Our last official week of build season was incredibly busy, with amazing progress being made on every aspect of the robot. Though we did not completely finish the robot, we still have few intense meetings left to fix and finalize our bots, Europa and Callisto. The end of week 6 concluded with our Week Zero Scrimmage, which we will be posting about soon! 

The shooter subteam was very busy, between completing Rev1 of the robot for the scrimmage and almost finishing Rev2. The shooter hood was able to be fabricated using the CNC and was riveted on the conveyer. The timing belts were added and polycord was welded for the conveyer. One of the highlights of the week was that the intake was fully assembled, complete with a set of wheels. For the upcoming meetings, brake sensors will be tested on the mechanism.

For the hanger subteam, they were able to complete a revised version of the winch that was smaller and more effective. The mounting was also fixed on both the winch and the lift system, which required fixing some issues with the chains. A height problem was discovered, so the girls adapted the hooks to be smaller. Finally, they tested the winch mechanism.

The control panel/chassis subteam were able to finalize their plan for the control panel mechanism after prototyping for a few days. Its position on the robot was also confirmed; the prototype design had to be modified to fit the new location on the conveyer. Fabrication of all the components also began and will be continued on the CNC and with the mechanical subteam. The main question in relation to the chassis was how it would hold up at the scrimmage, but it proved to be durable and well-designed. 

The electronics subteam made a lot of progress during week 6. They cut out the e-Board covers and moved the PCM to Europa, our competition bot. They attached sparks to the e-Board for the shooter mechanism. Additionally, they discussed sensor placement and limit switches with other members of the team to determine the best solution. The camera was mounted on Europa in preparation for the Week Zero scrimmage. 

The programming subteam began a period of vigorous work, as many mechanisms were able to be tested and programmed at this point. Their week was very dynamic; the code for the intake, conveyer, and shooter mechanisms were finished. Additionally, the girls made the button map after consulting our driver for her preferences. The camera feed to be implemented in the robot was also worked on during this week. They also started work on the autonomous code, which would be tested at the scrimmage. Overall, the goal was to have a functional robot, programming-wise, for Week Zero.

Another effort related to the upcoming competition is the updating of the robot cart.  It is being reinforced and will have sliding doors this year.

All the girls put in extraordinary efforts this week to further every aspect of the robot. As competition season descends, they are as ready as ever to take on the new goals and challenges of this time of the year.