Robotics - Fully Autonomous

I somehow forgot that there was a robotics meeting yesterday and therefore didn't document it.

Saturday meetings, though inconvenient, are the most effective of the meetings. They are longer than the after-school ones and pretty much everybody can come to them, even if a little late.

A few ideas were proposed for fixing the problem of it falling back down after hanging: increase the gear ratio, brake the motors with magnets, add another hook coming in from the opposite direction, and use a threaded rod instead of a bar. We explored the possibility of the magnet brake by salvaging magnets from a destroyed gear box, but they were insufficiently powerful. While waiting for other people to do whatever they needed to, I worked on the infrared-aware autonomous. It required a little more adjustment of the sensor, but I'm fairly certain it will now work every time - scoring 60 points.

Near the end of the meeting, the builders started work on a capstand shaft, a pole with string around it that would be wound to pull up the robot. It should work, and if it doesn't, we can always decrease the diameter of the shaft.