CHRISTMAS + HOLIDAY=TV DAY + ROBOTICS! Also, in addition to TV and robotics, you get presents for Christmas. I got some Lego parts, some motors, a lego battery box, and some shoes that I have been wanting forever!!
I finished a mockup of the robot I'm making. The mockup has a catapult, an intake, and a conveyor belt. All is well, and the coding is too, so I will put the conveyor on the drivetrain. Big news, it was a success! But, the catapult was more challenging. I had to build the supporting beam somewhere else, but eventually everything worked out.
Today I attached the intake to the drivetrain on the conveyor belt, and I was finished with the robot! But I quickly realized 2 things. The catapult always shot up instead of curved to the goal, and the conveyor belt never was long enough to score! So, I first made the conveyor belt longer, but I realized then the powering the conveyor would hit the goal wall, so I couldn't. So, I moved the motor to the other side. To make the catapult reliable, I made the string a little bit longer, and I made the springs push diagonally instead of vertically to increase power to score the ball. It worked!
Today I worked on coding my robot, since it was all finished. I figured out that turning the motor 900 degrees would lower the catapult to the shooting position, and I attached a bumper sensor to see when the ball is in the right position, and then it stops the conveyor so the ball is close to getting out. It can also can score the high goal to clear all 4 switches, and it is just the right robot for passing to others, though it could take some improvement, such as making the intake reliable, and building a wedge so the ball doesn't get stuck, and a back aligners so it can automatically align itself instead of manually.
In the last 4 days I told you about my nex robot that I made myself, with some ideas from dad. Thanks. It was based off of a robot that I saw in Florida, team 680A. They won 1st in teamwork, and they also did good in skills: 12 ball autonomous, and 13 ball driving. So, I thought that maybe our team could also make a robot that is like that? It would be good at passing, could shoot high and low, and it would be light so it could go faster. But, since a good number of teams are conveyor belts, we probably would not get build award or think award. But they aren't too important, since they don't qualify for anything big.
Today I had the first math meet with Lydia and Murphy. Xizhen was supposed to be there, but he was skiing. I don't blame him. I love skiing, and I would do practically anything for just a 2 hour run at Snoqualmie. And, the robotics meet was not vey exciting, except for the part where I chased Murphy everywhere, and Murphy bowled me with a lego tire, and then I tried tagging him, but he was too fast. For math, we did a few sections: Team multiple choice, Team answer, and mental math. I did the best for team multiple choice.
Today dad made me read a story about something interesting, so I picked the first one. Thankfully, this one was good.
A while after world war 2, most beret companies had vanished because of lack of customers. Only 2 were left: _______ and ______ ________. Those beret making companies only stayed alive because they made berets for the United Nations security so it would look less intimidating than hard helmets. Also, they made berets for army boot camp training grounds. One also made berets for models, like Christian Dior and Hermes, because they thought it was fashionable for them to keep collections of berets.
Ironically, the berets were for traditional purposes, but instead the tradition stayed alive because of rich fashion models.
I feel like the whole beret-making industry is a big fail after the year 2010 because nobody wears them! Instead, you should sell the machines, make money, and turn the company into something else, like Sherman Williams but better.
Today I finished all my things (Reading, Diary, Robotics, Chinese, Math, and Sports), and I feel good! I haven't gotten this feeling since a month, and I also feel proud that I finished everything, but I also feel happy cause... ITS NEW YEAR'S EVE! Today a giant disco ball will drop in NYC (New York City), and maybe we will watch it and stay up all night. Also, I figured out how to cook in Shell Shockers: use grenades often, and also use crackshot! It can one-shot, and even though sometimes the reloading is slow, but you can switch to pistol with the "R" key on the keyboard.