IGVC: Day 4

An exciting day at competition!!! We started the morning with the robot line up and opening ceremonies with all the teams in attendance, approximately 43 teams and about 5 countries! Directly following the mornings gatherings, JΩtron made it to the qualification course. Allowing us to qualify in time to run twice in the 2^nd Heat.

During the second heat JΩtron didn’t ever quite figure out the waypoints but was still able to travel 176 ft, creating a new record for S&T at competition!!! The 3^rd heat wasn’t as successful as we tried to add the waypoints and as JΩtron miss saw the colors for detection. JΩtron also tried it’s intelligence in the Navigation portion of competition. Even though it didn’t reach a waypoint it was still great to show our robot out on the course!!

Pictures and videos coming soon!!!!

IGVC: Day 3

Another glorious day out on the Field at Oakland University where JΩtron began to show intelligence. The day started out with a change in the drive system by taking off the back wheels and adding a caster, creating a drive system exactly like Aluminator except with more powerful motors. But the changed allows the robot to turn and move smoothly around the course, which allowed time to test the vision software.

With only a few tweaks the robot was capable of avoiding the obstacles that were in the way. Check out the video below as the robot not only is able to avoid barrels but also switch backs (2 lines that are offset a bit of barrels). With this software JΩtron became one of the smartest robots S&T has brought to competition.

Unfortunately, as the day progressed the GPS Waypoints were causing some issues that didn’t allow the robot to qualify tonight. But luckily the program got fixed, the vision works well, and we are ready to qualify and compete in the morning!!!

IGVC: Day 2

No rain today, but instead the humidity kept us nice and hot today at competition. But enough about the weather, JΩtron was able to see some action today.

The morning included finalizing code and working on making JΩtron look good for our design presentation in the afternoon. The Design Presentation went very well, even JΩtron got a chance to talk during the presentation. Unfortunately, we did not make it into the top 6 teams to compete on Sunday in design, but the presentation was strong and showed JΩtron’s intelligence to the IGVC judges.

Later in the afternoon JΩtron found its way outside where the motors and wheels did not want to turn, making it very difficult to test any code. Callibration and code was adjusted in hopes that it would fix the problem. Yet, it was still unreliable.

But the entire team took a break from the robot and enjoyed a barbeque put on by the Michigan Alumni Association. Where we got the chance to interact with former students from Missouri S&T and share what we are doing there and how we are representing S&T at competition. As the evening came to a close there was still work to be done.

With a few more steps of calibration, a new code adjustment, and the design of a caster the night continued to be filled with work. But with positive outlook we see tomorrow morning filled with practice and qualifying in time for the first Heat at 2:00pm.

IGVC: Day 1

After a long day of traveling yesterday the team got up bright and early in the morning to get ready for another year of competition, with our robot JWtron. To learn more about IGVC check out their website at igvc.org.

Everything got unpacked and we were settled into our spot under the tent. Now hoping for the best, we would turn on the robot and spend the day testing. Unfortunately, luck was not in our favor today! It started out with minor fixes, then as the robot was thinking about leaving the tent to practice there seemed to be a problem in the motors. JWtron spent the rest of the day inside the tent as the Computing Guys tried to find the right fix. Finally

towards the end of the night as most of the teams are packing up, the solution was found and a late night of code, wires, and fun was ahead!!

Also today, decals where placed on the robot to make JWtron stand out at competition with its green skin and popping decals of Missouri S&T and our other amazing sponsors. The Electrical Group worked hard cleaning up wires and

finalizing an effective E-Stop.

JΩTRON Update

Our new robot will be called JΩTRON! It is currently finished frame wise with the motors and gearboxes mounted. We also have our exciting new Lexan shell complete for it. The shell features a magnetic design that allows easy access to portions of the robot.

New General Meeting Room

We're very pleased to announce that due to our large influx of new members this year we are moving to a bigger room to accommodate this. We will now meet in Room 216 McNutt. Our meeting time will remain the same, so come out and join us to gain some insight into what we do.

General Meetings!

General meetings are held every Wednesday at 7pm in 210 McNutt! The General meetings are followed by division meetings in the areas of Computing, Electrical, and Mechanical.

So come on out and see what we are all about! :D