Diary - October 2024

october 1, 2024 - fun time! 

Today I had fun. I finished everything quickly, and I did all mom told me to do: Homework, English, Diary, and Chinese. Also, I plan to read Space Case, because mom just got it for me. Also, I think I will get to play Terraria today! And, I feel very happy. Also, I am craving some pizza, and I want some new Legos.
Legos are always fun even after you finish building them. You can take them apart (Like me!) and make new things. My old car transporter (non motorized) has become a motorized car (with the help of dad, he got me a few moters, but buying them was totally worth it. I built a car that can actually turn!). Also, I need more moters. I don't have any more, and I also need some more gears. I am running low, and I can't build anything fun without them (e.g. ski ramps, cars, motorized ramps, and also fun contraptions.) 

And, I love Lego. I don't actually like vex pieces too much, but dad still buys them for me. It's weird how he buys VEX but not Lego...

october 2, 2024 - early again

Today I finally figured out why every day I finish everything early! I realized that mom and dad shortened the number of things needed to complete a perfect day! Now, it is homework, English/Math, sports, and diary. And chinese, but you can swap Chinese for soccer. And, I have lots of time after school to get things done. Also, I am getting good lunches these days, and it usually is pasta, pizza, rice and fried eggs, and some other stuff. Also, I still want more gears and more motors!!!

But, motors aren't cheap. All the cheap ones are rip-offs, and they aren't actual lego, therefore I cannot conect the rip-off motors to normal lego. Also, that is a reason I don't enjoy lego. Nobody makes lego motors these days, and they aren't the kind I want (e.g. servo motors, small motors, a hub, a motion sensor, and medium technic motors.) I honestly will take what ever kind of those motors I can get.

Good news! I found a motion sensor at home, another motor with it, and a move hub. I don't want the mover hub though, because I want to make a car myself, not buy a pre-made one!

october 3, 2024 - school

Today I will report about the lunch today. It was pizza (pizza is usually very good, but somehow the school manages to ruin everything about the pizza. The crust is too thick and soggy, the cheese is just nasty, the tomato sauce is artificial, and the pepperoni is turkey.) , and everyone managed to choke it down, but some people decided to eat a sandwich. Good choice. The sandwich is actually good, even though it is sunbutter and jelly. (probably because of allergies.) Usually, the milk is the best part (and the cheapest!) , and some people even get extra milk because it is good!

The only good school lunch is Nachos (yes, I tried one, and out of all the kids I would say it is 8/10 in school standards, still pretty good.), because the meat is good, the cheese is also great (it is shredded) , and the tortilla is crunchy. Another good one is chicken nuggets. It is fairly good because the ketchup covers up the bad taste of the chicken. Even though this is one of the good ones, I would like to remind you that the chicken nuggets look and taste like chicken strips, as of Harvey and George. The actual good ones are the french fries and the sweet potato fries.

october 4, 2024 - Carnival!

Today is the Cherry Crest Carnival! It was super fun! Dad donated 150 dollars, enough for an unlimited wristband. The unlimited wristband means you can play unlimited games, unlimited times. But, even though your wristband is a fast pass, you still have to wait in line for the inflatables for some reason. That defeats the purpose! Also, they have 25 tickets for 25 dollars (I already have 10, which is enough), which is not that fair, but it means pizza, cotton candy, and 2 drinks is 10 dollars. Kinda cheep. Cheep cheep cheep. I got 2 cotton candies, and a slice of pizza. Then, I gave the rest of my tickets (I found 4 on the ground, plus dad gave me 5) to my friends, because I had robotics. That was a good choice.

At the robotics meet, Eric and Grace designed a new system for the ratchet so the outtake spins out when the intake spins out. Erics dad made a big point of this being a good idea, but me and Bobby were practicing passing and our plans when we start. I have to say, He is not bad, but I keep getting into the loading zone before the ball touches the ground, and passing the ball to the wrong place. Thankfully, I am the backup driver, so in case Bobby or Aiden are not here, I drive for one of them.

OCTOBER 8, 2024 - first swim meet

Today I went swimming at Bellevue Aquatic Center. The water wasn't as cold as the name stated (the name was "Blue Lagoon"), but it took me 5 minutes to get used to the water. Also, the swim meet was only 30 minutes. Not very long if all you DID WAS SWIM WITH A BOARD!!! The age group was 6-13, and everybody expected you to swim 50 meter freestyle. I mean, everybody can do it. And, backstroke was the easiest. All you do is keep your arms spinning and kick. Then, you can relax a little. 

I felt like it was a little easy, to be honest, but hey, at least it wasn't to hard. Last time dad signed me up for a swimming class, the swim class could swim 500 meters straight, and they could dive down 10 feet into the water. My head would bust in that water pressure. I also tried training myself for it (holding my breath for 5, to 10, to 15 seconds. None of that worked, and at the end, I almost fainted.

Usually, something easier than what you can do is the best, because everybody in your group will look up to you, and the coach may give you some special expectations that they don't give others. Also, when I went swimming with mom and dad, I saw Claire and Nicole.

october 9, 2024 - foursquare

At school, there is almost no way to have actual fun. Soccer? Everybody sucks. Basketball? You just shoot a bunch of hoops, not a scrimmage. Play structure? Too crowded. The only way is: foursquare. Everybody has an equal chance of winning (other than me, because nowadays, everybody wants to team up on me. I'm good enough to kill others, but I'm not good enough to prove their respect. They have respect to Jayden and Alan because they are good. But trust me, with a good set, anybody can kill Alan or Jayden. But, I can't. When people set me up and I savage, I usually mess up and do a one-hand. But now I realize, you have to get your left hand under the ball and hit it with your right hand however you want.

Also, I don't play with Alan and Jayden, mostly with Harvey and Aditia, because they aren't the best and don't make a big deal when they are out. I'm learning spins, but they aren't good. I try looking at Jayden, but I never get it right. Still, I do my best. But, sometimes when I do an underhand spin (You have the ball scrape your palm so it goes into the opponent's square, but then, it bounces back a bit so they can't reach it. It is NASTY when you get the hang of it.), I own-square, which is an immediate out. 

October 10, 2024 - swimming

Today Claire said she saw me at Bellevue Aquatic Center. She also said that my form sucks, which stinks. I don't like getting complained on. And, just saying, I'm pretty sure I saw Charlie (robotics), Claire (school), Nicole (school), and Jinran (old school friend). Plus, I was actually tired (a little) after 250 meters of non stop swimming. I actually think I would die if I swam 400 meters. But, the people at a swim team would probably do it, and maybe even swim it using Freestyle, Breaststroke, Butterfly, and Backstroke.

Also, I have a robotics competition today, so Bye! Tell you guys the results later!

Just saying, the results were not as I expected. I expected us to win easy, eat pizza, and have some fun. But, there was ONE other team: 838T. They didn't have the best robot (ours was the best), but they had good drivers, and their catapult was a lot simpler than ours. Ours was a star-spinning (kinda like a choo choo mechanism that almost everyone uses), and ours tended to cause more problems since it was complicated. But, we did end up winning second place (we would have gotten first if our robot didn't tangle with another robot, and if our partner was anything but Biggie Bananas.

Also, Biggie Bananas' robot got stuck in the loading zone, which meant after we scored our 2 balls, we would have no more balls to shoot. And to make things worse, the loader for Biggie Bananas put the ball on the field, on the loading zone, with a robot 3 inches away. So, we only got third place. But, it could have been worse. We could have been eliminated!

october 12, 2024 - jinran

Today I went swimming with dad again, like yesterday. It was more fun, especially because I got to use the basketball hoop and a ball to shoot with. I actually experienced a cannonball dunk, which is more fun than it sounds like (and it sounds very fun), where you go the the side of the pool, right next to the hoop, and you jump backwards and try to grab the rim of the hoop. If you grab it, then the ball will kind of automatically go in, and you can hang on the rim like a monkey. Also, I did a double front somersault underwater, and then did a double backward somersault. I got some water in my nose, but it was worth it.

Also, I played at Odle Middle School with Jinran, my old school friend. We mostly played badminton, and I proved to be the best player. Also, we played pickleball (none of us actually know the rules, so we just play for fun. And, I got to drink Gatorade and play video games with Jinran (he wasn't very good at Asphalt Unite).

october 13, 2024 - soccer

Today we played a soccer game against Little Warriors. Last time, we lost 2 - 0. This time, we beat them badly. How about... 8 - 1? Wow, we beat them into the ground today! The only goal we got scored on was an own goal by Archer. Not a big deal. At the time of that, we were up by 3 goals. And that was an accident. We didn't let in any goals because of them passing and shooting. Also, I scored a goal! Just saying. It was the second goal in the second half, and it was just luck. The goalkeeper went the right way, but my bad shoot went high and bounced right over the goalkeeper.

Then again, the goalkeeper wasn't their actual goalie. The actual goalie was William, my old school friend/enemy. We used to see who was better at shooting (me) and who was better at dribbling (him). Literally, dribbling is the hardest thing to master, and he already got it, but wasted the talent with goalkeeping. He would have made an amazing stricker, but he wasn't bad at goalkeeper, anyways. If you had him on your team, your team would almost never get scored on.

Plus, I might add that he might not have saved Aurik's first shot, a 15 yard banger that went top corner. But, he might have saved it, because he saved my shot (mine was literally in the top top corner, no more cornish.) .

Aaaaand, dad has gotten angered up. Again.

Not like it's unusual, but still.

October 14, 2024 - school

Today I played foursquare with my friends. I got a little rusty with my savages, so I died several times before I BECAME KING! TWICE! First i switched with Alan (he became king). Then, I got to king again and switched with Jayden. Then, I just stayed at queen square, until Charvik got angry with Alan and they started fighting. Then, Charvik kicked Jayden and then Jayden socked him in the face. It was kinda unfair, but it stopped, and we began to do foursquare again.

I do not want to see that again.

october 15, 2024 - chess

I found out that dad is making me take some Chess4Life. The teacher was really nice, and he also said my rating was 1800, then 1600, then 1450. When I told him my rating was 1050, he was like, "Whoa. WHOA! You are definitely not a 1050. You know, if you play a lot of games like how you played the puzzles, your rating will be 1800 soon enough." And so, this proves that dad was right. I shouldn't have let down chess, but I am not, because dad is making me take chess lessons. I found out is the same as chesstopia without the homework and with more chess time. Also, I figured out the master spin technique in foursquare. I'm not telling you guys!

Also, I made a nakamura lock which wasn't very good. But, tomorrow I will make one that does loops, and one that is insanely accurate, and one that spins around. I can make one that spins myself, but I would rather have another person do it better than me, so I am following directions. And, I realized that you can also make launchers, so I will make that.

october 16, 2024 - pteroplane

Today I made a pteroplane with instructions thanks to Origami Way. They have about 10 different types of airplanes, and you can see what each plane is meant for. Some are for stunts, some are for distance, some for time aloft, and some for air speed. I picked one that was distance and stunts. Next time, I will pick something that flies really far and goes not very fast. Also, there is a website called Fold 'n Fly, which has 50 different airplanes. I maybe will pick the navy plane or the horizon because they go pretty far, but there is also one at Origami Way called hammerhead, which I will make next time.

And, I have a Christmas list: A pre-made lego car (you can order those, but I maybe won't need it), 65 sheets of paper (for paper plane folding), and a plastic sled for when we go on magic carpets at Snoqualmie.

Oop, there goes dad again.

October 22, 2024 - competition Interview Prep

Question 1: What does your robot do and how does it score points?

Our robot has a 2 motor drivetrain and a 2 to 1 gear ratio to make it slightly faster than a normal 1 to 1 ratio. We have a 3 motor intake which makes it extra strong, and we have a ratchet. (the ratchet also controls the outtake, used to score lower goals) The ratchet spins when the intake spins out, but doesn't work when the intake spins in. So, when we spin the intake out, we can score a goal. Our robot's most impressive feature is it's star-spinning catapult. The catapult uses a star-shaped piece to make it spin down and make it shoot. Like a choo-choo mechanism, it only needs to spin one way. It only needs 2 rubber bands, unlike some other teams that use many.

Question 2: How did you develop the robot design?

Mostly it was trial and error. We first test it out to see if it can shoot a ball into the high goal. If it doesn't work, do it again and figure out what is happening. Then, make some adjustments to the robot. When it finally is right, make some final adjustments to make it a little bit better. When that has happened, bingo! 

Question 3: Which team members built the robot?

It was mostly Eric, Aiden, and Grace, but me and Bobby got almost all of the pieces, which 50% of them were really hard to find. So, I would say all of us contributed. I usually give out little recommendations about things, such as little horns on the front of the intake to stop the ball from getting stuck while intaking a ball. Also, I like tinkering with the robot, and I hate it when even one little piece is off. That's why I can't stand other robots that are broken.

Sample Interview Questions: 

What does your robot do, and how does it score points?

Our robot has a star-spinner loading mechanism, and the catapult only uses 2 rubber bands, unlike some other teams, when they use like 4 or 5. Our robot uses the star-shaped piece to make the catapult go down, and then when the catapult is at its lowest, the catapult is released and it shoots. Our mechanism is a little better than a choo-choo or a winch system. A choo-choo's ratio is usually 1:5, so it shoots once every 5 motor rotations. A winch takes about 5 to 6 motor rotations because it has a winch! And even though our gear ratio is 1:7.5, the star piece has 3 sides, so it shoots 3 times every 7.5 motor rotations, or once every 2.5 motor rotations. That is quite fast and easy to load! 

How did you develop this robot design?

I didn't come up with it, Eric and Aiden and Bobby mostly thought of it. Since I never had a private tutor and this was my first year, I didn't know many catapult ideas other that winch system and choo-choo. I knew Ben Lipper, but I only saw him use a flywheel (too hard) and a choo-choo (I didn't fully understand it). So, stuck with the Hero Bot, swish. Now, Swish seems to be so small compared to our robot at Blaze.

• The major challenges in this game is ...

• We brainstormed for different ideas and built several versions over the time... 

• The first version we tried used ... however, it's rather slow... 

• We built the second version that uses a star spinner which can provide a balance between speed and torque ...

• We also make many further improvements over the time... 

Which team members built the robot?

It was mostly Eric, Aiden, and Grace, but me and Bobby got almost all of the pieces, which 50% of them were really hard to find. So, I would say all of us contributed. I usually give out little recommendations about things, such as little horns on the front of the intake to stop the ball from getting stuck while intaking a ball. Also, I like tinkering with the robot, and I hate it when even one little piece is off. That's why I can't stand other robots that are broken. 

What part of your robot are you most proud of? Why?

I am proud of the catapult the most, mainly because it took a lot of effort to build it. It took almost 2 weeks of hard work to finish, and thanks to all of that work, our catapult is very reliable. Then again, if it weren't for our outtake, we would be like any other team. But, since we have an outtake, we aren't any other team. We will and I hope, become winners.

Were there any other robots that inspired your robot design? How?

???

What changes did you make to improve your design during the season?

At one point, we decided to one day break apart our robot and build a new robot: 4 motor drivetrain, 2 motor intake, 2 motor outtake, and 2 motor catapult. Of course, we have a ratchet for all of it, so 2 motors are controlling 3 things, as if we had 6 motors for the catapult, intake, and outtake. The new version will include pneumatics,

What was the most difficult challenge your team has overcome so far?

The most difficult challenge was designing the catapult. It never shot high enough to score in the high goal, only enough to score the low goal. Our team could never figure out why, but we eventually found out that 

Did you use any sensors? What are they used for? How do they operate in your autonomous mode? How do they operate in your 

driver-controlled mode?

What problems did you have in working on your robot? How did your team solve them?

If you have one more week to work on your robot, how would you improve it?

We would make the low goal more reliable by making the entire thing a little bit backwards and down so our catapult has enough space to shoot up. If we can do that, I assure you that our robot will be one of the best ones in the state. And, I want to learn a little bit more about pneumatics. I'm not very good at using them (I have never used them), and I don't really understand how to use it, so I think it would be a great improvement. 

Has your game strategy been effective? How and why?

Our game strategy is not very affective. We can't seem to get a good partner that really knows us, other than 838T, but that is one in 50. We will never be in the same seed!!! And, our games have not been very good. Our strategy is to throw the ball to the other team's robot, they throw their ball to us, and then we both shoot our balls. Then, we score on both of the low goals, and just park on one side for rapid loading. Then, we crazy shoot for the last 30 seconds, and hope to get more than 80 points. That strategy doesn't work.

Tell us about your robot's programming; who was the primary programmer?

Our primary programmers are Eric and Grace. Eric figured out how to make a robot correct itself when driving, and Grace make the really awesome autonomous skills that got more than 100 points, definitely! And, maybe we can actually do good! Because we all suck at driving, for driving skills, we can just use the autonomous as the driving skills! YEAH!

What were the challenges of this year's game that you considered before designing your robot? How did you design your robot to meet the challenges?

Our robot was not very good at first, and unlike other robots, it couldn't shoot the high goal. So, we completely changed the catapult's design. We first made the catapult longer so it could shoot higher. Then, we made the hard stop as far away as possible so the catapult could get the maximum swing power. Now it is good!

What are your goals for Driver skills and Autonomous Coding Skills scores? What are your average scores?

Our goal is to have 100 points in driver skills, and at least 20 points in 15-second autonomous period. If it is 1:00 coding skills, we can get at most 120, but it really depends. Grace got around 130 points in 1 minute autonomous coding, which was videoed, but it wasn't with our bot. I bet we can get at least 120 if she downloads the code on our Blaze robot. 

The evolution of the design can be two-folded. First is the evolution of the overall design. The first version followed the design of Swish bot, which used a different shooting mechanism. V2 is the current version, which used a star spinner. (Jace should add more content to explain the reason and benefits of changing to V2.)

The second level of evolution is about each individual sub-systems. 

• Intake system: from 2 motors to 3 motors; from 2 rollers to 3 rollers

• Outtake lower goal: from flip to spinner; from 1 spinner to 2 spinners

• outtake higher goal: from 1:7.5 gear ratio to 1:15 gear ratio

(Jace should add more content to explain the evolution for each subsystem. What's the original design, and what's the problem. What kinds of options were explored? And why did the team choose the current design?) 

October 26, 2024 

Never ever throw the ball otherwise you will be kicked out of Blaze!!!

1. About Game Plan!

Our strategy has three main scenarios, with the goal of maximizing scores through collaboration with the other team. We aim to score around 100 points, which is roughly 8 goals. Whenever possible, we’ll pass the balls to each other to earn extra points.

1. If the other team has a fast, well-built robot that can score both low and high goals efficiently, we’ll focus on teamwork. We’ll pass the ball between us early in the game to keep control and try to make the most of the pairing. This way, we can stay competitive throughout the tournament.

2. If their robot isn’t as good as ours but can still score, we’ll take the lead in scoring after we clear all 4 switches. They’ll focus on passing us the ball, and we’ll score as much as possible to maximize points.

3. If their robot is slow or struggles to score, we’ll focus entirely on scoring ourselves. Their robot can park on the other side of the field, while we take full control of the game and rack up points.

This strategy gives us flexibility to handle any type of opponent and make the most of our robot’s strengths.

2.Driver Skills!

For our skill strategy, the first driver will focus on scoring 4 balls and clearing all 4 switches. The key for the first driver is to stay calm, drive steadily, and try to score all 4 balls in two tries.

Once that’s done, the second driver will move the robot to the rapid load zone and focus on scoring as many points as possible. During the rapid load, the robot starts in loading zone 2, and the rapid loader will feed balls into the robot to keep it scoring non-stop.

The trick with the rapid loader is to be really careful when feeding the balls—they need to go smoothly into the feeder so the robot can score efficiently. With good teamwork between the drivers and the loader, we aim to score as much as we can during this phase!

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

1. For Driving skills, the first driver will focus on clearing all 4 switches and scoring 4 balls at least. The trick is to not rush it, but stay calm and try to focus on driving. If you make a mistake, that is okay. Just stay calm, fix the problem, and always have a little sense of urgency. The second Driver should just drive the robot back an forth from the goal wall and the second starting zone, where the loader will roll the ball into the intake. We should try to feed the ball so the ball doesn't get stuck in the intake.

2. For Autonomous Coding Challenges, Our robot will first score 4 balls on one side first, and then go to the other side. When we go to the other side, sometimes we mess up after the 8th ball is scored, when the robot drifts a little. We still need to improve it, but that can wait for now. Also, In Autonomous coding challenges, you can rapid load the entire time.

3. Project milestones and timeline( AKA project plan)

We started preparing as soon as the new robot sets, rules, and game were released in May and June. During those months, we worked on mock-ups and creative designs for our machine. By December, we built our first version, named Swish—my teammate Aiden will share more about that.

In October, we introduced our second version, improving both the intake and scoring system-Eric can share more details later. For November and December, we’ll focus on further refinements to create a third version. As we move into early next year, we aim to build a fourth version, getting fully ready for the state championship in March. Our goal is to qualify for the World Championship in May.

We’ve planned to join multiple club events, internal competitions, and external competitions—even in other states and countries. These competitions are crucial for four reasons:

1. Test the robot: We’ll find any problems, solve them, and improve the robot after each event.

2. Learn and get inspired: We’ll observe how other teams design their robots and learn from their ideas.

3. Get mentally ready: Competitions can be intense, so we’ll practice staying cool and calm under pressure.

4. Have fun: This is a game. Winning is awesome, but the most important thing is to enjoy the process and have fun along the way!

With each competition, we’ll grow stronger, learn new things, and keep pushing ourselves to become better, all while having a great time!

------------------------------

october 27, 2024 - YEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

WE HAVE SCORED 296 POINTS IN DRIVER SKILLS! 66TH IN THE WORLD, 5TH IN THE COUNTRY!!! AND, WE GOT THE DRIVER SKILLS CHAMPION! The trophy is getting donated to Blaze Robotics. I can't wait to tell everyone else about this! And just a heads-up, there is a big chance that we will go to a VEX iq signature event in Iowa. But, no guarantees! Us getting the Driver Skills champion will only help us get to Iowa. And, we 

october 28, 2024 - spelling disaster

Today I told dad that he printed out the wrong spelling bee practice. I actually found it out a long time ago, but I thought dad would say something like: "Oh, this year is SUPPOSED to be 2023-2024." or "Oh, that part was mom's fault!". But, it turns out that I was actually right Dad printed the entire 23 pages for nothing. Waste of ink, I say. And also, dad told me to say that he was a total dummy. 

And, I didn't get the word "groceries" right when dad tested me. I just do better on spelling tests on paper, not verbally. I was never very good at public speaking. At least I don't print out 23 pages of the wrong practice paper and don't realize that it isn't wrong until someone tells you about 2 months after.