REMINDER: Club Meeting, Dec 12th

This is a reminder that there is a MANDATORY meeting tomorrow, December 12th, after school. It will run (hopefully) from 4PM to 6PM. Meet downstairs by the computer department offices, like we do for most after-school meetings. Meeting Goals

• decide on robot/team name (???) (nominated by Michael)
• two new consent forms required by the school board will be distributed. These must be signed and returned ASAP — preferably on Thursday morning. (nominated by Mr. Fernandes)
• finish major work on robot — install top bar on front of ramp and non-slip “hood” for bucket (nominated by Mr. Fernandes)
• bring Engineering Notebook up-to-date (nominated by Jonathan)
• cut a full set of 50 rings (can we do this during the day?) for testing and practice (nominated by Michael)
• update manual program to latest revision, perform stress testing (nominated by Michael)
• develop (and test where possible) autonomous code (nominated by William)
• develop strategy for event (nominated by Michael)
• decorate robot (nominated by William)

Personally, I’ll try to make sure DWITE doesn’t take too much of my time. Since I’m no longer the sole programmer on my DWITE team, I should have time to actually do things this time around. ^_^
(This notice was sent to all members via e-mail.)

REMINDER: Club Meeting, Dec 5

Hey team;

This is a reminder that there will be a Robotics Club meeting tomorrow, December 5th, after school. Meet downstairs by the computer department offices, like we do for most after-school meetings.

Meeting Goals

• distribute consent/release forms required by FIRST to participate in the competition (nominated by Michael)
• make travel arrangements to competition at Woburn Collegiate Institute (2222 Ellesmere Road (Markham Rd and Ellesmere) in Toronto) on Saturday December 15th (NOTE:This is one week Saturday!!! — nominated by Michael)
• fill in the engineering notebook, come up with plans/ideas on how to make this less painful next year (nominated by Michael)
• fix ring storage/release system (nuts currently prevent rings from falling smoothly — nominated by Jonathan)
• ensure conveyor belt can pick up rings (add non-slip pad? — nominated by William)
• usability testing of robot program (if robot is working, then test how easy it is to drive, etc.; see if controls can be mapped differently — nominated by Michael)
• complete robot body (nominated by Cyrus)

If for any reason you need the consent/release form now, you can do so by downloading the 2007 FIRST Consent and Release Form (138 KB) and printing it out. Please note that this form must be signed for the competition or you won’t be allowed to participate. Also note that additional forms may or may not be required depending on what travel arrangements we make for the competition.

Here’s hoping for good weather tomorrow. Hope to see you there!
(This notice was sent to all members via e-mail.)

REMINDER: Club Meeting, Nov 28

Hey team;

This is a reminder that there will be a Robotics Club meeting tomorrow, November 28th, after school. Meet downstairs by the computer department offices, like we do for most after-school meetings.

Mr. Fernandes was kind enough to let us place the order right away. Depending on whether parts arrive tomorrow or not, we may or may not be working on the robot itself. If not, I’m sure Jonathan will find something to do.

I personally will not be attending the meeting because of a group project. (Somebody else needs to write an entry in the notebook and/or online and stuffs.) Good luck!

(This notice was sent to all members via e-mail.)

Edit: When are we going to deal with the consent/release forms? BTW, the rings are 1″ thick pieces of 3″ Schedule 40 PVC pipe. Of course, no one sells pipe online, so we’ll have to figure out which stores (if any) sell them in person. >.<

REMINDER: Club Meeting, Nov 21

Edit: We came to the conclusion that we need to figure out what the Town of Markham meant by invoicing before proceeding, and that paying almost $70 US for “next-day” delivery (in US)  is the only way we’ll get the parts by next week.

Hey team;

This is a reminder that there will be a Robotics Club meeting
tomorrow, November 21st, after school. Meet downstairs by the computer
department offices, like we do for most after-school meetings.

We will be discussing our future vision for the robot (i.e. what parts
we’re going to buy next), so please come out if you have the time!

Hope to see you all there!

(This notice was sent via e-mail to all team members.)

Missing parts obtained; Meeting on Monday

Update: Mr. Fernandez was able to obtain the missing parts. (Thanks for going to all the trouble!) For those who are able, please meet in the usual place at school on Monday, November 12th (yes, on the PA/PD day) at about noonish — we will be working on the robot. (This will go until about 3 PM.)

Hey all–

Jonathan and I stayed after school today (until ~4PMish) to do the full inventory of the parts. (The inventory step that I skipped during period two… oops.) We turned out to be missing a significant number of parts.

Mr. Fernandez said he would go to the supplier if he got the chance to explain the situation and try to work something out.

If he does manage to exchange the kit (or at least get the missing parts) without issue, Mr. Fernandez has offered us time to work between 1 PM and 3PM on Monday (which is a PA/PD day). He will send me an e-mail about how things went by Sunday, if he manages to. If we do meet, then meet at school at about 12 PM on Monday.

Upcoming Events

October 31 – $30 due for Team members

November 17 – Practice Competition (Ontario Science Centre)

December 1 – Internal Design Deadline

December 15 – Official Regional Competition

Because we have already lost a few weeks of potential design/build/programming time, we hope team members who are able will spend some of their lunches to help get the robot together (assuming we find teachers to supervise during those time periods).

Club Meeting – Oct 31

We will be meeting on October 31st after school with the computer club. Bring $30 to help pay for the starter kits.