Daily Logs

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Plan for Today: Collecting parts to start building our Chassis. Also discussing team expectations and goals.	Problems that came up: We couldn’t start building the robot because some of the vital parts are missing and we are very behind compared to some of the other teams.	How we solved them: We made a google sheet listing all the parts we need to build the Chassis, and made  a list of parts we need to order.
Did we achieve our Goals?: Yes, though we did not get much done because we cannot start building our chassis without some parts.	Whats next?: Hopefully we will either order the parts or we will order and get the parts by then.	What will happen next time: If the parts come, we can finally start building the Chassis!

We started to collect parts. We did not get much done and continued to discuss our team and expectations. There is also not a lot of order in this team so we definitely need an adult or a responsible person to get us started. Iva’s dad seems interested in helping-- this is going to help us a lot.

Honestly, we have not made that much progress. All we really did today was discuss our team. We really need to start building our robot or at least figure out our parts that we need. More order and responsibility needs to be taken in order for this team to be a success. -Audrey

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Plan for Today: Eric (Iva’s father) will be attending today. We will be collecting all of the channels to start making our Chassis.	Problems that came up: We got a lot done, however, halfway through we noticed that we were assembling the channels in the wrong way.	How we solved them: We had to take apart what we worked on for a very long time, and restart. However, it taught us to read the direction VERY carefully.
Did we achieve our Goals?: Yes. We gathered all the channels and we started to build our chassis. (Finally!)	Whats next?: We still do not have all the parts. We need to order them because without them we cannot build the chassis past a certain point.	What will happen next time: We will order the parts and they should get here before our next meeting. We will hopefully make progress on our chassis.

Today was the first meeting with Eric (Iva’s father) and we decided on him being the team parent. We started to build our chassis but we were only able to build to a certain point because of the lack of the supplies we need. We got some stuff done however, we couldn’t move as quick with half of the team gone.

Today, Micaela and I got more done than last time, but it was hard to get a lot done since only some of our team members were here. We found a robot that was old and we took some of the parts and started to build our own two chassis. I think from now on, our team members should try to attend more because it will help with getting more done. -Iva

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Plan for Today: We are going to make a list of parts we need to order so Sheri can order them, and also look for all the parts we need to build the robot.	Problems that came up: Lacking parts and materials to continue making our robot.	How we solved them: Made a list of parts we needed to order and gave it to Sheri to order.
Did we achieve our Goals?: Yes, we made a list of parts we need to order and we also looked and collected all the parts we need to build the robot.	Whats next?: By next time we are going to have the parts (hopefully Sheri orders them soon enough). We can finally start building our robot.	What will happen next time: Next time we meet, we are going to finally start building our robot and making progress. (if the parts do not come, we will start on the wheels because we have the parts to make the wheels)

Today, we looked at the spread sheet that Eric made for us with all the parts we need and we started to collect them. We broke up into partners and we collected all the parts we needed to build the whole Chassis (not including the wiring). I think we definitely made a lot of progress and we’re ready to actually start building the robot!

Not gonna lie, after Iva left (she left early), not much more was accomplished. We ordered needed parts. We also began to program the computer and the phones. We ended up not doing much, however, next time we will continue working on these with help from Sheri, Eric, and David (Micaela’s father). - Kristina

Thursday, November 10, 2o16

Plan for Today: We are going to set up our computer so we would be able to program in it. Also, we’re going to set up the two phones.	Problems that came up: In the instruction manual for the pushbot, they were using a different computer from what we were using so we couldn’t follow the exact instructions.	How we solved them: We couldn’t do much because there were no adults to help us (including Sheri). We called Sheri multiply times but decided to wait until next meeting to ask her since she was not able to help over phone.
Did we achieve our Goals?: We did set up the computer but we ran into some problems while trying to do it. We also couldn't set up the phones because it was difficult and couldn’t get as much done.	Whats next?: We are going to continue setting up the computer and the two phones because we did not get as much done as we hoped.	What will happen next time: Iva’s father and Micaela’s father will be joining us so they will be able to help us with setting up the computer and the phones.

We were very stuck on what to do in this meeting because many problems occurred.  We were not able to set up the computer and phones completely because the pushbot manual was implying one thing with the devices were showing another.  Overall, we did get a few thing done but not as much as we had hoped.

So this time, we actually came closer to accomplishing some things than we did last meetings.  Still, this has been happening for awhile now and we need to get started on the robot.  It is going to be hard to cooperate, focus and get things done but I think we can do it. - Audrey

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Plan for Today: Begin filming our First Inspires Sponsor award. And inspect the robot	Problems that came up: Finding people willing to have their opinions recorded	How we solved them: We found other people
Did we achieve our Goals?: Yes	Whats next?: Film some more, and edit and finish the video	What will happen next time: We will finish the video

Today we ran around hectically trying to get some clips for the First Inspires Sponsor award. We took a break in order to inspect Stefan (the robot). And soon after continued filming.

I think today was an interesting and fun day. Today went really well and was a nice break from building and programming. -Micaela

Thursday, December 1, 2016

 

Plan for Today: Finish filming the video, print out and attach team number to the robot, finish the autonomous mode, and complete our engineering notebook.	Problems that came up: When we were trying to finish the autonomous and we test drived it, one motor seemed to be going quicker than the other which caused the robot to turn.	How we solved them: We are still trying to solve this problem. We think we will go measure distance by time as that looks to have more consitent results.
Did we achieve our Goals?: Some of it, we finished filming, and we worked on the autonomous, our team number, and the engineering notebook. However, we did not completely finish it.	Whats next?: We have to finish and print our engineering notebook, finish the autonomous and attaching the team number.	What will happen next time: Next time, there is going to be inspections from 7:30 to 9pm. We are going to check and see if we pass the inspections.

Today we finished up filming for the promotion video or the promote video, and Kristina is going to edit it by tomorrow (Friday). This took up most of the time, so we did not have time to finish everything we wanted to do. However, we finished up most of the engineering notebook and started on our team number.

I think that today's meeting was one of the funnest. We finished filming which was really fun. The whole team is very excited about how the video turned out (thanks Kristina!) Then we started to do some stuff to start getting ready for the PC qualifier. -Iva C.

Friday, December  2, 2016

Plan for Today: Finish engineering notebook, practice driving robot, setup for competition, go over robot checklist and inspection, practice the speech for competition	Problems that came up: No problems came up because we pretty much solved them all yesterday or days before.	How we solved them: We didn’t have any problems
Did we achieve our Goals?: Yes, we completed our engineering notebook.  We also practiced driving the robot so we can be completely ready for tomorrow.  We went over the checklist and inspection.	Whats next?: Tomorrow is the competition and we need to be all ready.	What will happen next time? Since next time will be after the competition, we will continue to add features to the robot for the upcoming events.  This time we will fill out the summary of the days on the day we meet.

Today we accomplished a plethora of things.  Since we were really confused at the beginning meetings, we did not complete the summary for those days.  We went back through our engineering notebook and recorded the information we did on those days.  Since the competition is tomorrow, we practiced driving the robot to make sure we know how to controll it.  We inspected our robot and reexamined the checklist to make sure everything was fine. OF COURSE A LOT OF DETAILS HAD TO BE DONE AT THE LAST MINUTE. THANKFULLY WE CAME EARLY.

I am very pleased with what we have accomplished so far.  The competition is tomorrow and we have completed mostly everything that needs to be done.  I am really glad that we have our robot driving and engineering notebook finished.  Our whole team is ready for this competition and we have worked really hard. - Kristina

Saturday, December 3, 2016

Plan for Today: Compete and give it our all!	Problems that came up: Didn’t know what to respond to the questions “what does gracious professionalism mean to you?” and “what kinds out outreaches have you guys done?”	How we solved them: We responded in the best way we could and after the presentation, we discussed some stuff that we could have improved on.
Did we achieve our Goals?: I think we achieved our goal today. We came, we competed, and we learned. We had a good day and will be ready for the next qualifier.	Whats next?: We have so much to add to our robots. We are going to be preparing and getting ready for what comes next.	What will happen next time? Next time is the first phase of Stephane 2.0. Our robot is going to see so many new parts and so much new technology at the next meeting of Ultimum Dominarum.

Summary of Competition

Good Job Team!

Today was the day of the PC Qualifiers.  We competed with our robot and our alliances.  We got 20th place out of 23.  Considering this was our first year in robotics, we believe we did well.  During the competition, our robot stopped working before the match.  Luckily we were able to get it working just in time.  Overall, the competition helped us see the work that will need to be done and was a great experience for our entire team.

reflection

We won the promote award!

I am so happy with our team. It is honestly amazing how far we have come. We are planning so many new things. We already have new designs and plans for outreach. Our team is going places. I am so excited that we are an all girls team and have gotten all of this done. It is truly amazing and I am so impressed. I loved today. I learned to depend only on yourself and not your alliance partner. Sometimes you face a lot of challenges and sometimes you face none. No matter how prepared you are, you always have to be able to improvise. Today was so great! - Kristina

This is where we keep everything that we need!

(It’s not that organized anymore:(

Monday, December 5, 2016

Plan for Today: Clean up our room. Discuss with our team. We want to talk about the competition, what happened, and what didn’t happen that should have	Problems that came up: No problems occurred.	How we solved them: We had no problems.
Did we achieve our Goals?: We did talk about the competition and strategized for the next one.	Whats next?: Order our parts for our new & improved robot. We want to discuss what we need to really make improve our robot.	What will happen next time? Order parts and discuss with other teams. Watch videos on how to build things. Learn how to code and work a color sensor.

Today, we didn’t really work on our robot.  Instead we discussed the ups and downs of the PC Qualifiers Competition.  We talked about what went wrong and what should happen next time.  Some parts were ordered in order to improve and rebuild our latest robot.  Because our robot for the competition had major problems when trying to score points, we needed to redesign.

I feel that today was sort of a relaxing day for our team.  For our first year, we did well in the competition.  I am excited to see what our robot will look like for the next competition and maybe we will come farther.  Since we can’t go to the next qualifiers, we are going to the competition in Thanksgiving Point.  WE have a lot of work to do if we want to qualify. - Audrey

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Cutting lexan is hard!

Plan for Today: Dismantle robot, cut lexan plastic to make new sides, order more parts	Problems that came up?: Some parts of the robot were really hard to take apart, we did not have enough lexan to make two sides	How we solved them: We kept on working at the screws, we didn’t worry about the lexan until we are going to use it
Did we achieve our Goals?: We did take apart the robot but that is basically it.	Whats next?: Build new robot and make it work like the last one	What will happen next time?: We will probably just work on building the new robot

Our team started to improve our robot by dismantling it and figuring out a way to make it better.  We found new wheels and new parts that we need for our design.  All of the teams talked about what happened and what we thought about the competition last Saturday.  We discussed the things that need to get done and that all of the teams need to have their robot completed after break in order to practice driving and become more comfortable.  This will help us gain more points and hopefully qualify next competition.

We had a very fun time today talking about what happened at the competition.  We took apart our robot which was kind of sad considering how many hours we put into making the first one.  However, we are going to make a new and improved robot that will have many features and hopefully take us to state.  I am excited to see what our robot will look like and to see it work!-Iva

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Plan for Today: Go over our list of things to do. Talk about important matters. Get researchid on things we need to find out. Start on our business plan.	Problems that came up?: It is hard to start on a business plan because our team is so new.	How we solved them: We are working to develop our team more and overcome rookie obstacles.
Did we achieve our Goals?: Not really. Since today was the first day since everything was back (due to Iva and Micaela being sick) we goofed off and had fun all back together again.	Whats next?: Build new robot and make it work better than the last one. Make a business plan.	What will happen next time?: We will probably just work on building the new robot and our business plan.

Today we conversed about future things that need to get done.  For example, the judges last competition asked us about the outreach that we have done.  We realized that we have not done any outreach which is why an email was sent to the Principal of Ecker Hill.  The email asked if we could hold an assembly to teach middle school girls about robotics.  Also, we went over parts needed, summer camps and the business plan.  We added multiple new sections for the business plan into our engineering notebook.

Parts We Need for Stephane 2.0

• 4 Mecanum Wheels
• 1010 t-slot bars- Length needed= 12 inches per bar
• 10 Series Short - Single Mount Unibearing™ Assembly
• Color Sensor
• Servos
• Beacon Pushers
• New DC Motors- 20 or 40 speed

Rest in peace Stephane 1.0 :(

Friday, december 9,2016

Plan for Today: Talk about future events	Problems that came up?: none	How we solved them: No problems
Did we achieve our Goals?: yes	Whats next?: Work on robot	What will happen next time?: Next time, we will work on our robot. We will also work on our business plan. Also, we want to try to find more business opportunities

We didn’t do much on our robot today.  We just discussed future events such as competitions and outreaches we can do.  Later, we will work on our robot next time and order parts.

Wearing our signature pink bomber jackets!!

Today, We thought about the design of our next robot. We discussed the points we want to get/ how we’re going to score on our next competition and made a thorough design that we want to achieve. -Micaela Olivares

Monday, december 12,2016

Plan for Today: Today, we will order the parts we need. Also, we will work on our new robot design.	Problems that came up?: It’s hard to do more because we don’t have parts we need to build or even program.	How we solved them: Working on other things.
Did we achieve our Goals?: Pretty much	Whats next?: Order more parts. Receive our parts. Start building our new robot.	What will happen next time?: Next time, we will work on our robot and order more necessary parts. We will also work on our business plan. Also, we want to try to find more business opportunities.

We weren’t able to do much because we don’t have a lot to work with. We discussed our new design and plan with Sheri. She told us what we could and couldn’t do. We made changes and kept working. We looked for a few possible parts, but were not able to find many. It’s also kind of hard to find parts when no one knows what the part is. Today’s meeting was not very productive. We didn’t get much done today.

I wish we were able to get more done today because we need as much time as we can to build Stephane 2.0. We discussed what changes we can make to make our robot to fit the criteria. -Kristina Schiffman

Wednesday, January 4,2017

Plan for Today: Today, we are going to further discuss the new design of the new robot.	Problems that came up?: We got distracted again. I think this is a problem with our team because we can never get stuff done because we keep getting distracted.	How we solved them: We just tried to get on track again.
Did we achieve our Goals?: Yes	Whats next?: We need to start building our robot as soon as possible.	What will happen next time?: Start building parts of the robot that we are going to need.

We weren’t able to do much because we don’t have a lot to work with. We discussed our new design and plan with Sheri. She told us what we could and couldn’t do. We made changes and kept working. We looked for a few possible parts, but were not able to find many. It’s also kind of hard to find parts when no one knows what the part is. Today’s meeting was not very productive. We didn’t get much done today.

I wish we were able to get more done today because we need as much time as we can to build Stephane 2.0. We discussed what changes we can make to make our robot to fit the criteria. -Kristina Schiffman

Friday , January 6,2017

Plan for Today: Get started on the sweeper.	Problems that came up?: We had trouble getting the pipe that needed to go inside of the other pipe so we can use put an axle hub on to spin it.	How we solved them: We didn’t give up.
Did we achieve our Goals?: Yes (We drilled and completed one side of the sweeper.)	Whats next?: We will complete the other side of the sweeper.	What will happen next time?: We will complete the other side of the sweeper.

Today we started the sweeper. We drilled holes and put surgical tube through them. Then, we drilled the sides and out a metal pipe through so we can put the axle hubs on. We had some trouble putting the pipe into the bigger pipe because they were similar sizes and one wouldn't fit inside the other.

Although not many of our team members were here, we still accomplished some things.  I thought it was very cool that we completed the sweeper because it was our first.  I am very excited to get a robot to actually put our sweeper onto. However, there were many difficulties to making the sweeper but we worked through them and completed the sweeper. - Kristina  

Friday, January 20,2017

Plan for Today: Clean up robot and fix screws for support	Problems that came up?: The whole robot was caving in	How we solved them: We added ad exchanged screws/nuts
Did we achieve our Goals?: Yes, we wanted to add more screws for the day and we did	Whats next?: Adding sweeper, chains, wires, battery and color sensor	What will happen next time?: We will continue making progress with the list on the left

Today, we talked and made a schedule for the weekend and the week after.  Because next week is the competition, we need to be ready.  We decided that our robot needed to be completed by Monday in order to be in the best conditions.  Awhile meetings ago, we built the main parts of the robot like the sweeper and the wheels.  Today, we planned to not use the wheels we built because they were very difficult to configure with what the time we had.

I feel like with our new to do list we will accomplish much more in a more productive way.  Last day we meet, Audrey and I made a metal plate to attach all of the power modules to keep them well organized.  It took a long time to successfully drill into the metal because it was hard to mark the holes on the plate.  We had to go back and redrill but we finally completed it and it looks amazing!.  I am excited to see what other parts on our robot are going to look really good. - Iva

Saturday, January 21, 2017

Plan for Today: Attach sweeper and chain	Problems that came up?: Sweeper axel was loose and the tape on the sweeper was bending	How we solved them: We tightened the axel on the sweeper and added zipties to support and make the sweeper stronger
Did we achieve our Goals?: yes	Whats next?: Program robot, autonomous, color sensor	What will happen next time?: Add wheel to shoot particle

We got a lot done today compared to our usual meetings.  Since we are coming close to the competition, we really pushed it to get at least a part of the robot working.  To remember what we need to get done we made a to-do list.  The list helped us stay on track and get things done more efficiently.  We got the sweeper to work and also learned how to make extensions for the wires.  The chain is working perfectly now.  

reflection

Today, we made the sweeper work.  It was really exciting to see it actually work because this was the first time that we have had a sweeper on a robot.  We also tested the robot to see if it runs.  The wheels work and are running except, they are going in all different directions.  This isn’t really a big concern right now because we just need the know that we are doing something right.  We can fix the wheels tomorrow.  - Micaela

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Plan for Today: Program everything!	Problems that came up?: The wheel to shoot the particle kept on pushing the ball into the side of the robot	How we solved them: We added another wheel so that it would be wide enough to shoot the ball
Did we achieve our Goals?: No, not all of the coding and programing was completed	Whats next?: Organize the toolbox	What will happen next time?: Organize the toolbox and get ready for the competition.  Make plans for Friday and basically get everything done before we leave.

Today, we decided to add another wheel to the robot to make the shooting process run smoothly.  Also, we completed previous meeting summaries because we haven’t really been caught up for awhile.  We figured out the wiring and some of the coding/programming.  The toolbox was organized and the beacon pusher was attached to the robot.  We also were able to drive our robot today.

Wednesday 25, 2017

Plan for Today: Program, complete robot,  add pictures to notebook,  complete notebook	Problems that came up?: The chain was really hard to move and it was messing with our sweeper.	How we solved them: Asked Sheri and tightened a screw
Did we achieve our Goals?: No, the color sensor and autonomous were not completed	Whats next?: COMPLETE PROGRAMMING!	What will happen next time?: We will continue the coding and get ready for the competition on Saturday

We tend to get a little distracted…

Summary of Meeting

Today Kristina spent time programing

with Jared. Meanwhile Micaela tried to

tackle this beacon pusher issue. She

ended up changing the plans for that

beacon pusher around 8 different times.

We ended up choosing the simplest idea.   

A double ram method!

Thursday Jan 26, 2017

Plan for Today: Have Kristina complete coding and add finishing touches on the notebook	Problems that came up?: Jared (the experienced mentor) wasn’t here to help Kristina finish the coding	How we solved them:
Did we achieve our Goals?:	Whats next?: The competition and practicing our speech	What will happen next time?:

Summary of meeting

We have gotten much done today. However, we couldn’t do anything that had to do with the coding like the color sensor because Kristina was sick.  ince she is the coder and the only person who knows how to code the color sensor, we were stuck. We also, had a problem with the shooter. We needed something to block the ball from hitting the shooter before we turned it on so we could move the robot without the ball shooting.  Our engineering journal was almost completely finished. We just needed to add more pictures. Iva and Micaela practiced driving and shooting balls. Other than these factors we are in good shape. The competition is Saturday. Hopefully we can get some coding and work done in the car tomorrow.

Wednesday, February 8

Plan for Today: We will start building the sliding thing that will go on our robot to hit the beacons during autonomous.	Problems that came up?: We could not find a particular gear that we needed in order to build the sliding thing.	How we solved them: We kept looking, we looked for an alternative.
Did we achieve our Goals?: We started to build it but we did not finish it.	Whats next?: Finish building the sliding thing.	What will happen next time?: Finish building the sliding thing.

Thursday, February 9

Plan for Today: Today we are planning to finish the slide for the beacon pusher.	Problems that came up?: Finding the right material for the beacon pusher.	How we solved them: Kristina found a scrap of some sturdy metal
Did we achieve our Goals?: Yes	Whats next?: Compete at the Utah State competition in Weber!!!	What will happen next time?: Compete!