Week Two - 1/11 - 1/17

at the Marathon Build Day, we assembled our control system and started assembling our kitbot, while assisting the other teams. Given that we are not likely to use the kitbot, we opted to use the kit wheels on an older robot to test the ability to actually drive on the playing field. There was more traction on the icy streets than on the playing field surface!

After rescheduling a meeting due to weather, we used the new information we gathered from testing (and the Team Update) to adjuste some of our assumptions. We broke into small groups and practiced presenting design ideas based on the previously accepted design goals. Thursday, finalVoting on final robot design was deferred to an online vote (due to inclement weather) to allow as many team members as possible to weigh in.

The control systems and programming groups worked on completing the customization and implementation of the C-RIO with mixed results. The initial benchtop testing was successful. The C-RIO was updated successfully, but the driver's station update was not. In the meantime, the electrical team started preparing to implement the new control system on the old (2007) robot.

In other news, Francis W Parker school finalized their recommitment to sponsoring the team, other FRC teams have begun sending in their RSVP for the 2/7 Lunacy Scrimmage, venue confirmation is underway (based on number of teams who RSVP), we have been moved from the wait-list to registered for the Atlanta championship (now we need $5K right away!), and Chris was accepted into Rensselaer (and received a 4 year Leadership scholarship).