Week 4: The Arm Works!

We are making tremendous progress as a team!

(here's the link to the above video in full size: https://www.facebook.com/athertonrobotics/)

The mechanical team has been working non-stop to put together the intake arm and the elevator stages. The intake has a bumper switch on it so that when the ball is inside the arms the motors stop. This helps the driver not over use the motors and prevents the chance of the ball popping out.

Two of the stages of the elevator are fully together. This picture was taken before everything was riveted. By this time next week we should have most of the elevator put together on top of the drivetrain.

Then the electrical team will be getting busy wiring the robot. It is going to be a tight fit for all the components this year. The arm comes down to our frame, which is purposely designed so that we can push ourselves up for the end game. But that means we have to be mindful of where we put the electrical board so that nothing is in danger of getting damaged. We will also have to find a way to protect the long bunches of wires that are going to be traveling up and down the arm as we collect and place the hatches and balls.

The programming team have installed and have been playing around with encoders on the practice bot, Samwise. It has been a massive learning curve using Java this year, but they have been doing a wonderful job adapting. Samwise is now programmed to accurately move across the room, spin, and end up precisely where we want it to be...all by itself! Even though we have the option of using a camera this year during the "sandstorm" period, we would like to use autonomous whenever possible as to eliminate the possibility of human error. This is going to be great feat that we are confident we can accomplish.

Thank you for following us every week. We have two weeks and two days to go until the infamous bag day!