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We started out our week with most of the crab drive components ready to be assembled. There were numerous parts, big and small, piling up on the table so we decided to order them into four sets. Soon, the assembly line was renamed the Chinese/Filipino sweatshop assembly line. We were arranged alongside the long table and divided into four groups with two people per module. It was a good turn out because, with two people working side by side, our large crew all got to contribute to the building of the chassis by assembling an important piece of it. The process took a bit longer than we expected as some of the drive components weren't made with enough precision and we had to custom-fit each module separately, but that was easily corrected by our professional machinist, Mr. Leong, who cut new spacers within minutes.

After we finished putting together the drive modules, we had to start cutting raw Bosch aluminum for the chassis frame, which involved a lot of drilling and milling work. Mr. Ing told us that the chassis would consist of three parts, two lower side frames where the modules would be mounted and a double-Bosch rectangular chassis top which is connected to side frames by eight short bars serving as spacers. We began by cutting some Bosch to length and putting together one of side frames measuring 37.5 in by 7 in. After that, we cut out mounting plates from aluminum sheets with a variety of thicknesses (1/8 in, 3/16 in, and 1/4 in). In order to make the chassis robust yet as lightweight as possible, we had to carefully plan out which type of plates were to be used in which section of the chassis and drill holes in the some of the plates. We needed two for each module, one for the DENSO window motor, two for the idler sprocket, and another two for the transmission, with a total of seven plates to cut. Meanwhile, Mr. Ing cut out the 32-tooth idler sprockets and 18-tooth sprockets on the CNC. After all the materials were ready (many of the plates turned into swiss cheese slices!), we compiled them and chained the modules to the transmission with the double sprocket and two short chains and to the window motor with a long chain. After making sure that the side frame worked, we mirrored the other side frame by going through the whole process again.

Toward the end of the week, we were able to cut some 1 by 2 in Bosch, assemble the rectangular chassis frame top, and put together the whole chassis using the eight precisely cut short bars. We were able to meet our scheduled deadline and turned our chassis over to the electrical/programming crew.

This week was a busy but good one since we got a lot of machining and assembling done and we are making steady progress. Asides from our workloads, we had a fun time playing a game guessing how much the chassis and the electrical board would weigh. The sad news is, however, that the chassis was over 50 lb and the board added another 20 lb or so, leaving us only about 50 lb left for ball manipulation. Hopefully, things will get better next week and our progression will continue for the remainder of the season.

This week we continued to work on the electrical components of this year's electrical board. During the beginning of the week, the veterans got the Dashboard and camera to work. Due to the fact that the kit chassis is in a long configuration, the auto tracking feature of the default code did not align with the target properly. After adjusting the PID a little, the veterans were able to get the camera to auto-track more accurately. While the veterans were working on the camera, the newer members continued to work on their respective sensors (encoder, solenoid, and potentiometer). By the time the weekend ended, the software and hardware components of their sensors were completed. They were also able to finish up the prototype pneumatic system to test the solenoid on the electrical board.

After the newer members were done with their assigned sensors, they were given the absolute encoder and limit switch to work on. A strategy session also took place where the we discussed how we wanted the robot to play the game and what we needed to do over the remainder of the week. After the meeting, the members were given tasks. Some of us worked on testing the number of times the small piston could shoot with four full tanks of pressurized air. Others worked on getting the IR sensor to work. Finally, the remainder were given the tasks of starting on the input/output board, testing the camera's max range, and measuring what height the camera needed to be in order to see over the bumps.

For the rest of the week, we worked on our assigned tasks. The number of times the small piston could shoot with four full tanks of pressurized air at 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, and 10 psi was tallied. After this testing was completed, Mr. Ing now wants us tally how many times the piston can shoot when going from 60 psi to 40 psi. Meanwhile, work on the IR sensor found that some of the sensors did not work and it took some time in finding a working IR sensor. After finding a working IR sensor and making a working program, we discovered that the program did not work properly. Eventually, we found that the IR sensor was not getting enough power; it needed to be connected directly to the power distribution board instead of being powered through the digital sidecar. While all of this was going on, we were also able to install the servo on the camera and test the range on the camera.

During the week, we also got new encoders from Mr. Ing. These encoders were to be used for the crab drive being built. The team members also had more tasks other than their primary tasks where the veterans needed to continue to work on the crab drive program while the newer members had to figure out to get the absolute encoder to work.

Another week has gone by. We continued to create props that are needed for the animation. We learned and practiced the spline modeling method and polygon modeling method. The spline modeling method is when you create something from a two dimensional shape and then modify it from there. The end result would be three-dimensional when rendered.

The dolphin has been done first with connecting lines and then converting the shape into an editable polygon. With the form changed, there are more options to modify the object to three dimensions. When an object is converted into an editable polygon, simpler modes are broken down to modify your object: vertex, edges, polygon, and element. The train started from a basic two dimentional spline and then converted into an editable polygon. From there on, the (sub-)object modes are taken advantage of to create the basic shape of the train. As of now, the train is about 3/5th done. On the other hand, the resort center was built completely from three-dimensional objects and then modified using the editable polygon mode. However, splines are still used for the text, then extruded into a three dimensional object. Other props like the palm trees, chairs and tables are a combination of spline and polygon modeling method as well.

We also worked on the particle system. The particle system is for the splashes from the ocean and the wind. Last year's animation did not look realistic because there was little wind and splashes of water in it, but we're okay with the ocean right now and we just need to learn how to animate it. The train is coming out pretty sweet and just needs to be smoothed out more and the windows and textures applied to it.

This week, we have continued on with our main projects: the Woodie Flowers Finalist Award entry and the Chairman's Award entry.

The Woodie Flowers Finalist Award essay has been coming along nicely, although it admittedly still needs a lot of work. Some major editing must be done; there are some repetitive details and a sense that something is missing. Even the chief writer of the essay laments that there is no "pizzazz" (whatever that means). We shall have to work on that over the course of the next week.

The Chairman's Award essay also needs more details, especially about the mentors and alumni. Although the idealism is nice, there needs to be more concrete details to give our ideals a solid foundation. Then, once those details are added in, we have to make sure the essay is still under 10,000 characters (including spaces and punctuation). There is also the Executive Summary to write, but that will hopefully be the easy part.

We're also working on the video which is part of the Chairman's Award entry. We have come up with the basic idea, but that skeleton needs to be fleshed out. We chose our cast members, wrote a tentative script, made some of the props, and tested out the equipment. What remains to be done is to fix up any script issues, finish the props, and actually start filming it already. This will require the effort of everyone involved, but it's feasible.

Along with the essays and video, we have also continued gathering pictures and captioning them for the website. But now the website team has extra help and is caught up and won't be needing us to caption anymore past competition pictures.

The design for our yearbook page has also been coming along nicely. Once we finalize the design and have everyone sign the proper forms, we shall have something to submit to the yearbook committee for them to include. Those pages will serve as both a souvenir for the former members and an advertisement to draw in future members.

As a fun side-competition, we have been taking pictures like crazy just to outdo the other sub-teams' albums. That is actually not the reason we should take pictures, but hey, it keeps us happy. Whether or not we're in the lead depends on how the electrical team's album is coming along. We are neck-and-neck with them! We must take more pictures! On the bright side, now the website people shall have plenty to choose from by the time we're through.

Next week, we will continue on with the aforementioned tasks and also create scouting sheets for the upcoming competitions. The PR team shall continue to work hard and overcome any additional obstacles along the way. Two weeks have passed, and we are still happy to be part of the team.

This week the website team worked on the Week 1 progress and the Past Competitions page. We organized the pictures and put them in order according to date taken and made thumbnails for the pictures. As for the Past Competitions, page we also made thumbnails for the pictures to be included.

Excluding updating our website and resizing the pictures, we managed to collect member profile information from each of our members. We also made questions for the members to answer. For example, why they wanted to join TKM and how robotics changed their lives. As for next week’s plan, we will finish the Past Competitions page and are hoping to finish the Members page also.