Sept. 19-26, 2020
This week was a total blur.
Saturday: David Small from Team Malice came out to help with the build and get sweet test footage. We did our first driving/weapon test… which kind of failed. But that was ok! We packed her back up, ironed some things out, and were back to testing the next day.
Sunday: the day we’d all been waiting for. We had a hugely successful drive & hit test! We threw around a truck tire and punctured it. We hit Jeff’s old 30lb bot frame out of the cul-de-sac. We spun around in circles until the Vegas sun got too hot. A thoroughly encouraging day.
Monday: Graphics producer Tectonics signed on as a sponsor, which meant we could look like a real, polished team. Shea got them art files for pit banners and stickers.
PolymerShapes also stepped up, providing crucial materials for safe testing (a 4’x8′ sheet of 1/2″ scratch resistant Lexan we could stand behind from a distance) and 1″ thick UHMW and HDPE for top plate materials. Tectonics digitally cut lexan top plates for us, so we could see the internals without hassle during testing.
Tuesday through Friday: team shirts arrived, and Shea made and packed up survival kits for each team member. More importantly, the second frame was completely prepped, and the fully assembled robot endured constant testing and fine-tuning as Chris programmed the VESCs.
Then, Saturday again: more driving and hit tests! We test in one of Vegas’ many dead-end maintenance access roads, with a lovely view of the city miles away.