Wednesday, February 23. 2011
Yesterday was Bag and Tag day.
With the students on their school break there were several very long days as the programmers (students and mentors) crunched code during the day and into the evening. Mechanical and electrical teams were there after work hours and until midnight each night. The drive team candidates got to spend some time testing out the drive train the arm / manipulator, and mini-bot systems. Flare teams finished the Finger Lakes Regional Recognition Program buttons and added corporate sponsor logos to the robot. All subteams were finishing their Bill of Material entries.
Last night it was apparent that the countdown had begun and all eyes were on the clock. Glitches were found in the autonomous codes and fixed. The arm joint refused to latch during one trial and a contingency was found in case it happens during a match. The deployer latch stuck and will have to be redone for competition. A wire was cut disabling the manipulator and was replaced and fastened more securely. Tubes were hung and picked and tossed. Finally Team Leader Larry called for the tear down of the final section of field left standing from Rally and the robot went up for a final weigh-in (a hint over 104 lbs.) and photos. Such a celebrity!
Then the bumpers were tucked inside, everything was tied down and the robot was slid into its giant sleeping bag and tagged!
The sleep won’t be long since the Finger Lakes Regional is March 3-5. It is at RIT! If you are in the area, please come and join us!
