February 18, Thursday: Thank you Mrs. Normand for breakfast.

February 17, Wednesday: Sleep-over for the Build, Electrical and Programming Teams. Additional talent popped up for the blog updates! Apparently someone was holding out; a very welcome to the website team! Programming update: "It's the happiest day of the season! At long last we control the pneumatics for the kicker and the transmission!"Awards update: Cut a few words here, an extra space there...yes! Under 10,000! Hooray! The Chairman’s Award has been submitted! Now we cross fingers and hope for success!" Thank you Mrs. Stern for dinner.

February 16, Tuesday: Video team put the final touches on the video. The Awards Team went through yet another draft keep within the character limit. Yeah! The newest addition to the travel team got permission from her parents! Rooming was finalized for the San Diego Regional. Corrie Heck and General Heck visited this afternoon. It was a good visit and the various team members were able to answer their questions. Thank you Mrs. Stern for dinner.

February 15, Monday: More work was done on the web site. Lots of progress was made today on programming and pneumatic issues. Discussion on the original kicker idea was brought back to the table as the current set up may not allow enough power for a kick. Thank you Mrs. White for lunch! We really loved the cupcakes.

February 14, Sunday: Happy Valentines Day! Thank you to Chief Delphi for the programming love! Very motivational. Mr. Bill and the Build Team worked on the kicker.
Programming Team and Mr. Quintal worked on
the pneumatic system electronics. We were able
to get the compressor working off of the
pressure switch. We are working on the
solenoid release program. The Programming
Team thinks it may have enough questions up
on Chief Delphi to "take it over." We will keep
working on it tomorrow. We tested the actuator
mode for the kicker and it works. Mr. Chock
procured the Lexan for the electronics panel, and
top cover of the robot. He also procured some
paint, and looked for half-links for the chains. SAFETY initiatives. The Safety Captains demonstrated the sink eye-wash stations, and wall mounted eye-wash station. They also finished the San Diego reference sheet. Mr. Mori and the Build Team worked on the drawer for the cart. Afterwards, Mr. Mori built the Battery boxes for the shipping crate. Mr. Chock also generated a list of spare parts, tools, and supplies for the crate and carry on. Robot #2. The Build Team worked on bead-blasting the side panels of the robot. The Awards Team met with Mrs. O'Kelly to continue editing the Chairman's Award. Thank you Mrs. Quintal for lunch.

February 13, Saturday: Mr. Bill and the Build Team worked on the actuator mounts and the worm gear riser for the kicker. The gentlemen from Team 2444, Kamehameha Schools, came today to pick up some bumper carpet that we had saved for them. The drawer was worked on, and Marketing Team worked on sketching the Lancer Robotics design on the yellow canvas for painting. Mr. Shiinoki painted the drawer with additional coats of paint. Mr. Chock also added a second coat to the cart. SAFETY initiatives. The Safety Captains and their team continued to work on the initiatives, and the resource sheet for San Diego. Thank you to Mrs. Vacca-Farley for the lunch and snack, Mrs. Sanborn for the sushi platter, and the Murakami's for the snacks. We were very well fed today!




February 12, Friday: We are still having some interconnect issues with activating the solenoids for the pneumatic system. Mr. Chock called I'olani and Kapolei to get help, but we seem to have it wired correctly. He also was able to borrow I'olani's Digital Module for the cRio. Thank you I'olani! Mr. Shiinoki picked up some of the materials needed for the bumpers and kicker. Mr. Chock picked up the rest on his way home. SAFETY initiatives. The Safety Captains and their team members continued working on the resource list for San Diego, and the other safety items.

Thursday, February 11: Not sure if the error was an electrical/wiring issue or a software issue, members of the Programming Team went to McKinley, bringing them cookies. It appears that we have it wired correctly.





Thank you McKinley!

Wednesday, February 10: Mr. Bill and Build Team worked on getting the kicker to hit lower on the ball. The Electric Team and Mr. Quintal worked on sealing the leaks on the reservoir tanks, and setting up the solenoids for use with the Pneumatic module on the cRio. Programming and Electric Teams and Mr. Quintal had a discussion regarding the pneumatic interface. Mr. Wheeler worked on the goal simulator. College Mentors and the Build Team worked on painting the cart gold. Mr. Bill also lightened up the drawer to save on shipping weight. Thank you to Mrs. Stern for the snack/meal.

Tuesday, February 9: The Build Team worked on possible armature modifications on the kicker unit. Mrs. Kula called up the folks at McKinley to get some programming information, and we were able to get additional information regarding wiring for the pneumatics. We also were able to power up the pneumatic breakout on the cRio. SAFETY initiatives. The eyewash station has been installed, and two additional faucet eyewash station has been added next to it. Thank you, Misha. Mrs. Kula and the Programing Team worked on the autonomous mode, as well as getting the controls reset. Mrs. Kula, Mr. Quintal, and the team and had a discussion about the various autonomous programs required for various starting points. Mr. Wheeler assembled to Chain Damper for the goal simulator. A special thank you to Stryker Consulting for their generous donation of $2000 ($1000 from Stryker, and $1000 from First Contact via Stryker Consulting).

Real World Design Challenge: Although this was just the first time Lancer Robotics participated in RWDC, we placed 2nd for the State of Hawaii, out of 12 teams. Our team consisted of just three members of the FRC team and one of the mentors, Mr. Bradford Quintal. Congratulations goes to the first place winner, Iolani, with a team of seven gentlemen. Iolani school was also the national winner for last year.

A secondary "real" challenge was that this competition season took place during three other robotic seasons: FLL (we mentored teams & hosted one of the regional tournaments), VEX (we participated) & FRC.... -- from September to January 15.

Monday, February 8: The Build Team fabricated the new bushing mounts and worked on a new armature for the kicker. The Build/Electric Team and Mr. Quintal worked on the reservoir tanks. The team installed the pneumatic actuators into the transmission. The Awards Team and Mrs. O'Kelly continued working hard trying to nail down specifics instead of just generalities. They also provided an outline for the video for the PR/Video team. We had a SAFETY briefing regarding the recent safety survey the team took. We went over it and explained to the girls about the answers. Mr. Mori brought in the drawer for the cart. Mr. Shiinoki worked on painting the drawer. He was able to primer it today.

Sunday, February 7: The people who were not interested in the Superbowl were all in the robotics lab, working hard. We transferred the electronics from prototype robot onto the “real” robot. And…………….IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!! There were tears of joys in the room. Haha, maybe not..but still. We were all happy :D the joysticks are just reversed but the Programming Team can fix that. Yay! We are moving forward!!!!!!

Saturday, February 6: The new kicker has been installed by Mr. Chock and the Build/Electric Team, and it's really shiny. We buffed the parts on the buffing wheel before installation. We are making some slight adjustments due to the wheels being installed and getting the proper clearances. The Build/Electric Team and Mr. Quintal worked on the Pneumatic system platform and researched the wiring aspect of the system. They have decided on a dual solenoid (it is the term for the switching unit that opens and closes the air for the actuators) for both the kicker and the transmission. Due to the arrangement of the actuators (both the transmission and kicker have dual actuators), they will need to engage them at the same time. This has been addressed, and we will test it once the system is installed. Mr. Bill and the Build Team worked on the drive system, and we have installed one side. The second side should be installed tomorrow. We are planning to do an electronics control system transplant from Robot #1 to Robot #2 (basically moving all the electronics). This should not be difficult, due to the only component removal is the motors from the Jaguars. Everything else should swap over. The Programming Team, with Mrs. Kula's and Mr. Lee's assistance, were able to get Robot #1 back online. Mr. Shiinoki continued work on the workbench/display for the crate cover. Mr. Mori worked on the banner holder for the crate cover, and will be working on some additional lighting for the workbench/display. Mr. Wheeler continued work on the goal simulator, and has completed the ramps and backstop.

Friday, February 5: The Build Team helped fabricating the new parts for the kicker, and have almost completed the assembly. The Build Team worked with the old kicker to get a better idea of where we should be hitting the ball. Mr. Quintal provided the pulling power for the kicker. Mr. Bill worked with the Build Team on the drive system for the robot. The motors, gearbox/transmission, and chains have been assembled, and should be mounted tomorrow. Thanks to Mr. Lee, and Mr. Middleton, we have a streaming COLOR camera, sorry, no sound on this model. It can be found here http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sacred-hearts-academy . We will determine the hours of operation tomorrow during the safety briefing. This will be embedded into the website as soon as possible. We have replaced the 4-Port USB hub, and the robot is working. Unfortunately, during the demonstration for the open house, the transmission on one side slipped, and we had to replace the gear clip with a spacer. During this change out, the wireless connection got messed up. The robot will run on a tether, but not the wireless.

Thursday, February 4: We have swapped out the motors on the prototype robot and will mount it’s motors on the pneumatic transmission slated for the “real” robot. Prototype robot has the motors from the electronic transmission. SAFETY INITIATIVE: Misha has been informed of our request to install the eyewash station and move the fire extinguisher. He asked if we wanted to install an eyewash station like the ones in the science labs. He told us that they would need to be ordered and they were somewhat expensive. We decided to stick with what we have. He understood, and would get on it. Mrs. Quintal has secured us a 4 drawer filing cabinet that is fireproof (it is heavy due to the liner) to be used as a flammable materials holder. We will check to see if we need to install additional vents. The Programming Team read the programming manual to get more familiar with the terms. They also worked a little on the autonomous mode, and it looks like we will need to acquire a new USB Hub. Mr. Shiinoki worked on the Shipping Crate/Table/Display apparatus. Mr. Wheeler worked on the Goal Simulator Game piece. Junior Ring Ceremony was tonight; Congratulations ladies!

Wednesday, February 3: Mr. Bill and the Build Team began fabrication of the kicker arms for the new kicker. We will use the old kicker for testing. We tested the pressure switch on the pneumatic system and found it to be working within acceptable parameters. We will need to design a layout to incorporate the switch to activate and shut off the compressor when the pressure is dropping. Mr. Bill and the Build Team worked on the wheels, and axles for the robot. The Build/Electric Teamworked on the layout of the electrical platform for the robot. SAFETY INITIATIVES: The SAFETY TEAM worked on getting information for the San Diego trip. This included medical facilities, stores and and food venues. They are continuing to work on the requested safety items. We have also determined a location for the eyewash station which will be next to the last sink in the center of the room. The eyewash station will be on one side of the paper towel dispenser with the fire extinguisher on the other side. The wall is concrete, so we will need to get Misha and his Maintenance Team to help on this. Mrs. Quintal has also secured a filing cabinet to be used as a makeshift flammable liquid cabinet. The Programming Team worked on the autonomous mode. We also discovered a possible bad USB hub and will possibly need to replace it. We found information on Chief Delphi (a FIRST Robotics Team forum site) with a possible solution. We will probably order a few as back up (they were about $7 each online). Mr. Mori and Mr. Shiinoki worked on the storage drawer for the cart. Mr. Wheeler worked on fabricating pieces for the goal simulator game piece.

Tuesday, February 2: We cataloged what surgical rubber we have in stock, and searched for stock material for the new kicker. We also worked with the programming team to find the Spike relay, and the solenoid controller for the cRio for the pneumatic system. The Build Team took measurements to fabricate the platforms that will be used to mount the electronics. Mr. Shiinoki and Mr. Quintal picked up the wood for the cart drawer, and will begin cutting tomorrow. Mr. Wheeler dropped off the materials for the goal simulator. The Programming Team is working on the autonomous mode, and learning how to use the solenoid breakout for the pneumatics. The box repairs have been completed, and will need to be painted.

Monday, February 1: The brackets holding the kicker were rotated to lower the kicking height. We are in the process of fabricating additional arms for an alternate actuator configuration that would be more conducive for component replacement at the competitions. We are going to fabricate a breakout box of the pneumatic system to allow quick change of switches and actuators. The Build Team worked with Mr. Shiinoki replacing the spacers between the guard plate and the inside plate of the robot frame. The Build Team filled in the frame gaps with JB weld, and installed the spacers on all six wheels. The bearing plate bolts were replaced with buttonhead socket bolts. SAFETY INITIATIVE: Mr. Chock will pick up the eye wash from Safety Systems, and will drop it off tomorrow morning. The safety officers have gotten their projects, and we will try to complete them as soon as possible.

We had the iRobot workshop today for lower school kids from Sacred Hearts Academy, Saint Patrick’s School, and Ala Wai Elementary. We started off with an introduction by our head PR and head driver of the robot, followed by the 2009 promo video. The group first headed to the FLL class taught by the buid team. They did an excellent job for their first demonstration. Then they walked over to Mrs. Dewan’s room to learn about VEX robots from our head driver for the robot. They played a game where they pushed cubes into their specific goal area with the squarebots. The team of two boys were shocked to hear that they were on the pink team and the adults got a good laugh out of that. We headed down to the robotics lab to see what the FRC team was working on and we gave a small demonstration of the prototype robot. Overall, it was better than we expected it to be and was a success.

January 30, 2010: We fabricated connectors to attach the pneumatic switching unit to the cRIO sidecar. This will hopefully allow us to test the coding for actuation of the pneumatics. Mr. Bill and the Build Team worked big time on this. We are shooting to have it mobile by Feb 6. We are still searching for "skinny" pool noodles, and fabric for the bumpers. We are chasing down leads for the noodles. We may be receiving assistance from our friends from the Fondy Fire Team whom we met in Wisconsin two seasons ago. Mr. Chock and Mr. Shiinoki worked on repairing the forklift damage from last year's trip. It is coming along nicely. Mrs. Kula and the Programming Team continued work on the programming of autonomous mode, and other programming items. Members from the Drive and Build Teams worked on chasing the soccer ball with Robot #1, with a makeshift holding device fabricated by Mr. Chock. Mr. Shiinoki also fixed the battery holder on the Robot. Thank you to Mrs. Stern for providing lunch, and Mr. & Mrs. Acoba for providing the breakfast sandwiches and hashbrowns for today and last week Saturday.

January 29, 2010: We have installed brackets for one transmission, and fabricating the other brackets. Mr. Kashiwamura has finished the wheel spacers which will allow use of the wide tread for the half-track. The Build Team bored holes into the aluminum side plate to accommodate the transmission shafts. We are currently arranging components to keep the center of gravity as low and centered as possible. Mr. Bill worked on the mill to set it up for tomorrow. Some of the mill components were not quite up to our expectations, and we are correcting it as we can. We ordered a Hexagon Broach to help with fitting the drive components. Mrs. Kula worked with the programmers near the Performing Arts building for the autonomous practice. The Drive Team and their College Mentor drove Robot #1 around the bumps to get a feel for the tank drive system. The Drive Team is happy with the tank drive, and feels it is more responsive. Safety initiatives. The SAFETY Team is working on the displays for the robotic components (VEX, Lego, and FIRST) for aide in identifying parts. They are also working on a Tool Identification folder to help the new and incoming team members to identify and understand the tools in the lab. This will familiarize them to be more helpful to the veteran members, and help keep everyone safe.

January 28, 2010: The side plates were attached via carriage bolts. The Build Team had to square up the holes to let the carriage bolts sit flush. We will JB weld these in place. The filing took awhile, so we couldn't get the kicker up and running. Mr. Bill has requested some bolts, and a Hexagon Broach. We are looking into a hexagon broach to help fabricate parts we cannot get readily, and the bolts should be picked up tomorrow. Unfortunately, the broach is not a common item, and the cost is a slight concern. This would be placed into the "investment" category. The programming team met and worked in Labview. They are requesting a test stand for Robot #1 to test the autonomous mode commands. Mr. Shiinoki is building them a temporary test stand out of wood so they can run it in the lab.

Members of Team 2437 participated on campus in making bracelets to help awareness about Domestic Violence. In all, 1,000 bracelets were made, and will be sold on various school campuses around Hawaii, with the proceeds going to the organization.


January 27, 2010: The mounting brackets were finished and mounted to the frame of Robot #2. We will work on actuation methods tomorrow. Mr. Bill and Mr. Shiinoki along with the girls, helped to finish the bumpers which will be placed on the frame. Side panels were temporarily attached to the frame. Mr. Quintal will meet with Mark Kashiwamura regarding the insert for the wheels. We were not able to meet with the website team. We hope to eventually get with them, but they seem to be elusive. Mrs. Kula is trying to work on this also. The SAFETY Team installed a plastic backing for the shelving. This is to help block flying debris from getting to the desks, and computers on the desk.

January 26, 2010: The Build Team machined the kicker brackets down to a rounded shape. Some of them are getting very good at manipulating the tracking wheels. The Build and Safety Teams worked on fabricating some parts for the drive system. I also learned not to pick up an aluminum piece immediately after it has been just sanded with your bare hand, it's hot. :-)Thanks to Mr. Mori for bringing in the plywood and material for the Kamehameha team.The programming team worked on addition of button controls to the driver station. Mrs. Kula discussed how we wanted to layout the additional systems (pneumatic, and kicker). We will work closely with them. Mrs. Quintal had the girls count the remaining lanyards and buttons. There are 33 Lanyards (26 with tags, and 7 without), and 32 buttons (18 with plastic on the outside, and 14 with the plastic on the inside).

January 25, 2010: The mounting brackets were trimmed but not mounted. The bumper mounts have been installed with a few hiccups (some of the plates' holes were not quiet lined up). We were able to angle them in so it should be ok. Mr. Mori, and Mr. Shiinoki helped install the last of the gusset plates to the bottom of the frame. Mr. Mori will bring in the wood - (4) 37" X 5" X 3/4" Plywood pieces for the bumper mounts. It will be the same "light" plywood used for the bumps. Still working on getting it from black and white to color. Will meet with the website/media team to place it on the webpage.

January 24, 2010: We looked at where to place the kicker on the frame, and have gotten a better idea of where to place it. We will be testing it during the week. The frame is completed, and we will work on the internals (drive system, pneumatic mounting and electronics placement) during the week. Mr. Chock worked on the wheels for one of the robots by placing the tread material on the wheels and securing them. We fiddled with this today, and had a difficult time integrating it into the PC. We could not do it on Mr. Debo's computer due to the Administrator's rights not being available. We were able to get it to work on the VCR in the room (in color no less). Getting it to work on the PC was another story. It seems to be finicky about the connection and we need to find out what mode it outputs. The standard output has it in black and white on the computer, while the VCR displays color. We will work on this during the week to get it to feed to the website, so Mr. Debo can watch real-time. Mrs. Kula came in and downloaded the new tank drive system to the robot. Mr. Chock and Mr. Quintal verified that it is very functional. No lag, very responsive. We will try to get the Drive Team to test it during the week. We will also discuss our need for button assignments for the kicker unit functions, and method for using the pneumatic shifting transmission. This has been completed for the items in the robotics lab, and the binder will be placed for easy access should an incident occur. SAFETY initiative: We are also looking at getting a sturdy two drawer filing cabinet to place the flammable chemicals to help prevent a possible fire from starting. Thank you to Mrs. Stern for bringing in the Manapua, fresh cherries, and ice for the cooler.