End of Week 8

What we didnt accomplish

• Finish solidworks
• Fixing the gear ratio
• Creating a working robot

Although we worked diligently, we were not able to finish the robot in time for the competition. The competition was a failure. Next week, we have a chance to redeem ourselves. We did not finish the solidworks and we have no one to blame but ourselves. Time management is something we lacked. We will try to make improvements so we can be successful next week. Overall, this was a learning experience. It also helped improve our solidworks skills, slightly. Building the robot, overall was fun, we all just wish the end result would've been different.

The Middle of Week 8

End the winner of the tug-a-war challenge is:

• Not us
• Our biggest set back was our gears

This week we challenged the other robots in tug of war. We placed at the bottom of the bracket. We might not have won, but we created a working robot, for the most part, and we are happy that the robot was able to move. Our biggest problem was that we did not make sure the gears we secured. Because of this, our robot was basically falling apart while it was tugging. In the future, we have to make sure we have the correct gear ratio for the event we are doing. We also need to make sure all of the screws are on tight. Lastly, we need to make sure that the controller is working properly.

Start of week 8

Goals for this week:

• Finish the robot
• Finish solidworks
• Test out the robot

We have encountered several obstacles these past few weeks. Building is such a tedious task that has several variables to account for. It is extremely frustrating, but we are pushing through it. We hope that we can finish the robot in time for the competition, but we aren't so sure at this point. We are hoping for the best, but prepared for anything.

End of week 7*

What we accomplished:

• Changed the gear ratio.

Although we changed the gear ratio for the robot, we are unfortunately still having issues. We know that there is no excuse for this, but the axles are giving us issues. They keep sliding out of the motor when they turn. Some of the gears are not turning and we still haven't made progress with solid works. 

Start of week 7*

Goals for this week:

• Finish the robot
• Fix the gear ratio (again)
• Program the brain

Next week is the tug-a-war competition so we have to step up our game. Although working with this robot is stressful, we know what we have to complete. When we tested out the robot last week, it was built for a speed robot, not a torque robot. Our compound build was wrong, so we have to fix it. 

End of Week 6

What we accomplished :

• Fixed the gear ratio (again)
• Finished the mechanism that'll hold our weights
• Re-sized our robot because it was too wide

This week we did a lot of re-arranging. We found out that having our wheels on the outside of our robot made it 20' wide, when the maximum length is 18'. We moved the wheels into the inside and had to reposition the gears. We realized our brain wasn't working because none of our batteries were charged. Next week, we have to work on programming the brain with the remote control.

Start of Week 6

Goals for this week:

• Check to see if the motors work
• Discover why the gears aren't turning
• Finish the compartment that will hold the weights.

Although we are finished with the basic structure of the robot, there are still some improvements we need to make. The gear ratio we have is not turning when the motor is on. Also, the compartment we built for our weights is not yet finished. We also need to re-program the brain to make sure the motors work