[Quality Assurance] Week One

The past week has been a very enthralling one for QA. From brainstorming to testing, we've seen it all. While we were primarily brainstorming and observing the first few days, we've moved on to significant prototyping and testing by Saturday.

What's happened?

Everyone's been very busy the first week. Manipulator has moved from the planning to implementation of their kicking catapult design. The first prototype was completed today and works consistently so far (video will be up shortly).

We'll continue to refine it as we continue. Drive train has ordered their pneumatic wheels and is CADing the system today. Monday they'll begin putting together the basics.

 Special projects has made significant progress, completing the bump and hoop frame today. Programming has determined their outline and began the actual programming yesterday. They've made serious modifications and huge changes to the system we used last year in order to improve functionality and efficiency. Wiring/Pneumatics has been diligently training the department as well as stripping old robots for parts we may need this year.

It's been wonderful to see the progress everyone has made in the past week. Already the robot and the team as a whole are coming together in a very real way. I cannot wait to see what the next five weeks will bring.

What's next?

We've still got a lot of work ahead of us, though. While drive train still has to put together the entire body and wheels, manipulator is looking at serious work spent on the ball picking-up device. Both of these tasks present serious issues that will in all probability arise. Everyone will need to be paying close attention in order to keep up with all the changes. Programming can start now on writing, but will have intense time constraints as far as actual testing goes. It will be crucial that they comb over their work in depth before implementing it. Wiring/Pneumatics, as usual, faces the very real threat of not having enough room on the robot for their work. In the past, we've somehow managed to overlook this critical need and have been scrambling at the end to find the space.

Overall, I'm very proud of our team's work so far. We've got a long way to go until the endgame, but we're looking at a great year ahead. Thanks to everyone for their hard work -- keep it up and GO 662!