented today. I assume we will go tomorrow along with everyone else. I won't explain our idea yet since some groups will look here for last minute designs tomorrow, and we don't want that to happen, do we. All I will say is that our design is simple, thats it.
Fix the "Unintelligent" Door Lock Wednesday Challenge FormToday all the groups from yesterday's wednesday challenge presented their ideas. In my group, we decided to go with a simple double eyebolt and hook system that has one eyebolt attached to the wall, one eyebolt attached to the door, with a hook on one of the eyebolts that hooks the two eyebolts together. When the door is opened, all that is needed is for the opener to hook the hook over the receiving eyebolt. Cole has the CAD so I'm not going to go through the trouble of making another one, so look on his site for the model, maybe, I don't know, he may not have put it up. We decided not to go with my original design not because it was bad, but because we would have to make the whole thing from scratch since I couldn't find one on the internet. Since I took the time to make the CAD I will show it here. It is basically two C ring things that overlap so that when the handle is pushed into the mechanism, it closes around the handle, causing the two rings' holes to line up so that a bolt can be slid through it and lock it in place. One of the C rings is red so that you can see the movement of the rings. Also, today, LIGO, a project that has taken 25 years which started with Einstein, successfully detected and recorded gravitational waves. I won't explain it because it's really complex, so I will just put a link to the video down below.
Today Neato showed us the LIGO discovery video that I talked about yesterday and created a link to aswell. I will go over it again briefly, on September 14th of 2014, the massive LIGO sensor detected gravitational waves that radiated from the collision of two binary black holes that collided billions of years ago. On Tuesday the 9th, 2015, The National Science Foundation revealed this discovery to the public. So Neato had us watch a portion of the video and do an observation form on it which is linked below. I just find it really awesome but really, REALLY weird that Einstien was right about another one of his theories, AGAIN. I honestly think that he was a time traveler or an alien. Also, a very special, very cool thing is arriving at my house today that I think JOEY BROWN! will appreciate. I'll give you a hint to what it is, I will use it tomorrow between 8:30 AM and 12:40 PM. Can you guess what it is? Also (This is the last one), I modified the color scheme of my logo so that I can have it printed onto a shirt, you may have already seen it at the top of my site. The one that I am going to put onto the shirt will not have the shadow on it, it will be plain. The idea was to make the color scheme look more like the color scheme of my Suros shirt from Destiny. I really wanted to make my logo into a shirt but its original color scheme was boring on a shirt, the whole thing being white except for the logo on the front. So thats why I reorganized the color scheme, to look better on a shirt.
LIGO's Discovery of Gravitational Waves Observation Form
Today we finished racing cardboard cars in the shop for the people who didn't finish racing the last time we raced. Only a few people need to finish racing so that didn't take very long. Before this, the people in the class who are in the robotics club updated the class on their progress where we showed the painted chassis and the painted idler plates. The chassis is a glossy 589 blue and the idler plates are matte black. We also painted the electronics board matte black. We did all of the painting yesterday, Sam, Cole, Josh K, and I painted the chassis, Angela painted the electronics board, and I am assuming Sam and Cole painted the idler plates but I do not know, I had to leave the meeting an hour early. As of right now, the whole bot looks amazing, straight up. We haven't painted a bot in 15 years, the first and only bot to be painted and win the competition was 2001, the first robot 589 made, until this year. -01 wasn't even made in the robotics room, it was made it Mr. Saw's room and tested in the hallway. -01's motors are not even official, they are power drills! So I have high hopes for this year's competition, not just because we have the luck of the paint on our side, but because I have a feeling that it will go well, and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this feeling. At the very end of the class, Neato told us that very soon we will be starting the "quest line" for our skateboards. I say "quest line" because there is a lot of steps that lead up to the final skateboard, the cardboard cars were the very first step. I'm probably going to bring my skateboard into class to show as an example, but later.
Today we did the Tube Throwing Wednesday Challenge where the class split into two halves. Each person in the group has a tube, not all the tubes are the same. Each person has to throw their tube to the person to their left and successfully catch the tube thrown to them from their right only with their right hand, all at the same time. Each group has to do this three times, the first time everyone is sitting, the second time everyone is standing, and the third time is a little more complex. The third time, each person has to throw their tube to the next person over to their left, skipping the person directly to their left. Each team has to do all three of these stages, one right after another, without dropping a single tube in the entire run to win. If one person drops a single tube on the last stage, the whole team has to start over from stage one. In my group, the first two stages we did facing inwards. For the last stage, we had every other person turn around and throw their tube across someone's back and to their receiver, the second person over. We got the first two stages down but we had a little trouble with the final stage. We were able to complete the final stage a few times, but not in an official run. The other group couldn't do it as well by the time the period ended. So no one won this time. On another note, the CAD in robotics is basically done and when I mean basically done, I mean like 99.7% done. Because of this, I was able to render the CAD last night and make it look pretty so that I can display it here. It ended up looking really cool and I am really happy with the product, enjoy the photo.
Tube Throwing Wednesday Challenge Form
Today Nilesh showed the class the results for the cardboard car race. Daniel won with an average distance of 167.67", Alvin came in second with an average distance of 166.67", and I can in third with an average distance of 165.3". The entire class got an overall average distance of 58.24", a greater distance than period 4. Daniel's car went farther than the farthest in period 4. After this review, Neato told the class that everyone who made a car needs to make a CAD model of their car, an easy job for me since I made one before I even FABed it. The rest of the class was just a catch up day for everyone, since I am up to date, I just refined my original skateboard's CAD to look more like the real one I made last year. I don't know how I want my next skateboard to look, but this one is going to be thinner, much thinner.
Today an alumnus of CV came to talk to us about an entertainment center that he has been working on for a while. This is a center where underaged kids can go and have fun while they are in Vegas and can't go into casinos. I'm not exactly the best person to look at for information on Tyler's visit because I was in the shop for at least half of the class chaining this year's robot. Since there are 4 loops of chain on the bot we were able to chain the front 2 loops, the loops that connect to the motors. The front 2 loops connect the front 4 tires, the left set and the right set. We can't chain the rear 2 loops because of complications with parts that are essential for the chaining, parts that we can't modify until we get the go-ahead from a mentor. We got a battery to test the tensioning and the alignment of the chains, and they worked beautifully. So that's pretty Neat, I just hope that the robot, when it is completed, will work smoothly.
Tyler Martinez Presentation Observation FormToday we updated our sites and did an observation form for Tyler's visit last friday. I was in the shop with Mr. Miller, Cole, and Ian working on shims for the 4 outer wheels of the robot. The problem is that right now, there is not enough difference between the height of the outer tires and the height of the inner tires. Because of this, the robot doesn't rock on the middle tires enough to turn smoothly, resulting in the motor sprocket skipping on the chain. We weren't able to make all of the shims in 5th period so we will have to make them after school at the meeting.
Today we did something in the class, I don't know what because I was in the shop the whole class period preping for the class to see the robot. Before everyone came in to see, Mr. Miller and all of the people in the class that are in the club took the bot to have it weighed. We took it down to the weight room where the scale is and when we put it on the scale, it weighed only 97 pounds, 110 with a battery in it, makeing it far lighter than the maximum of 120 pounds, so that's cool. After we got the measurement we took the bot back to the shop and got ready to drive them around for the class. Along with this year's bot, we drove Melman and -08 on the field. We drove -08 because -08 can lift the portcullis to let a bot through. It seems the every year -08 is usefull in some way, last year it could stack recycle bins on top of totes, this year it can lift the portcullis and score a boulder into the high goal. There are still a few things that we have to do before this year's bot can be bagged and tagged tonight, but I think we can get it done.
Today there was no wednesday challenge because Neato wasn't here so all we did today was work on our sites and make CAD models of our cardboard cards for the people that didn't already make one. I worked on my new skateboard, yes, I am making another one (and then another one next year), and I am still torn between designs for the bottom. This time around I made my skateboard design WITH the wheels in the CAD already so that it doesn't end up massive like my last board. For those of you that don't know what I mean, you will understand when I bring it in to show the class. I'll explain why it is what it is when that day comes. In robotics, Winston was successfully bagged and tagged last night. Winston is this year's bot's name and, for those of you that don't know, Winston is Neato's middle name. Yes, his middle name is Winston, odd, I know. We are going to put our sponsor stickers on the polycarbonate at our first regional in Long Beach, since we didn't have time last night before we bagged and tagged.
Today we started making our second cardboard car that is quite different from the last one. This time, we were all given the same CAD and our goal is to make that car in real life as accurately as possible with the materials that we are given. Its like the 1' by 1' cardboard square wednesday challenge, but the squares are cars. Like that challenge we are graded based on accuracy to the CAD and unlike that challenge, how well it roles down the ramp. The wheels will be provided to us by Neato so we just have to make the rest of the car. The hardest part is not going to be cutting out the panels, but making sure that all of the angles are perfectly 90 degrees when the glue dries. If not, the car will not role straight, so thats pretty important to get right.
Today we continued making our second cardboard car and updated our sites. Since I made all of the drawings for CAD this year, I followed the format that I used on those drawings on the car. It keeps it organized and easy to read so that making the actual parts is easy. Yesterday was when I did all of these drawings, today I drew out the panels on cardboard but I didn't have time to cut them out. Other than that, not much happened that is interesting to talk about, other than after school today I am getting my hair cut.
Today I taught the class about the scaling tool in sketch-up. They were each given a wheel from Neato that was cut out by Jonathan for our second cardboard car. Neato then instructed them to make a model of that wheel with the correct dimensions. This model will then be scaled to the size of that person's first car. I stepped in at this point to show the class the tool and its many freatures. On another note, I learned yesterday via an email from Mrs. Martos that I am on the drive team this year. I am in the group that consists of Daniel (Coach), Sam L (Driver 1), me (Driver 2), and Christian (Human Player). The other group consists of Justin, Cole, Dhruv, and Karan, their roles corresponding to ours. So thats cool, because I am on the drive team, I am on the Thursday inspection team, the group that leaves thursday morning to get the bot inspected, earlier than everyone else. So that will make me miss two full days of school, which is fine.
Today we worked on our second cardboard car and updated our sites. I was in the shop from lunch until about 4:45 creating all of the drawings for this year's robot cart from the ground up. When I mean from the ground up, I mean I created ALL of the drawings from start to finish in that time frame, 12:20 to 4:45. I actually finished all of the drawings at about 3:00 but took until 4:45 to print, revise, sign, and deliver all of them to Cole. So yeah, that was 4 hours and 25 minutes of my day just spend on CAD, so just a normal day for me.
Today we did the E's wednesday challenge again but this time, cardboard is to be the focus of the building. I am not going to explain the rules it great detail AGAIN (look at Wednesday, 12/2/15, Day 74 of last semester's site for that) but I will explain them in layman's terms: One group CADs an E, and then another group FABs that E. I was a little easier to do this time around because I already had my Excel template to work off of, so thats cool, but I still needed help from Logan and Nilesh when it came to getting the CADs and redistributing the laptops. Not everyone completed FABing their E, and I would assume that we will finish it up tomorrow, but I do not know.
E's Again But With Cardboard Wednesday Challenge FormToday we Logan, Nilesh, and I finished grading yesterday's wednesday challenge. Sam and Arthur's CAD and Austin and Michael P's FAB won, meaning that their E was the most accurate compared to the CAD. I you look at the results, you will see that 7 groups are DQ-ed, this is because the CAD that that group made is paper thin when Neato specifically said that this time around, the E's were to be made out of CARDBOARD, a 3D material. Because the material they worked with was 3 dimentional, the CAD of the E needed to be 3 dimentional. Teh end result was that all the teams that made a 2D E were DQ-ed. Other than that, Cole, Ian, and Jessy went into the shop to work on making handouts for next weekend's FRC Regional.
Today we continued work on our second cardboard car and we updated our sites, I did both of these things. Beyond that, tomorrow is the final general robotics meeting and they're going to do stuff like make capes for the drivers and think of strategies for driving. I am on the drive team this year, but I put emphesis on "they're" because I will not be there, I will be taking the SAT, the first of the new SATs to be given out officially. So with these two events I hit a fork in the road that I have no choice in, I have to take the SAT and miss the meeting. Does this mean that I will not get a cape, I don't know, but what I do know is that I have missed and am going to miss EVERY SINGLE DRIVERS TEAM MEETING because of something SAT related. I don't even know how many robotics things my SAT prep class has made me miss and now this? The last meeting?! I don't know, I just hope I get a cape.
Today we went over grades and worked on our websites and cardboard cars. We also watched the finals of the JPL invention challenge which was quite cool to see (It almost gave me PTSD watching it). I wasn't in the room for the class period because I was in the CAD cave printing out ALL of the drawings that were created over the past build season. That in itself took 5th and 6th period to do, but I got it done. I also made an updated render of Winston for Mrs. Martos to put on the front of the CAD binder. The render didn't finish by the time I had to leave and go home, so I just put a do not touch sign on the computer and left it over night. I'll check the render tomorrow and see if it came out good. (Update: Yes it did)
Today we watched the music video of the Wintergatan Marble Machine that I recommended that Neato show to the class. Its a very cool machine that was built by the Swedish group Wintergatan. Basically, the purpose of the machine is to play music through multiple instruments that are played by marbles. It took 14 months to build and it is very cool, it reminds me of Animusic, you know, those really old animations of fantastic machines playing music? No? Just me? Well it was really cool during its time and the Wintergatan music machine reminds me of the song Pipedream from Animusic. Below is the link to the main video and the videos of how the machine works. Nothing much happened today besides this, so nothing interesting to report.
Today we started the Mail a Pringles Potato Chip Wednesday Challenge that is a little different from last year's. The main challenge is still there, to create a design that can protect a Pringles potato chip from being damaged as much as possible while it is sent through the mail. The difference this year is that the groups in period 4 and period 5 make a design for the chip to be mailed in, this stage takes a few days. At the end of this stage, the powerpoints and sketch-ups from the groups in period 4 switch with the groups in period 5, and vice versa. So the groups in period 4 will build period 5's designs and the groups in period 5 will build period 4's designs. Since Nilesh and I are the judges, I let Nilesh make the Excel sheet since I am not going to be here on thursday and friday due to the frc long beach regional. Since I am going to be there and not in class, I am not going to write anything for thursday and friday, you'll have to look else where for what we did on those days.
Mail a Pringles Potato Chip Wednesday Challenge FormFRC Long Beach Regional
FRC Long Beach Regional
This past weekend was the 2016 FRC Long Beach Regional. I was there along with most of team 589 with our robot Winston, the second robot to ever be painted in the history of 589. A small portion of our team, including me, left on thursday morning to finish up Winston, get him past inspection, and get in a few practice matches, a very important time for the drive teams, one of which I am a part of. There was a lot to be done on that thursday but we managed to finish Winston and get in at least 4 practice matches before we all headed to the hotel and met up with the rest of the team that left school at 4:00. The next two days, friday and saturday, were intense. There was never a dull moment, for me at least, since I was on the drive team, because there was always something to do. Be it talking to our alliance partners, changing Winston's bumpers, or actually driving in a match. By the end of the qualification matches, we were ranked 17th out of 66 teams, which is pretty good. Saddly, we didn't get picked for a final alliance and we didn't get any awards, But this is only what happened AT the stadium, the stories of the WHOLE weekend has just begun. First things first, the 2016 thursday shirts are amazing. The design is a funny looking falcon mascot with his head showing with 589 below it, the 8 being a little person. Now you may be asking, Why is this so amazing? Well, I'll tell you. The design was drawn by the amazing and HIGHLY SKILLED artist, Noah Poole. He originally made this design as a joke entry for the actual 2016 589 shirt design. Now the design didn't win, but every person who voted on the shirt they wanted laughed in some way when they saw it. Mrs. Martos, seeing this, decided that since everyone laughed at the design, she would make it the thursday shirt. So there is that out of the way. The next story is about the pool at our hotel, this one will be a little bit shorter. Basically, this pool was so cold that if you didn't have an above average amount of body fat (I'm NOT calling the people who stayed in the pool fat), you couldn't stay in the water for more than 3 minutes without an extreme amount of will power. I managed to stay in the pool for about 7 minutes before I caved, but Tony stayed in the pool for about 30 minutes and was shivering until we went to bed about 5 hours later (Tony and I were in the same room). The next and probably most embarrassing story took place during alliance selection on saturday. This is all the back story you need: we are team 589, at the competition, there was team 5089. This is what happened: Since we were in 17th place we were on the very thin line of not being picked and being picked, so everyone was on edge and hoping for the best. Also, there is a team whose number is 330, they are very good and usually win. Most people say their number as three-thirty, but during alliance selection, the team that picked them said their number as three-three-zero, so we all thought that they were just saying the team numbers weirdly. Here comes the embarrassing part, when team 5089 was asked to join an alliance, it was pronounced fifty-eighty-nine. What most of us heard was fifty-eight-nine, which is 589, and we all started cheering, loudly, for the wrong team, thinking that it was our team; that was not our finest moment. Lastly, VIVA CHILE!!! (Pronounced vive-a-chi-al) Let me explain: First off, there were multiple teams at the competition that were from Chile. During the opening ceremonies, a few members from those teams went up and sang the Chile national anthem. At the end of the anthem, they would yell "VIVA CHILE!" pronounced properly (vee-va-chee-lae). Right before we all got onto the bus to head home, I said viva chile (vee-va-chee-lae) viva chile (vive-a-chi-al), the American way. From the moment I said that, it just took off and everyone started saying viva chile (vive-a-chi-al) while holding up their hands like Spock's 'live long and prosper'. So the whole ride home we were yelling this and having a great time, singing the rick role, aswell as many other songs, the whole way home. It was a great time and I won't forget it, probably because I recorded most of it, All in all, it was a great trip and I can't wait for Orange County. Below is a very cool shot that Brenden took of Winston during one of our matches.
Today the wednesday challenge groups worked more on their chip shipments that need to be done by the end of wednesday. I was a little stressed during lunch so I went into the CAD cave and started making the model of a motor, to calm down (Yes, I calm down by CADing; I know I'm a nerd). When 5th started Nilesh and I went to work distributing models of chip boxes to the groups in 5th. It was pretty simple, but when I was done and wanted to go back into the CAD cave, the shop was closed and left my computer on. So tomorrow I will save and close my computer.
Today the wednesday challenge groups continued work on their boxes that need to be done and ready to be shipped but the end of tomorrow. Nilesh and I ran around and did judgey stuff while the groups worked on their stuff. Two groups recieved their final chip and a photo was taken of the chip in the box as evidence of the chip's condition before it is mailed. The rest of the groups didn't finish, but they must finish tomorrow or they will not be shipped. Thats all for tomorrow though, today is over.
Today we continued the chip challenge and all but one group managed to get their box to us, the judges, by the end of the day. I'm actually impressed the Colin and his group was able to build their soccer ball of a box and get it to me before the end of the day (Colin didn't have a 6th so he stayed and finished it). I have noticed something though, at least 4 of the designs from 4th period look suprisingly like my winning design from last year. It just so happens that during 4th period, my website was not disabled, making my winning design available for all to see. I disabled my site before 5th period that same day, and the designs from that period, my period, were very diverse and not like my design. This leads me to believe that some groups from period 4 looked at my website and copied my design. They didn't have time to get the exact dimentions because the next time they looked, my website was down, so they had to guess at the dimentions based on memory. So next time around, I'm going to ask Neato to inform me in advance of what the challenge is so that I can disable my site before cheating can occur.
Today we did some stuff, updated our sites and the like, but I don't remember what we did because I am writing this in the future, the 29th to be specific, after spring break, so yeah, mind freak.
Out Getting a Pembroke Welsh Corgi!
Today we were shown Neato's revamped P5 matrix and he updated us on what everything means and why the matrix exists. Veterans of the class already have a "red box", which means that they can start on their skateboards now, while non-veterans have to earn their way into a red box via many different standards that they have to meet. I am going to bring in my skateboard I made last year next monday since tomorrow is a wednesday challenge and I am going to be at an FRC regional on thursday and friday. This is to show people a possible result of the skateboard project and to show them what size NOT to make since mine is WAY TOO BIG.
Today we did some sort of wednesday challenge realated to skateboards, but I was in the shop getting ready for Orange County by finishing the modifications to the robot cart while Mrs. Martos reorganized. Keilah and Alvin were brought into the shop because they both had already worked on skateboards and thus knew the answer to the challenge. All I was adding to the cart was a fold out table for the computers and stuff to go on to make Christian's life easier. It was hard to get everything on but I got it done. I will have a full write up on the competition later.
FRC Orange County Regional
FRC Orange County Regional
Sorry this took so long to get up but now I finally have the time to say everything. The Orange County FRC Regional was a very interesting experience to say the least, but I'm not like that, so lets start from the beginning. Our story begins in the shop parking lot: I arrive at the shop on time thursday morning for the thursday group's departure. It just so happens that, when I got there, only Jacob and a few people were there... (We will continue this later, class ended)
Today we talked about what happened at the orange county regional last weekend, showed off Winsto (the N rubbed off), told them our ranking, showed them some of our rounds from LA, and told of all of Ben's antics. I'll sum up what I said above, we got chosen for a final alliance, we came in sixth, we had a great time, and we were and are still salty about some MAJOR modifications that we had to do to Winston, changing him into Winsto. After we talked about that, we moved onto skateboard things. I brought my board from last year in so that I could show the class what a possible result of this adventure could be, but it also served another purpose, it served as an example of a skateboard that is WAY TOO BIG TO BE PRACTICAL. Neato wants to take my board home so that he can ride it today, which I am perfectly ok with, its better than is sitting in my room and doing nothing for a year.
Today we talked more about skateboards today and Neato told me that because my skateboard is so large and the trucks on it are basically new, it provides a very smooth ride and it is a perfect board for learning on. Because of this, Neato wants to keep it at the shop for a while so that people can learn how to ride on it, myself included. I, again, have no complaints with this probably because I have complete control on who rides it and I will know where it is all the time. The funny thing is that Neato, Cole, and Ian have all ridden my board before I have. This is because less than a year ago I didn't know how to ride a skateboard and a bike. I had my skateboard and my old bike available at the time, so I chose to learn about bikes first. But hey, look at me now, in less than a year I have gotten very good at mountain biking to the point where I got a new bike as a gift, a gift that compensates for the next 5 years of gifts I won't be receiving because of this bike. If you are currious, my new bike is shown below. So now I am going to learn how to ride a skateboard, cool.
Today we did a wednesday challenge where we were to think of ideas for mentor gifts to give to our mentors. The requirements were for it to be cool, be able to be made in 2 weeks, customizable for each mentor, and be able to make about 20 of them. Optional requirements are for it to be functional or serve a purpose, and have it be related to the game in some way. I was in Ian, Cole, Keilah, and Alvin's group and we came up with with the idea of making a castle, about the same size as Neato's robot in the front of the class, and put a speaker in it with a catch phrase with each mentor that plays from it. It turns out that three other groups had about the same idea as us, or we as them. In the end, the rolling horse design won but I forget which group came up with it.
Mentor Gift Idea Wednesday Challenge FormToday Neato informed me that yesterday he was riding my skateboard around the roomo after school. During this time, he fell twice, the first time was because he hit a little rock and the board stopped, the second time was when he was turning. Since my board is so wide, is someone turns to hard, the wheel hits the bottom of the board and it stops dead in its tracks, but not the rider. So Neato told me that I had to modify the board to fix that problem before anyone could ride it again. When I bought my trucks last year, I bought 2 pairs, so I already have trucks for this year's board. This time around, I am making the trucks drop through the board so I don't need the spacers. Therefore, I can put those extra spacers on my old board, doubling the height and fixing the problem. Lucky for me, tonight in open house, so I can perform the maintainance tonight. Lets just hope it fixes it, because the only other fix would be cutting the actual board, which I DO NOT want to do. Beyond that, in class we just organized the room and prepared for open house. I printed my board for this year and taped it together today aswell. All I'm going to say is that It looks awesome and it is NOT an aircraft carrier.
Today was a minimum day and we left the room in it's open house configuration so that we could show the class Winston in action. But, something bad happened last night that I didn't figure out the details on until now. Last night at about 8 pm, Winston just turned off, completely. We tried turning him on and off but nothing would turn him on, his light didn't even turn on. At the time, we thought that the problem was that the compressor over heated and that triped the breaker. In actuallity, we did trip the breaker, but not beacuse of the compressor, but because a bearing in the motor plate desintagrated. On Winston's motor plate, there is an axle with a sprocket on the end that drives the chain which drives the wheels for one side. There is a bearing on this axle to keep it moving smoothly, and that was the one that desintagrated. Daniel, Cole, Sam, Ian, and Justin fixed it and got Winston working again so that we could use him in class. During class, the bolt that held the right side chain the drives Jinx's tote lifter to the lifter snaped and rendered her lifter useless, but Winston kept on working. We had a sub so we didn't do that much beyond this, but we had fun. Also, my fix for my skateboard worked and now for the problem to occur, the rider has to turn lean the board A LOT more, so that's good.
Block Schedule Periods 1-3
5th period didn't happen today but I want to say something about the pipe breaking during lunch. Basically, if you are looking into Neato's room from the front door and see the grate covered double doors to the right, inside those two doors directly in the right hand corner is a pipe. That pipe broke above the cealing and proceeded to flood the entire hallway to the right of Neato's room. So Alvin, Keilah, and Ryan stopped the water from flooding into Neato's room through the door and they directed it out the door to the parking lot. I the water did get into the room though, it went under the wall beneath the sink. Thats basically all I have to say on the matter.
Block Schedule Periods 4-6
Today we reviewed grades and watched a cool video on the Volocopter. It's basically a giant 18-rotor manned helicopter thing that flies around like a quadcopter. It sits two people and it looks pretty cool, look at the photo below. After this, I just updated my website and taped the passthrough holes onto my Hans-board. I am calling my new skateboard my Hans-board because the design on the bottom is of Hans, the 2015 JPL invention challenge death cannon. My board is going to be quite sharp so its only fitting to put a deadly cannon on the bottom of a deadly skateboard. Also, since it is block schedule periods 4-6 and I have Neato for 5th and 6th, I won't be leaving his room for 5 hours, YAY!!
Today the class did a wednesday challenge where they were to find the average speed of a skydiver falling from 12,500 ft to 5,000 ft. The robotics people, however, didn't do that. We worked on mentor gifts where we calculated how much matierial we would need to make 20 standards. There are 4 parts to the standard, the dowels, the wooden block, the background fabric, and the number fabric. We need 44 inches of dowel, a 2.25" x 2.75" x 5/8" block, a 1' x 2' area of background fabric, and a 1', 6" area of letter fabric to make one standard. All of our math was confusing, but Cole has a spread sheet that he will hopefully post so that I can post it aswell. Other than that, we didn't do much, Neato gave Cole money to buy the materials today, so thats cool.
Block Schedule Periods 1-3
Block Schedule Periods 4-6
Today the robotics group along with some helpers worked on the mentor gifts. Cole calculated the perfect amount of background fabric to fit all 20 standards on, which is cool, and we managed to cut out all of the backgrounds in the the block period. I got salty about some stuff that happened, but that doesn't matter, the problem was resolved. It had to do with the skateboards. I wanted to glue my cardboard together yesterday at lunch, but it dawned on me today that I already know how to glue the wood/cardboard together, so I don't need to practice gluing. Also, there are 3 left over, unclaimed, and glued cardboard skateboard bases that Neato said that I could claim and use as my own. The only thing I will be using the cardboard skateboard for is cutting and painting practice, not gluing practice. The harder thing to do is going to be cutting my board because of all of its complex angles and curves. Currently, my uncut board is standing by the window; just looking at it will make you understand the predicament I have put myself in. But the hardship will be worth it because the design looks ficken awesome and the design on the bottom (Hans) will look really good. I am probably going to cut it out on tuesday, but if mentor gifts become more of a priority which I know it will, I probably will cut it on friday, which I am ok with.
Block Schedule Periods 1-3
Block Schedule Periods 4-6
Today the robotics group went into the shop to work on mentor gifts for the block period. I won't say anything about it just incase a mentor is reading this, but I will say that it was like a sweat shop, except we weren't getting payed and we weren't sweating. Neato also told us that for the skateboards, we have to talk about each stage we have reached with a photo to go along with it. Currently, I am at the cardboard board stage, I just need to cut it out. I made the CAD for my skateboard way back in first semester so I will just show it now. I have talked about the Hans board before but I have never shown a picture, so I will now. I also talked about taping my paper board together but, again, I didn't show a photo. Below are the following: a photo of the CAD of the Hans board, a photo of the paper board, and a photo of my uncut cardboard board. I'm not quite sure what I want to do in the black area shown the CAD photo, but for now, it will just stay black. I was thinking of making it look like space, but I'm not sure. Printing and taping the paper board was quick, but gluing the cardboard takes a while, so you might be thinking, how does he already have a glued and drawn on board ready to be cut? The answer to that is that I didn't glue my own cardboard. I already knew haw to glue the board, so I didn't need to practice with that, and there are 3 unclaimed, already glued cardboard planks that no one is using. So I just picked the nicest one and used it as my own. Cheap, yes, immoral, no. As I said yesterday, I'm probably going to cut my board on friday after the banquet, when mentor gifts and senior gifts are done, and when I have time to sit down and cut this beast. At this point, I don't even care if it doesn't work very well, it looks fricken awesome.
Today the class did a wednesday challenge about something, I don't know because the robotics group and I went into the shop to work on mentor gifts. We cut all of the dowels to length but, since we ditched the block idea, we needed to figure out a way to attach the two dowels together. What we decided on was on the longer dowel, we would file out a divit on one end for the shorter dowel to rest in. Then we would drill a hole perpendicular to the divit and fasten the shorter dowel to the longer dowel via a zip tie. After zip tying, we would seal the bond with hot glue. It turned out being quite stable, but we only figured this out at the end of class. So I had to (gladly) spend my 6th period drilling, zip tying, and gluing the remaining 18 standard posts. It took a while, but I got it done, as always. We are probably going to spray paint the posts tomorrow after school while we set up for the banquet.
Block Schedule Periods 1-3
Today we didn't have 5th period, but it was the annual robotics banquet. Usually, we have it in Neato's room, but this time, since our team has grow so much, we had to set up in the shop parking lot. It turned out looking really nice and we are probably going to set it up there from now on. We rolled out the orange carpet from the driveway enterance to the tables and set up the pit like and archway over the carpet. On the pit, we hung all of the mentor gift standards so that people saw them as they walked through. We set up a lot of tables and we didn't have enough chairs for everyone to sit at once, so thats kind of cool. We hung two lines of string lights over the tables that added to the ombiance at night while we listened to Martos's speeches. Conner provided all of the lights for the event, a nice thing for him to do for us, and we had a stage at the number 5 garage door. There was a lot of food and we had a great time, giving gifts and awards, but the best gift of all was the gift that the seniors gave to the team, a CNC machine. I know not many seniors will read this but I would like to say thank you, all of you. You guys are the greatest people that I know and I hope that you guys come back and mentor us in the future. To get back on topic, Nick D's mother made (and has made) the best cake for us at the banquet, She made a Winston cake with a wooden frame and everything. I won't try to explain it because a picture shows it better (the second picture is of Winston next to Winston). All in all we had a great time and I wish the graduating seniors good luck at college!
Block Schedule Periods 4-6
Today we just worked on skateboards, but Cole and I didn't do that, we were restoring Wintson's arm to its original form (as best as we could). We didn't need to add anymore hardware, we used all of the same parts from the key arm to restore the arm without having to add anything else on other than Sam's attachment that we used in LA. I didn't get to cut my board today, but that's ok, Winston is far more important than my skateboard and he always will be. All I have to say is that Winston is back in action. When Sam came into the shop during lunch, he was giddy that Winston was back to his former self. Cole and I also checked the right side gear box for damage but it was ok, so we cleaned it out and regreased it. I honestly think that Winston's kicker works better now than it did before. Thats one of the things that makes Winston amazing, his ever changing arm. Its gone through 4 different versions in his life time so far: the original vertical bars, the Long Beach V, the Orange County Key, and now to OG Winston. The funnier thing is that through transformations 2-4, we used the same parts and didn't make a new kicker. I honestly like this new version the most because it looks the best and cleanest, but thats just me. All I know is that Winston is going to rock Riverside.
Today we just worked on our own projects in what ever stage they may be in. I was a little salty because I've had my board ready to be cut for weeks, but today, Miller came in and helped 4th period cut out their boards and not 5th period. Neato had to watch us cut so Nick G and only Nick G cut his just drawn on, just received cardboard board out while Michael P and I just sat and watched. So I'm a little salty because of that. I am going to have to widen my board at the point where the trucks would be so that it doesn't snap the first time I stand on it. So I did that today by widening the thinest part from less than 1" to 1 3/4", wide enough to be safe but not too wide so that it messes up the trucks and the overall design of the board. The board still looks good with the wider part and, in my opinion, it looks better.
Today we were let loose to do what ever we were supposed to do for the class. Yesterday, I had my dad sign Neato's weaver allowing to ride skateboards in his class. So today was the first time I set foot on a longboard, on a steep hill, after not sitting or riding on a board in multiple weeks. All I have to say is that I am a VERY fast learner. Neato told me that I could only start working on my second board after I got "better than him" at riding skateboards. Yesterday that seemed impossible, but today I feel like that is a very easy goal to reach. It feels like I have been riding boards for a long time when in actuallity, I have barely put in 1 hour on a board. Also, a weird thing that happened was that either last night or the night before last, I had a dream where I was riding my original long board, REALLY WELL. I think that that dream, since it was in the first person, actually helped me and kind of worked as practice time. I know it sounds rediculous, but it feels true, I'm actually comfortable riding a skteboard now. This just makes me feel like Poe from Kung Fu Panda, having the "noodle dream", but in my case, it was the "skateboard dream" and it actually did something for me. I didn't cut my new board today, but I don't care because I feel really cool. Stangely, skateboarding is starting to feel like mountain biking for me, I just want to keep doing it!
Today we did the tube structure assembly wednesday challenge where the whole class works together to assemble a tube structure. The whole class breaks up into pairs where one person is blindfolded and the other directs the blindfolded person to assemble the structure. each pair only gets 30 seconds to do as much work as possible before the blindfold is passed off to another pair. If all pairs have gone and the structure is not build, the pairs loop back to the beginning with the roles switched. 5th period goes against 4th period and the class with the shortest time to build time wins. Cole, Ian, and Alvin directed the front of the line and the overall build of the structure while Keilah and I oversaw the organization of the line. We were only able to wrangle the line for everyone's first time around before people's lack of caring overtook our will to organize. Period 4 got something like 35 minutes for their time while we had to go to the end of the period, just barely finishing the structure. Another thing that annoyed me was that people were too lound and they really didn't give a flying duck. On a more positive note, I am getting much better at riding skateboards for starting only yesterday. Today was actually the first time I took my actual board out to the parking lot and rode it, which is really sad given that it has sat in my room dormant for a year. The cool thing about it that I didn't know existed until today is that when you are riding it, the noise that comes from the ground and the trucks sounds like a mix between thunder and a jet taking off, which is funny because we call my board the aircraft carrier. Also, during lunch I did something,... interesting. I managed to launch one of Neato's boards so perfectly at the parking lot fence that it rolled excruciatingly slow under the fence and into the rode. Not only that, I thought that it would stop at the crack in the ground on the sidewalk but no, it had juuuust enough momentum to get over that tiny hill and roll into the rode. Luckily, there weren't any cars on the road at the time of the board's crossing, but it was still annoying and more so amazing. Because of this, at the beginning of lunch I build a small wall where the board went under to hopefully stop it the next time that happens. Tomorrow I just want to ride my board during all of lunch and 5th.
Tube Structure Assembly Wednesday Challenge FormToday we just worked on our own projects, again. I am getting much better at riding suprizingly fast, which is nice. I realized today that Alvin and I are the only two people from last year that sucessfully finished and are now riding their boards, which is kind of cool because last year, there were over 10 people that started their boards and, actually, only I completed and took home my board, Alvin wasn't able to finish his, he finished his board this year. I have only been riding for three days but I look forward everyday to snack, lunch, and 5th so that I can ride my board. The funny thing is that Alvin's board is only a week or two weeks old and it looks much older than my 1 year old board. My has been in service since I brought it in when Neato introduced the skateboards project to the class but it looks much younger than Alvin's. My board is starting to look like a weathered skateboard with all of its scuffs and splinters and thats actually pretty cool. You can see how my board's bottom looks now as well as Alvin's and my board next to each other in the photos below.
Today we did the usual stuff, everyone worked on their stuff and I rode my board around the parking lot. Today was also the CV spirit assembly that, as always, was really loud. This year I was curious at how loud it really was so I opened up the DB meter on my phone. Before I say the assembly's max DB I must explain something first. DB is the measure of how loud something is, 64ish being a pretty normal level for the quad during lunch. 100 DB and over causes permanent ear damage if heard for a certain period of time. The assembly's maximum DB heard was 98 DB, just 2 DB below permanent ear damage! For most of the assembly the DB level was above 85 at all times! I wouldn't be surprised if everyone who attended the assembly left the gym with somesort of ear damage, be it temporary or permanent. Other than that, it was a good and simple day in the robotics room.
Today we did some more skateboard stuff and I worked on and finished my 3rd skateboard design. Why did I do this and not work on this year's board? This is because Neato told me that people who haven't made a board yet have a higher priority than people who have made a board, which is Alvin and me. So, by how its looking now, I'm probably not going to cut my board this week and I'll be very hard pressed to finish it this year if I even get to work on it at all. Basically, if I get this year's board done, yay, if I am VERY close to finishing it by the end of the year, I'll finish it next year, but if I do not come close to finishing my board (like if I haven't even cut out my wood), I am going to abandon the Hans board, saddly, and make my 3rd design. I will only finish the Hans board if I get myself into the same situation as Alvin did, a full sanded, ready to be drilled and painted board. I mean, if it gets cut out and Neato cannot reuse the wood, I'll finish it, but if I have only drawn on the wood I will abandon the design. The only reason that I might abandon the Hans board is because it is ineffective for riding around a college campus simple because of its small base and sharp edges. My first board is also ineffective because it is too big, and my 3rd design is (hopefully) the most effective design for college transit. Its long enough to be easy to ride, thin enough to be easier to manage than my first board, and it doesn't have a deadly sharp FRONT like my second board. I made it have a sharp rear and a rounded front so that it doesn't severely hurt anyone if I lose control of it. All of this talk about abandoning my second board is all speculation, I hope to finish the Hans board, but if I do not, I need to be prepared. Tomorrow I have my AP Physics 1 test, so I hope I do well on it.
AP Physics 1 Test
Today we did a wednesday challenge where we were to think of a script for how to film a video for the skateboard project. Cole, Ian, and Alvin got really into thinking of how to make the video look good, but I was a little absent from the group because in the last 15 minutes of class, I cut my board. Yes, I finally was able to cut out my new board and it was a far easier task than I had originally thought. The wood is going to be harder to cut because cardboard is like butter to the jig saw while wood is harder to get through. I was able to cut out the drop through holes with just the jig saw, which was nice. All I'm going to say is that my board looked cool uncut, but now, in it's cut form, it is so much cooler. It turns out that my second board is only a tiny bit longer than my first board, but the Hans board looks shorter compared to the aircraft carrier because of the aircraft carrier's sheer size. I'm just glad that its done, now all I have to do tomorrow is to drill the holes for the trucks, stick them on, and see if it roles straight. If it roles straight, then I got to paint the bottom for practice, see if it works, see if I like it, then move onto the wood. I'm not going to explain much about my wednesday challenge group's idea because I wasn't there much but I will explain this. We want it to take place in Venice Beach, there are going to be many quad copter shots, the first starting with it landed on one of our long boards while we are riding it down the path. All that we hear is the road noise comming from the board it is on. That audio fades out and music comes in as the quad takes off with a go-pro attached to it. After this shot, we cut to another shot where Ian rides up to a stationary camera where he stops, kicks his board up, then on the bottom of it a video of someone making a CAD of their skateboard is shown. This is where I faded out so I'll let Ian and Alvin explain the rest on their sites, if they do it. Below are a few photos of my new cut board, all of the boards from 5th period, and my new board next to my old board.
Direct the Skateboard Video Wednesday Challenge Form
Today we did more skateboard stuff and I was able to drill my holes for my second board. Keilah got his wood out of the press and, during the class period, was able to find a center line, trace out his design, and cut out his board from last year since he didn't finish it before. Since there are only two pairs of trucks in circulation for both 4th and 5th period, I did not put trucks on my board during 5th so that people who haven't made a board yet can use them on their boards. I also didn't put the trucks on because, for my board, I have to take apart the trucks to get them through the pass through holes. Basically, I have to undo the large bolt that holds the hanger on (the hanger is the part that pivots on the bushing so that you can turn), bolt the base onto the board, and then reattach the hanger afterwards. You can see it in the photos below. The only reason I put trucks on today is because I have 6th period in Neato's class. Today I just took a pair of trucks off of Joey's board because he didn't have time and then I put them on my board. All I'm going to say is that this board looks really good with pass through trucks. I'm going to bring my second pair of trucks that I have at home and probably practice painting if the weather allows it. For the top, where the black curves are, I am going to leave as wood while the rest of the board will be grip tape. I am also going to do what Alvin did on his board with the wolf, but I am going to put my logo.
Today we didn't ride skateboards that much because it was raining, which also meant that I couldn't paint, which sucked. Ian took the tape off of his board to see how his paint looked and we both agreed that the stripe he painted needed to be wider. I put on my trucks that I brought from home, which look really good, and I compared them to the ones that are on my old board. Even though they are the same exact trucks, the ones that are on my old board look like an opaque brown while the new ones are a nice transparent red. I helped Ian drill his holes for his board and then I tested out how painting my board would look. The rain is a terror when spraypainting but the end result of the test was promising. I also did a count and figured out that there are 26 wooden skateboards in Neato's class including the one bolted to his door. I didn't count the total skateboards including cardboard ones but I know that the number will be really large, at least double the original number if you add woodens and cardboards. I'm probably going to paint on monday and then probably make my wood some time after that.
Today we continued to work on our skateboards like we have been, are, and will be doing. I was able to spray the first color onto my skateboard about half way through 6th period. I didn't do this during 5th because it took all of lunch and 3/4 of 5th period to lay out all of the tape on the board so that it can be painted in a logical order. Right now I have only painted the black areas on my board, but tomorrow I will paint the white ends of my board and then hand paint the finer details aswell. Cole cut out his board and Keilah put trucks on his board to se if it rolls straight. It did roll straight and I was tasked by Ian and Keilah to remove their trucks the rest of the way. Since I update my website during 6th, I haven't had time recently to work on my com-sci labs. I'm listening to Neato's notes and understanding the concepts, its just I haven't found the time to sit down and do the labs and the work. There's no homework, which makes my life easy, but its just a little annoying.
Today we, again, continued working on skateboards. During lunch I taped out the areas that I spray painted white. During 5th, I retrieved my board from the painting box and removed the tape, uncovering the beauty that is the Hans board. Neato wanted a bunch of people to glue their cardboard today, so showed them how and I also helped people print out their boards. After all of that was said and done, I got the silver and green spray paint, two lids, and a VERY getto paint brush and hand painted on the final details onto the Hans board. Down below is a couple photos of the finished product, one of them is on a higher contrasted background so that you can see the edges of the whole thing. Now that I've finished painting and doing everything that I could possibly do with cardboard, the only thing left is to move onto the wood. I am very hyped for this, but I need to figure out how I am going to seal the wood so that it is protected and also shows the Hans design, but thats a problem for a later date. It seems that, since I have 6th period Neato, I am the shop keep in the sence that I close up the shop at the beginning of 6th and bring the power tools in that people didn't bring in.
Today we did some sort of wednesday challenge, but I don't know because I was:
Today we did more work on our skateboards, again. Logan, Alvin, Daniel, Cole, and I all cut out the wood for our skateboards. Cole and I didn't have time to cut out our against the grain wood, so we will do that tomorrow. On an off skateboards' subject, Cole and I modified the cake holder that Jinx had last year to work on Winston for delivering the cake this year. We are delivering the cake to Mrs. Evans' daughter this sunday for her 5th birthday. Last year, the cake was a little odd because Jinx is a little bit unstable. I don't know how its going to go this year since I'm not going to be there, but Winston should make a fine delivery. We modified the holder by giving it a border that will keep the cake on the platform. We want to paint it so that it will match Winston better, but we ran out of time and are going to have to do it tomorrow. I think we are going to paint the border Winston blue and the base grey or black, we haven't decided on the base color though. We, 589, going to WET, one of our sponsors, tomorrow, well 20 of us at least, which is going to be fun.
Today we did more skateboard stuffs. I helped Ian with his wooden board today by helping him take in out of the press and helping him trace his design onto it. Cole and I cut the last boards that we need for our wooden boards, but there was a lot of confusion about whose wood was whose and if we had cut the right amount or not. In my mind, we cut 6 boards yesterday with the grain, three for me and three for Cole, and then today we were to cut our two cross wise boards. Something must have happened to Neato's organization in his cave because something was off. I don't honestly know what happened, but hey, it's friday the 13th, of course something has to go wrong at least once. Cole and I decided on painting the base of the cake holder grey, which we did, but Cole painted the blue yesterday after school. The holder is shown below on Winston, who is coming with us to WET today, along with some of the defences which Cole is bringing. All of the skateboard presses got used up today, so Cole and I will hopefully glue our wood on monday, given that we only have 13 days of school left....... I just made a connection: It's friday the 13th, and we have 13 days of school left counting today........ It's weird man... just weird.
Today we did skateboard stuff, like usual. I did literally nothing all period. I couldn't glue my wood today because 4th period took all of the presses, again, so I had nothing to do, at all. This lack of stuff to do made the period seem like it was 4 hours long, and not a fun 4 hours. I'm actually getting a little annoyed at 4th period because they always get to the presses first, and Neato doesn't realize that it is damageing to 5th period's progress. I actually did a count of wooden boards and discovered some things. On the 5th period front, there are 5 glued wooden boards and 4 cut wooden boards. In 4th period, there are 11 glued wooden boards, one of which was warped and remade before 5th was able to glue one, and 7 cut wooden boards. They have more than double the amount of wooden boards that 5th has made with just as many people wanting to make boards in 5th as in 4th. This is all due to the simple fact that 4th can get to he presses first, screwing over 5th in the process. I've actually done some planning: If I want to get my board done by the end of the year, I have to be doing a lot of work every day until the last day of school. This is how it goes: I HAVE to glue tomorrow, then on wednesday, I have to completely cut out my board. The following thursday and friday I have to completely sand my board and drill the holes. On monday and tuesday I have to finish painting the whole thing, including the top where my logo is going to be. On wednesday, I have to seal my board and on thursday I have to cut the grip tape and place it on top. Friday, tuesday, and wednesday are finals with monday being a holiday, so what ever day 4th and 5th period finals are is the last day for me to completely finish my board. To sum up what I have just explained, I have to build an entire skateboard in 8 days. If 4th takes the presses again tomorrow, or something goes wrong or is delayed in any way, I will not finish my skateboard. This really pisses my off because I was so far ahead of everyone, and now I am struggling to catch up and I may not catch up at all. There aren't any photos to show because I did nothing today, but if I do nothing tomorrow, I'm utterly screwed.
Today we continued to work on skateboards, like always. I didn't glue my board today, but that's not that bad because Cole glued today, and I am right behind him in the gluing line. If I glue tomorrow, I'll be fine, I recalculated and figured out that I am not that screwed if I do it tomorrow. All I did today was help a bunch of people do their skateboard things, I helped Cole glue his wood, helped Skye and Alex glue their cardboard, helped Keilah with some CAD stuff, and I answered a bunch of questions that a lot of people had about skateboard stuff. Skateboard progress was slowed dramatically today for everyone because someone in 4th triggered the saw stop on the table saw. What the saw stop does is that it keeps people from loosing their fingers. It does this by running a current through the saw blade while it is on, if anything conducts that current away from the blade by touching it, like a finger, a giant metal block slams against the blade, stopping it instantly, while in the process, destroying the blade and shutting off the saw. To fix this, the blade needs to be replaced and the saw needs to be taken apart to disable the brake and ready the table for use again. This takes a long time to do, so we do not have a table saw for a while. This is a pretty big problem, but we will have to work around it. For all the people that will try to look at my website from last year tomorrow to cheat on the final, I'm sorry, but its disabled, have fun actually doing the work :)
Today, Neato separated us into two groups, a skateboards group and a final wednesday challenge group. I am in the skateboards group along with all of the people who have done anything with wood or are waiting in line to glue wood. The people who haven't finished with their cardboard boards and below are not going to work on their skateboards anymore and instead, they are going to do the final wednesday challenge. The final wednesday challenge is like that of last year. The groups are to design a vehicle that will go down the big ramp, but in the middle there is a jump that the vehicle needs to cross. Like most finals, 5th will design a vehicle, 4th will build it, and vice versa. Luckily, I am in the skateboard group. I managed to glue my wood today, that is the photo below, so therefore, I am not going to be screwed and I probably will finish it. Yay! When I tightened the press the top board slid a little but I think I'm ok, I just need to work my little patooty off to get this thing done. Tomorrow, I will engage "get-er done" mode. This is going to be fun.
So, you must be wondering why there are all of these photos here at the bottom of my website and no more individual days. This I will explain to you. Since I was fully engrossed in my skateboard since it finished gluing, I didn't have time to do anything else except for working on it. I took a bunsh of photos of it during the process so that I could do this very thing. I will explain all of the photos in the order in which they happened, which is the order in which they are shown. The first photo of the mostly cut board happened on thursday the 19th. On that day I took out my wood from the press and discovered that one of the layers had slid out from square. This was not a problem because my board fit on it anyway, but it was annoying when I traced out my design on the wood and then realized that it was not fully supported by all of the plywood. All I had to do was flip over the wood and trace it again, but it was still annoying because it was really hot out. On that same day I took my helmet and wrote my name and logo on it so that people will know that it is mine and not use it like people have been. On friday I finished cutting out my board and was able to sand it to 150 grit sand paper by the end of 6th period. That is shown in the photo of my wooden board next to my cardboard board on the desks. All I did was sand on friday and then tossed it into storage over the weekend. The three photos that follow, the ones with my blank board with wheels, happened on the following monday, the 23rd. In 5th I finished sanding to 220 grit sand paper and I drilled my holes. The sketchy thing about my holes was that I didn't map them out like Neato would have. I took the two hole marker things and clamped them between two long pieces of straight metal at the correct distance between them set forth by my paper board. After I clamped them between the metal, I just lifted it off of the paper, placed it over my wood, and marked the holes. In theory, the holes would be perfectly straight because of the metal bars, but I was still nervous about it being ok. I drilled them at the end of 5th period and then bolted my trucks to my board during 6th. To my relief, my board rolled extremely straight and only looked like it veered because the tape wasn't straight. That made me very happy. On tuesday, I taped out and spray painted the black parts of my board. I was too excited about how it would look to wait until wednesday to take off the tape, so I took it off at the end of 6th and took a photo of it. On wednesday, I painted the rest of my design on the bottom of my board, the white and the smaller details, and then contemplated what I would do on the side of sealing my board. I thought that if I spray sealed the top of my board at the beginning of the day on thursday, I could put the poly on the bottom during 5th and have it done my friday for the video. In actuality, I just sprayed acrilic on my entire board during lunch, front and back, and then grip taped the top during 5th. During 6th I bolted my trucks to my board and then it was complete. I rode it during 6th and it turns on a dime and looks amazing. All thats left is to wait until friday the 27th to film the video. Lastly, the final photo is of both of my boards, the Aircraft Carrier and the Hans Board, waiting to be ridden into the sunset. Again, I'm sorry that my website was so delayed but my board was far more important at the time. I am eagerly awaiting the skateboard video to be finished.
