NO TIME!

Today marks the end of week four of the First Robotics competition build season, and what a whirlwind it’s been! This week has brought a series of new challenges and opportunities for the members of Team Driven.

The programmers are already hard at work, writing the first lines of code. The machinists are churning out parts and the CAD team is working on final revisions to the part files. Yes, it’s a flurry of activity here at the shop, but in the middle of it is the object of all of our labors; the thing that will bring us the payoff of all the long nights, and weekends. The robot, showing signs of great progress, sits in the shop with people swarming around it; plugging in wires, taking measurements, and installing new pieces.

Dugan, a machinist with Team Driven, comments on the week’s proceedings, “The week has gone really well! We got the robot driving and we’re working on shooting a ball accurately into the goal. The only thing that I didn’t like was that we ran out of Mountain Dew!” which is certainly true! Just take a look at Dakota’s ‘Mount Dew!’

Other team members praise the work of the machinist team and their work with the new CNC Mill, or the programming team for their precision work with the robots code. Luke Orr says “I believe [the week] has gone really well! It’s come to more perfecting the robot and getting down to more detailed work… and we’re starting to work out the kinks in the system.”

This week, the team also started getting ready for the upcoming open house, and the Chairman’s Award team is busy working on all the requirements needed to compete for the prestigious award. With all that said, the robot is coming along as smoothly as a robot possibly can. Week four comes to a close tonight at the shop, and a running robot is essential to the team’s success. In the words of Luke Orr, “NO TIME! WE GOT NO TIME!!!”

Posted by: Andrew Wright

February 3, 2012