1,2 CAD.

Today DA EX Bots finished mission 1 and worked on mission 2. We completed Mission 1. Mission 2 is almost finished, and we are working on getting the second ring.

Poppy and Hazel worked on the research project script by adding more information on our professional outreach. 

Poppy and Sierra programming Mission 1

Beej, Sage, and Badger did CAD up stairs with our mentor TJ. CAD (Computer Aided Design) is a computer program used to create 3 dimensional images. We are using it to create a picture of our gyrobelt. Today we worked on the gyroscope portion of the belt. We will post more pictures of the CAD design as it develops.

Beginning of CAD design

TJ, Badger, Beej, and Sage learning about CAD

~ Hazel, Poppy, Beej, and Bruce

More Batteries and More Consistency

We started out the evening with working on some robot runs. Coach G started our meeting and then we split into two teams. Zake and Sage worked on our prototype, attaching the fan and creating a box for the battery.

The second group consisting of Sierra, Hazel, Poppy, Badger and Beej (Bruce wasn't here tonight) worked on two separate mission runs. Testing out missions one and four, some of our most important missions. (We actually did all our missions ~Poppy.) Plus they tested out Badger new version of the guillotine. 

While they were "missioning" Zake and Sage went upstairs to work on finding out what we should use to power our gyroscope. We found that some of the best were Nook Color batteries. 

We all came back downstairs for a while long and then two separated to go back and work on the blog. Which we are doing now...

~Sage and Poppy

Reported and Aided in Design

Today we had a visitor. Mr. Mark Raeber from the O'Fallon Progress came to interview about FLL for an article. Hey, you win the first qualifier, and your famous! We showed him our robots, and our skit. He asked a multitude of very good questions.

Robot show.

Program and blog questions.

After Mr. Raeber left, we had a quick break, where we got a quick intro to CAD (Computer Aided Design), where sometime, we will virtually design the Gyro belt. This intro came courtesy of Sierra and Zake's older brother, TJ. A picture for your (instead of a penny, we don't have much to spend on) thoughts...

TJ made a pipe.

And another one.

After the break, we split up into 3 teams. One team worked on the skit, another worked on the blog and drawing a non-virtual diagram, and the rest of the team worked on the robot. 

It's time to go, but we'll get back to you Monday. See ya!

     ~Hazel and Sage

Ball Games and Medicine Bottles

Hiya! Today we divided up into two groups.  One group worked on making missions more consistent. The other group created an attachment that helped us pick up the medicine bottles from the other side of the robot.  Later on, after we "completed" Mission 3, we broke for our snack, which, sadly, wasn't gingerbread cookies. Hazel, Sage, and Poppy stayed upstairs to work on research. We read  an email that we received from Dr. Heike Vallery. In case you didn't know, Poppy and Sage emailed a group of scientists on Saturday, and Dr. Vallery replied. So that's who we were replying to. Dr. Vallery sent us a paper that he and 2 of the other people (which happened to be from the other paper we read), wrote together. Downstairs, while we were researching, Team Consistency was working on getting our robot onto the ramp, and Team X was still working on the medicine bottles.

The team talking around the table.

Sage and Poppy working on the Robotic Assistance for Human Balance paper.  


~Hazel, Sage and Poppy

New Ideas, Improvements, and More Research

Hello! This is Poppy, Bruce, and Zake here. Today we made a lot of progress in our research project and robot missions. First we broke into the same two teams as yesterday. We perfected the medicine bottles by using our color sensor and an axle that sticks out that will secure the medicine bottle preventing it from falling off. 

We got it!!!

We also perfected mission three, as well as an alternate route for mission four. 

In our research we sent a email to the people who wrote Robotic Assistance for Human Balance. These scientists in Switzerland created a backpack which contains several gyroscopes that can help balance seniors in an experiment.  We asked them questions about how big and fast were their gyroscopes, and how much battery power they needed.

Will have more next time!

Another Outreach!

This past Wednesday on November 28, we went to the Scott Air Force Base to outreach to a Lego Club at the Youth Center. We brought last years game board and showed them missions from last year.

Showing them the board/robot

 We showed them the program code and talked to them about are research project. We started a new program to have the robot go around the board and we included there ideas.

Showing them our  program

We even inspired them to create their own team!

Showing them our research project

Now that we've made it to State, we have decided to perfect our missions. This includes making the missions we currently have more consistent, as well as adding other missions we haven't tried yet, such as the ramp and the medicine bottles. We also thought about missions we might want to remove due too the time limitations. We started by splitting up into two groups, a consistency team who worked on the missions we have already programmed, and an experimental team who is currently working on the medicine bottles.
   

Sierra, Coach K, Badger and Beej working on the robot runs.

   Tomorrow we will try to fit in two blogs, one about the day's work and another about our outreach at the Scott Air Force Base Youth Center on Wednesday.

Our Experiences at the Competition

Hey this is Poppy here! I can't believe we made it to state!!! The competition was so much fun. We got to see other people's ideas and talk with a little girl who was interested in FLL. We lived and breathed our core values by sharing ideas with others, encouraging others in their success and downfall, and having fun dancing and laughing. A memorable moment was during our core values where we all had to make (using our bodies) a dog sled. It was hysterical!! Well I have to go now. I hope to see you at State!! 

Celbrating at Dr. Jazz Soda Fountain

Now turning it over to Sage......

Hi there! This is Sage, we are playing hot seat (which means same computer different people) blog tonight, because we are all so excited to talk about the competition! So, on with it. First of all, Happy Thanksgiving. We made it to state! And it soooo exciting! We were excited because, I mean, we've been working SUPER hard to make it, and we did! Plus, we get to go to Chicago! We managed to get the highest point award because of any awesome run by Beej and Bruce that scored us 346 points! We yelled so loud that Poppy and I were hoarse for about 10 minutes, but we got some water, and our voices were fine just in time for our research, but it certainly helped with our old lady voices :) We also got the Champions Award, with is basically means that we did an excellent job overall. I've got to go help some more now. See you at State!!

Here's Bruce.......

 Showing off

This year we competed in Illinois instead of the past two years, which we did in Missouri, and I have to say, It was pretty sweet. I'm so glad McKendree could host an FLL competition, and it was such an enjoyable experience. Beej and I scored the best run with 346 points! We had a great time competing with and meeting other teams, as well as fellowship with each other. Being my third FLL competition, I think it was the most memorable and most fun, and best of all, we're moving on! Can't wait to go to state! Working just as hard as before to surpass the status quo and do our best up in Chicago :D.

Now Hazel......

 DA EX BOTS

 Last week was our first competition of this season at McKendree University in Illinois. We won the Champions Award and were nominated for several others. We also have a Golden Ticket for the State Competition in Chicago! It was so much fun at the competition, meeting other teams and sharing research project ideas. I'm so proud of my teammates and how hard we all worked this season! We're gonna work even harder now that we're going to State. It will be the biggest FLL competition I've ever been to, with 60 teams! The competition will be tough, but I know my teammates and I can beat the pressure and perform as well as we always do. I hope to see you guys at the competition!! 

 Now turning it over to Zake: 

Last week we went to Mckendree University in Illinois.   I had a lot of fun and got to fellowship with other teams.  There were some teams that we know, like the Robo Bro's.  Our robot did really well and got first place. :)

Awards Ceremony...looking cool

Congratulations Champions!

Howdy! Sierra here.  The competition was a BUNCH of fun. It was the smallest competition I've been to,with only 14 or so teams, but it was still AWESOME!!! There were mostly rookie teams there, so we got to do a little mentoring. One cool thing about that was that the other two teams who advanced to state were rookies! Kind of reminds me of our rookie season two years ago:) Also, a big congrats to VX3, a first-time team in our homeschool group, who advanced to State with us. Great job, guys!!!!

Note VX3's awesome ballooon hats:)

The other team was a team that we mentored slightly during our community outreach to the boyscouts. We're soooooo excited for everyone!!Thanks for everyone's support, especially the parents!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I was the last one (except for Beej and Badger, who couldn't make it...), so bye for now!

*Sierra

On to STATE!

And we're back, with a short update about the competition!!!!

It went GREAT. Our highest score was 346 points, which put us in 1st place! For that we got the Robot Performance Award. Our other award was the CHAMPION'S AWARD,which is the biggest award in FLL!!!! Also, we're going to STATE in Chicago!!!

Here are a few pictures....

Us waiting for Technical Judging

Us with the other teams who are going to State.

Our best run.

We were really nervous before Research!

Well, except for maybe Sage and Poppy!

.

This is our research presentation to the judges.

Beej showing people our robot.

Sage setting up for a run.

Our Core Values Judging.

Celebrating!!!

More celebrating at Dr. Jazz, a local restaurant.

We hope that you enjoyed our blog post. Just as a quick note, we're taking the week off,so there won't be any more blog posts until next Monday. Also, since we wanted to give an update about the competition, Coach G made an exception about the rule of doing blog posts at meetings so we won't leave our readers on pins and needles!

~Sierra and Zake

A Quick Catch-Up

It's been awhile (literally), but we are back!!!

Unfortunately Coach G had to go out of town, so he was absent for 3 meetings, which is why we have not been posting. (That and we were lazy.....just kidding :) This has been a hectic, crazy, chaotic (along with any  other synonyms, as you see fit) week as we are coming upon the COMPETITION!!!!!! We have been finishing up our last mission along with ending Mission 2. We also have been editing, polishing, and practicing our skit for the COMPETITION (did we mention that was next Sunday.) Along with getting some pretty interesting, weird, odd, annoying, and overall fantastic props. (Including a hat that makes me look like I am going to a funeral; It is black, with tulle coming out the back and did I mention a random BUTTERFLY coming out of nowhere....and some nerdy glasses......in case you were wondering I am an old woman who breaks her hip @ Poppy). 

Here is our skit (unfortunately, Poppy was absent, so Coach G had to play her part):

Including our hilarious skit, we have been working on our core values for the COMPETITION (did we mention that was coming on Sunday the 18th of November...AHHHHH!!!!!!!) Being a team is kind of hard at times, but it's starting to come naturally seeing as we get together 3 days a week, 7 hours a day sometimes.

Finally we split up into robot run teams. Team 1 has Zake, Beej, and Badger.Team 2 has Poppy, Sage, and Bruce. Team 3 has Sierra and Hazel. We have begun to do practice robot runs in preparation for the COMPETITION. Unfortunately, this is our last meeting till the COMPETITION, so we're practicing feverishly on the Research Judging (including the infamous skit), the Core Values Judging, the Technical Judging, and the Robot Runs.

Our Robot Excel III:

Recently we finished our model of the gyro-belt:

As you can see, it is made of duct tape that resembles, supposedly metal (as the boys say :).

Our belt has 4 boxes each with one gyroscope inside. It also has a battery pack in the back wired to each gyroscope. Normally a senior does not know that they are falling until they are on the ground (Mr. B a physical therapist) When a senior starts to tip, the gyroscopes will give a little resistance to let the senior know they are tipping. 

We hope to see you at the competition; it promises to be a lot of fun!!! We advise coming from 12-3 pm for the robot runs, as observers cannot see the judging, which is in the morning. Oh, and did we mention that it's FREE?! See you there (hopefully).  

~Poppy, Sierra, and Hazel

 

Duct Tape, Visitor & Victory

                                            

                                          We had a guest today, by the name of Mr. Hooten.

The team, explaining to Mr. Hooten all about FLL.

We performed our skit tonight for the first time, and well, it didn't go very smoothly. But it was hilarious..

We also were measured by our wonderful adult "mentors" for our duct tape accessories.

 We started Mission 4, renamed Mission 1.5, and continued to work Mission 2.

We have to go for now, but check in Friday!

~ Sage and Beej

Today we first went over core values and explained how we used them in the past meetings. Next we split up into small teams. The first team worked on our prototype.Then the next team worked on the research . The research team found how gyroscopes work.The last team worked on the skit .The skit team had almost finished the skit.Later on we got a 

mission team together and finished the dog and the quilt.Last the mission team worked on the bowling mission.        

Masters Lyceum Outreach

Masters Lyceum is a Homeschool co-op that meets on Fridays which most of our team and other teams attend. Today, we and four other homeschool teams met and did a demonstration with the RoboRaiders, VX3, Robo Bros and Sparta Nation. Their were around two-hundred families who attended. 

The other teams gave us some pointers and we gave them some too. 

Stay tuned for next time!

~ Poppy and Beej

This is Hazel, Sage, Beej working on the skit.

  Today we finalized our T-shirt design. It will be a black dry-fit with silver lettering. We also worked on our skit, and almost finished it. Missions 1 and 2 are nearing completion. We modified our prototype design so it has 4 boxes containing gyro stabilizers that spin attached to the belt, instead of the entire thing spinning. It will be powered by a small battery pack that has wires connected to the boxes with the gyro stabilizers, so not every one needs its own battery.

This is the robot performing mission 1.

Research Day

Today, we started at 10:00 am and devoted the whole day to research. First, we decided our final solution for the project, which is a gyro-belt, powered by little batteries and a charger. the purpose of this item is to stabilize the senior citizen while he/she does things in their daily life. The first layer will stay still, while the second layer will spin around the first, correcting the senior's balance. Next, we had lunch, and then, we did a video chat with Sierra and Zake's Uncle, Mr B. who is a physical therapist. We learned  that when seniors fall, they fall backwards. We also learned that the majority of senior falls breaks their leg or hipbone. The hospital he works at gets about 500-700 patients a year. Then, we split up into groups. The research group, (Beej, Sierra, and Hazel,) The Gyro-testing group,(Zake, and Badger) and The Blogging group, (Bruce and Bara).

Brainstorming for our project

video chat with Mr. B

Article By: Bruce

Today, we did something different.we invited the Robo Bros, a rookie team, over to Coach G's house, which is the home to our playing field, to have a fun day of fellowship and sharing of ideas. Both teams talked about their robot and all it's technical features as well as showing some of their missions. We also took a break to eat and talk together. afterwards, we sat down and talked about research projects and the competition.

Beej showing some of the Robo Bros his epic programming skills

Sage explains one of the missions before she runs the program

Article by: Bruce

Missions and Decisions

Today we started off discussing our duties for the technical robot judging and dividing up the jobs. We have three categories in which we are judged.

1. Design Details-Zake, Beej and Sage
2. Robot Facts-Bruce, Poppy and Badger
3. Test Run-Hazel and Sierra

 That didn't take long. Afterwards, we worked more on Mission 1 and Mission 2. In detail, perfecting the emergency animals mission in Mission 1, and for Mission 2, Bowling, TV, and Garden Missions. We had a quick water break, where we discussed what trinkets we will hand out. When we got back, we talked more on the trinkets and also our team apparel (ie. T-shirts, caps, suspenders). For our T-shirts, we decided on the color black with silver letter lettering with a possibility of hats and/or suspenders. Then went back to working on the robot's missions. That is where we are now...

Our Robot, picture taken by Coach G

~Bruce and Sage

Our Research "Answer"

 
   Today we voted on what our research project is going to be.
The team had two main ideas for our research problem.These were, preventing falls, and having better Medical Alert systems that help respond to falls. We chose preventing falls as our problem. Which means we have to find a solution. Right now, as we are typing, the rest of the team is deciding what some of our solutions could be.

We discussed for about and hour and a half what we were going to do.  We watched a couple videos related to our subject for inspiration. Next we broke for snack, and then we got back to work... very slowly. We had a really hard time deciding what to do, I mean, we just kept arguing, but, Coach G got us back on track. Hence, we came up with the idea of preventing falls. Some of our ideas were...

• Improving eLegs (which is one of the videos we watched)
• A harness attached to the ceiling
• stabilizing legs
• anti-gravity challenge
• and air pressured floor

We've got to go for right now, but we'll add more later!

Keep checking our blog for lots of robotics!

~Sage and Bruce

 

Boy Scout Outreach

   This past Saturday, our team went to the Boy Scout Camporee on Scott AFB to do some outreach fun. We were there from the morning to afternoon, and we had LOTS of fun teaching and sharing with the scouts. We went to share our "wisdom" and experience, and encourage them to join or start their own team. We ran two of our half accomplished missions, the blue quilts (which sadly, ended up not working that day, probably because we were outside) and the bowling/ smaller TV/ yellow hook.

Taken by Coach G

     
   Sierra, Bruce, Hazel and Coach G were on the morning shift. Beej, Sage, Badger, Poppy, Coach G, Coach K plus Sierra and Hazel again were on the shift in the afternoon. The scouts were thrilled to be able to come over, watch our missions, and interact with us. They really wanted to touch all the models and well, be Boy Scouts (helping us out, ask questions, etc.). We politely explained that the models and robot were not to be touched by anyone but the team (thankfully that just drove them to ask more questions and want more information).

Taken by Coach G

        There was also a rookie team there to share their experience with others and with us. We in return, helped them out with working their sensors correctly. This team had a few technical problems with their robot. There were 10 members on the team (not including the coaches) and the were all from a local public school. They are planning on going to the same tournament as we are, so we might see them there!

Taken by Coach G

           There was also an FRC team there (with some of their huge metal and plastic robots that use actual wires that they have to connect themselves!) FRC can be really big and expensive, so mostly high schools do it, because it's harder to fund and find space for, so local or homeschooling groups can't usually do it. We had the chance to tell them about FLL, and they even admitted they thought that our team had a harder job because we had to do a research project and build our robot, plus the fact that our challenge has to be pre-programmed, while FRC can control their robot via remote.

Taken by Coach G

Stay tuned for our next post!  ~Sierra, Bara, and Sage