Posts Tagged Offseason

Success and Failure at the 2009 Battle o’ Baltimore

Aug 26

Posted by Eric in Competition

With the internal controversy surrounding 449’s attendance at the Battle o’ Baltimore, I’m glad to say that we did in fact attend. Summer events are always hard, with most people on vacation or simply not motivated enough to make the 45 minute drive from DC to Baltimore.

The goal of this offseason event was to give the younger members of our team—the rising juniors and sophomores—a jump start into running the robot without us old farts. The power’s been in our hands too long, and we’ve gotten too comfortable being in control.  The drive chain is loose? Not my problem. Here, have a wrench. It might not be the right size. Engineers have got to fend for themselves in the wild world of robotics.

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First “Build” Meeting of the 2009 Offseason

Aug 6

Posted by Eric in General

“If this explodes, we’re going to have video of your epic demise.”

So commented one team member on my attempt to run a CIM motor off an 18v drill battery using 22 guage wire.

Such was the atmosphere at our third summer meeting, hosted at my house, in preparation for the Battle o’ Baltimore. Our main goal was to replace the robot’s sub-par shooter with a simple hopper and roller with which to “dump” orbit balls.

The dumper design was considered during competition season and mostly built (as our witholding allowance) but was scrapped in favor of a catapult. We thought it would be a good idea to give it try at the Battle. After negotiating our way into the backroom at school, we collected the dumper scraps so the dumper could have a second chance at life. Disassembling the shooter was done quickly, and resurrecting the dumper was not difficult. 80% of the work was completed the first day.

The four people who decided they didn’t want to go home for the night slept with the robot in the basement. We were back at work 10 AM Sunday morning. A few bent pieces of flat stock and more than a few zipties later, the dumper was in working condition. For the rest of the day, the hum of tools and robot work was accompanied by the clatter of pool balls and sharp pings of air hockey pucks. A few mechanical bugs were worked out, which entailed a new gearbox and mounting plate. Some minor adjustments ensured that our rear wheel chain would stop ejecting itself.

Most students floated between game-playing and robot-building, but some chose to work on other projects. The fate of the programming subteam was discussed at length, and design work was done on the rumored “arm” that will be the pinnacle of our training program. Some people even found time to cut the pieces for a second modular battery charger.

While the bulk of the work is over, we will be meeting here again this Saturday. This time, the focus will be on the robotic arm and offseason projects, as well as some administrative work for the upcoming school year.

And just so you stop wondering, my ad-hoc wiring job didn’t explode.

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