Monday, January 7, 2019

FIRST Robotics 2019 - Up and Running

And so it begins.

We had a nice contingent go over to Minneapolis for the Kickoff, an event that is a sort of weird mix of Reveal, Pep Rally and Nerd Fest.  You get to know your own team over time but seeing an entire auditorium full of talented kids from all over is always inspiring.

 

Going back to my predictions of Friday, I did not get much right this year.  But...

At first glance this looks like a game we can play.  We've had some success with an elevator system that delivered boxes last year, this would just be other things to deliver.  But first looks can deceive.  As quite frankly can second and third looks.

Our goal is to finalize designs and lay in all necessary parts this week.  Until that point there are assorted tasks that can be done independent of final design considerations.

Well, this one was frankly kind of weird.  We have a set of what are called "Omni Wheels" that can be used to drift drive.  There was an unexpected bit of interest in hooking up three of them and making a strange drive base.  It drifts...also spins out of control.  Hopefully we'll settle on a less glitchy drive option shortly...


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FIRST robotics posts will be weekly - probably Robot Mondays - with extras as appropriate.  Most likely the unrealistic optimism and pessimism that I roller coaster through during the build and competition seasons will be on  full display.  With the season less than 48 hours old I've already cycled several times!


1 comment:

JayNola said...

Exciting new season. Looking forward to your updates.