At the end of week 6, we are nearing bag day! The robot was able to catch, shoot, and pass the exercise ball on Friday, which is very exciting!!! On Saturday, our team will be in Cedar Falls participating in the Iowa scrimmage, and also in Des Moines participating in the Science Center of Iowa’s Women in Science event. We are anxious for bag day, but can’t wait for a well-deserved full night’s sleep!!

This week, we accomplished A LOT. We tested the drive train, and ensured that it could make a smooth transition from one mode to another. Pneumatics were attached to the robots, powering the drive train and arms. We attached the arms and shooter to both robots. Our practice robot is extremely close to the finish line; with only one week left in the build season, we are quickly pulling all the pieces together!

Team Neutrino was excited to work on the basic frames for the practice and competition robots this week. Another major goal for us this week was to wire the robot and secure all of the electrical components onto the frame. The deadline for the chairmen’s submission is quickly approaching; we are continuing to make progress on the essay, four collages, and the video.

This week we made significant progress on our robot.

The pieces of the drive train frame were machined, deburred, and assembled. The butterfly modules were put together nicely, and will soon be put onto the frame. Sadly, we had to disassemble last year’s robot so we could reuse the more expensive components on this year’s robot. The programming team started working on the basic programs for the drive train and the shooting mechanism. One of the members also finished the outline for the Chairmen’s paper, and gathered the items that we will include in the final paper.

Our second week in the shop was very productive. We finalized our design, and began CADD and prototyping. Last week’s prototype was mainly to see if the overall idea of a slingshot and pickup would work. This week, the goal of our prototype was to match the dimensions of the CADD and test them. For the last two weeks, the parent mentors as well as some student members and mentors built and assembled the goals. These will be essential later for driver practice!