Freight Frenzu Meeting #7

 Meeting 7

DATE : 10/30/21

Agenda: Build! Thank You Mrs Billings!

Attendees: Coach Cynde, Sean Pakros, Jessica Hawkinson, Nate Humber and Mentor Dan Killeby

Objectives: Work on arm function, build our claw build our corner carousel and decide where to place the carousel wheel

Notes: 

We are signing a card and sending a big thanks to Mrs Billings! She donated her Makerbot and supplies to our team!! She stated that it was not as reliable as she wanted and that she has purchased other machines for her classroom. Now we can print items in our own workroom for our robot! Thank You so much Mrs Billings!!

Today, Sean and Skyler 3D printed a circular piece to match the fit of a locking hub and then 3D printed the claw hands!

We were having trouble with the tension on our arm and contacted Mentor Dan Killeby to see if he could look over our build and advise us. He worked with Jessica and showed us how our tension was just slightly loose and the difference it made to tighten it as well as why it worked that way. We also noticed that the slide was pulling to one side. Dan had Sean get the calipers and measure both ends of the last rail. One end was 3mm wider that the other and that was keeping the rail from extending properly and causing the pull. We found a replacement piece in out sets that was the proper width on both ends and replaced the other. We tested the arm and it ran very smoothly!

Nate worked on strategy notes for the team. He has a strong background in strategic thinking and has been considering how to score for gameplay and discussing with the group. He will write up a strategy section for our notebook. Nate and the team decided that it is more advantageous to collect blocks rather than balls, especially for the freight hub so that you are more likely to gather weighted blocks and tip the hub in your direction.

We created a casing for the claw and began to test the prototype by hand to determine how we want to servo to attach and what spacing the claw will need to open enough. The design seems to grab both blocks and balls but will need some silicon like we discussed earlier to hold the items. We will need some shorter  hex rails to keep our claw small and manageable.

We examined the carousel and decided that instead of trying to attach the motored wheel Jessica had designed, we could worm gear that design to incorporate the carousel wheel on the back wall of the robot more easily. We also decided that we would add a second wheel to make sure and target the carousel turntable.