Today Dr.Neat worked with the class on making a ws2 folder and a homepage. Because I have already done this I work on starting my S2.html and adding a Christmas break pic
Today Neato talked to us about civil engineering and civies as he calls them. he told us about a friend of his who he worked with once a long time ago and who dosnt really work just sends cool pictures of stuff to everyone he knows. So we spent about half the period on that and then we worked on compressing photos for websites.
Today after we watched the game video for first stronghold we did a Sketchup thing where we make a sketchup staircase out of jenga blocks. Konowing sketchup well made this easy so I spiced it up a bit.
Today nothing much happened. It was Neato's bday though!!! he didnt take his candy though many people offered! While everyone else worked on learning to compress photos I worke on my website.
Today was a wednesday challenge it was very simple but check out the wedchall section to learn about it.
Today Dr.Neat explained the theme for this semester is rolling things. Then we worked on websites.
Today we lost power and so we dint really do anything... cause we couldnt but when power came back we worked on websites.
Today the class found out that they will be making cars. I found out that I will be helping people go live with their second semester webpage. Neato is afraid of them trying to do iit by themselves and screwing it up. I find it fun though and its easy because ive done it a few times.
Today was the ever important handout wednesday challenge chech the wedchall section to hear all about it.
Today we presented our ideas about the handout o the class. There are some really good ones but not everyone finished so there will be more tomorrow.
Today the last two or three groups presented their handouts. Then we voted on whos was the coolest and my group won!!!! yaaaaaA!! For the rest of the period I helped people go live.
Today all I did was get peoples websites live for sem2. some were interestingly difficult and others were just a breeze. I think I got through four people.
Today was another day of fixing websites but we finished everyone we were supposed to gt live so now we have to find something else to do like... our own website!
Today was a new wedchall that I had never done before. It was very easy. I also helped Michal Ab go live. read all about the wed chal in the wed chall section.
Today because Im not maaking a cardboard car I worked on my own website. but then i found out that nick g never came to get live so I ook him to the back table and made his website live like I had for the others.
Today I had time to work on my own website and I did until andrew z neded help so I got his live. Thats kind of it. TGIF
Today we made a sketchup using jenga blocks and the rotate tool. When we finished Kevin, ian, keilah, and tyler started working on a big puzzle neato had but we think that is is actually multiple puzzles.
Today neato wanted me to be in the shop monitering people testing their cardboard carss. I just stayed backed there and talked with the people who were testing. This was cool because i got to see the progress peopl have made on their cars.
Today we had a wed chall about the new handout. This time we have to improve it. I was a judge.
Today the wed chall groups presented their ideas to us and we compiled a ranking and list of their ideas and names.The winners were the candy shooter by points. however they have a dangerous idea and so the next best option was ians group wicjh was and upgraded version of the card game idea.
Today was the competition day for cardboard cars so I was in there watching and then we came back and worked on my website.
Today we had a sub and so I led the class looking through website grades. Anyone with a score of less than 7 needed to come get help from me whichended up being about 6 people because there were alot of absentees.
Today the wedchall was about how to fix the back doors so Neato and Ms. M dont have to struggle with it check out my wedchall form in the wedchall section
Today we presented all our ideas about our ideas to fix the door for neato.
Today we watched a video about LIGO which is a project Ms. Neat worked on and it detected gravitaional waves proving that einsteins equations and theories about them were correct. here is my obsform.
Today we finished the car comp. and then Kevin, Ian, Micheal, others and I updated the classs on the status of the robot. We showed them how we poainted the chasis blue and the idler plates black. Yesterday we painted it all and then gave it to the assembly crew finish assembly and integration.
Today was the most difficult of all the wedchallenges and it is the one that stands in my memory above all others. Check out the wedchall form in the wedchall section.
Today I was sick and so I didnt come to school.
Today I was also absent buthere is My obs form that also says That i was absent.
Today my dad came down and so I was split between helping people with websites and also helping the robot crew fix the wheel situation. The situation is that the four outer wheels are supposed to be higher than the middle this way we only drive on four wheels at a time. They didnt do this so we were shimming up the four outside wheels that way it sits properly.
Today I went with the robot people down to the weight room to weigh the robot . It weighs 97 without a battery and 110 with one. This is good becasue that means we are well under weight and can bring stuff to add worst case senario.
Today neato was absent again so we worked on websites and stuff also there was no wedchall. I mostly worked on my website but others worked on cads and otherthings.
Today because Im not working on a car I helped arthur further with his website and then worked on mine.
Today I continued to update my website but not much else. Sorry for the short entry but nothing really happened.
Today I found out that for this quarter I will be making a skateboard. This is because Im a vet and all vets are automaticaly on this project. Right off the bat my thought is to make something along the style of a hamboard which is a long surfboard style skate board. The hope is for it to ba a cruzer as I dont think Ill be bombing any sick slopes anytime soon.
\
Today we had a wednesday challenge check the wedchall section for the form. We had to Show how many of the specific skateboard could be made out of one 5' X 5' sheet of wood.
Today I left for orange county regional FRC competition. We got thereand started to get the robot past inspection. Shoulve been easy... but the inspectors believed that we had misinterpreted a bumper rule. we thought that because all of the front sides of the robot frame had been covered with bumper that we were in the clear. However they believed that we need at least 8 in. from the corners to be legal. At this point we were faced with the decision to either scrap the robot or not drive at all. We tried to find evidence that they were wrong so we could convince them they were wrong but we could not. While some of us were doing that other were going to town starting to dismantal the arm. Not beyond repair but enough that we at least had some progress if they stuck us to their rule. At the end of the day we passed inspection by scraping the ball holding capabilities of our robot and extending the bumpers.
Today was the first day of competition. We had the first match of the day and I got to drive it. It was a little nerve racking because I had o stand on field for all of opening ceremonies. During the national anthem the drive team faced the screen which projected an american flag but about half way through we realized that everyone else was looking behind us and then we found out there was an actual flag behind us. that was really awkward.
Today the people in robotics had to get up and show off the robot, awards, and talk about our experiences this last weekend. For my story reference 3/31/16. After I told this stary there was only about half a peiod left and so I reconfigured the radio of the robot so that it would be drivable from our laptops. That worked and now I know how to reconfigure a radio! Also I worked on my skate board design which is almost complete, Here is a picture of it.
Today I continued to refine my skateboard design. After that I got to begin learning how to actuallt ride a skateboard. I am learning on kevins board from last year because in Neatos words "it's an aircraft carrier" which makes it a really good one to learn on. I am a little bit scared because if I mess up then I will have to fall on concrete and concrete always wins. I have only almost fallen once but have not actually fallen yet.
Today we had a wedchall and it had to do with mentor gifts. Check the wedchall section for the form.
Today I contiued to work on my skateboard. Im now on design 2 I had to redesign because my first was way to big for the skateboard press. Also I continued to work on skateboarding. After school we started to prepare the room for the open hous. Some fun things happened but they are classified for now. Then we started driving robots and talking to parents. When the sky finally cleared up and it wasnt that wet out side we tok a robot out and up to ms.Mathias room also drove around the quad a bunch.
Today I printed my third and final design for my skateboard. It was a half day so not much happened but my dad and I had to rush home afterward because people were coming to quote us for solar.
Today we watched a video about a personal helocopter that hap something like 16 blades and motors to help keep it aloft. Personally I thought it was cool but I have already seen another company have a working model of a small personal helocpter that was mutch better. This one had only four arms and just two motors and blades on each arm. This offers the redundancy that the volocopter has but in a much more compact and good looking package. Also this helicopter is equiped with somewhat of an auto pilot system so that you can just select your destination and it does all the work. I think that this navigation system will be imperitive because if these get popular then you will have a bunch of people lying stufff around over houses giving greater risk. But with a fully computer controlled system you dont have to worry about human error. Also this would allow transportation for people who are intoxicated or to impared to fly or drive themselves. After this video we went to the back table and talked about what we want to do for mentor gifts. We talked about how to make wooden hoarses and then after discussing our time constraint of two weeks we decided to make standards for mentors. we need 20 flags by next thursday that are completely manufactored and customized.
Today instead of doing a wednesday challenge I along with ian kevin sako and joey. Together we found all the deminsions of the standards so that I can go buy the material. we think Jo-anns has the correct m,aterial that we are looking for but we are not sure so I will go find out. I will be going to Home Depot tonight to buy the wood and then to Jo-Anns tomorrow to buy the fabrics that we need. Here is the spreadsheat we made.
I was able to get all the material we needed and with savings so thats awesome. We spent just about 100 dollars and we were expecting to spend something like $160. Today we spent the day cutting out flags so they can be distributed and customized.
All of the flags were cut out so today we spent all day cutiing out and marking numbers for the black numbers that go on the flags. I dont have any pics though because it took all period.
Today again Dr.Neat excused me from the wedchall along with the others that are working on this problem. Today we marked, cut and prototyped the sticks that hold up the flags. We tried making grooves, hot glue, and zipties. What we ended up doing was hot glueing and ziptying them together. Kevin S. finished them all after school today and now we just have to paint them.
Today is friday but the mentor gifts were due yesterday because thats when we had the banquet. We finished all the flags!!!!!!! It was a small struggle but at the end of the day no one went without a completed flag. We did run into a problem in that one of the flags was not given back to us on time. That was Neato's. We thought we didnt buy enough material but we actually did and just didnt realize that someone was still hanging on to theirs. In other news I lettered in Robotics!!!! This was very cool and quite an honor. It surprised me becasue I thought due to previous years that only seniors could letter but this year it was mostly juniors and thats cool. Today Kevin S. and I restored winston to his original configuration and also we pulled apart the gear box to check what was making a ticking noise. We think it was just a piece of metal left over from a broken baring. It is a little relaxing to work on the robot in these conditions because while there is a time constraint it is easy to solve with all our tools and space at our disposal.
Today Dr. Neat showed us grades and mine was low because last week I was working on mentor gifts and I also have no internet at home to upload my website. So today I just worked on my website for the whole day.
Today I continued to complete my website. I was three weeks behind on my website so I am still working on it.
Today was my favorite wed chall check out the wedchall section for that form. It took the whole period so there is not really much to talk about other than I think the class wasnt that motivated because we had the recipe for success and still lost.
Today at lunch we had a presentation about welding classes at GCC. It was very cool to see the work that they do and I think my dad and I are going to take the course. I was worried about my physics homewrk today becasue I found out he was gonna make us display our answers to the class so I ended up frantically working on that for about half the period and then I taped up my skateboard.
Today at the beggining I worked on my websit for this week because thats all I had left to do. Then I worked on cutting out my skateboard which looks awesome!