It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Houston, we were all going direct the other way–in short, our first robot was not quite up to snuff (Charles Dickens). The first robot that our team is building this season has been completed, and the team has realized that there are a few, maybe even more than a few, issues with several of the systems. Thus, we have begun a new robot!
The new chassis is almost completed, so we will be able to begin mounting the manipulators in only a couple of days.
The climbing system and collecting system have also had a few tweaks.
Every year, our team makes two complete, final versions of each manipulator system, so that at our competitions, we can replace them very easily if they break. This also means that the manipulators have to be modular so that they are easily replaceable.
The team looks forward to the completion of the second robot, as well as to the beginning of driver practice and the upcoming Steamworks competition season!