Recap of Last Meeting and New Robot Ideas
We started by taking a few minutes and reviewing what we talked about last time. Then we made sure nobody had new ideas for the robot. Nothing completely new came up, but we realized that it might be hard to pick up samples with an arm that sticks so far out, so we might want a way to turn down the sensitivity. Then we talked about the difference between active and passive intakes (claws vs roller intakes) and learned what a servo is (it’s like a motor that you can tell what angle to go to). We also took a photo of “Blocky”, our prototype SAMPLE from last meeting.
Our FTC Field
We also talked about how we only ordered a half-field, and that when we do our testing we should make sure the density of SAMPLES in the SUBMERSIBLE is the same. We can do this by randomly placing our SAMPLES in half of the SUBMERSIBLE instead of using the whole space.
Core Values
Then we talked about the Core Values of FIRST which are:
- Discovery: We explore new skills and ideas.
- Innovation: We use creativity and persistence to solve problems.
- Impact: We apply what we learn to improve our world.
- Inclusion: We respect each other and embrace our differences.
- Teamwork: We are stronger when we work together.
- Fun: We enjoy and celebrate what we do!
Learning in Groups
For the rest of the meeting we broke up into groups. Some of us attended the S.P.A.M. Lego Camp over the summer, so we tried to make sure the groups were balanced with some people that knew how to work on robots and some people that were new. The groups did three different things with some robots that were already somewhat assembled:
“Mini Sonic” worked on getting an old FTC robot driving again, and got some time to practice on the Field.
“Ice Spice Elite” worked on a robot that was build in Lego Camp, building a plow to get SAMPLES into the NET ZONE, and attaching a bumper.
“Exploding Bacon” worked on a partial mecanum frame, attaching a control hub, battery, and connecting the motors.
Closing
We closed the meeting by cleaning up and talking about what we did and what we learned today. No homework tonight!