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MISSION REPORT
Date: 2012/10/30
Rotation Day: NA
---- Mission Log ----
Preparation: To raise funds for our mission against the villain Le Number, all agents were recruited to take part in a commercial baked goods venture. The Cakery Bakery’s first bake sale was held near the CEGEP’s cafeteria from 8:15am to 4:00pm. -
MISSION REPORT
Date: 2012/11/05
Rotation Day: KICK-OFF
---- Mission Log ----
The team was briefed at a grand reception at Laval Liberty high school about this year's competition. Le Number's playing field was unveiled and all the competitors got a chance to take measurements of it before Le Number got the chance to close the curtains on it again. With all the information now available to the team, the real planning and building began. -
MISSION REPORT
Date: 2012/11/06
Rotation Day: NA
---- Mission Log ----
Preparation: Meeting held during Marianopolis’s Activity Period (12:45PM – 2:15PM) to discuss possible feeder and launcher systems. Several designs for a launcher system were proposed, including building a catapult and using a spring-loaded shooter. -
MISSION REPORT
Date: 2012/11/08
Rotation Day: B
---- Mission Log ----
Preparation: Meeting held during Marianopolis Activity Period (12-45PM – 2:15PM) and made several prototypes for the launching system. Worked on three ideas by building several rudimentary proofs of concepts: 2-wheel launching system, 1 wheel launching system and catapult. -
MISSION REPORT
Date: 2012/11/08
Rotation Day: B
---- Mission Log ----
Preparation: Meeting held during Marianopolis Activity Period (12-45PM – 2:15PM) to discuss this year’s theme and video. A rough blueprint of the kiosk layout was decided upon. This year, the kiosk will be divided into two sections, one half will be a bakery and serve as the front of our secret organization, while the other half will be the spy headquarters. -
MISSION REPORT
Date: 2012/11/06
Rotation Day: NA
---- Mission Log ----
Preparation: Meeting held during Marianopolis Activity Period (12-45PM – 2:15PM) for the video and for the tentative list of supplies to order before the work sessions begin. The film will be done in the style of a James Bond pastiche. -
MISSION REPORT
Date: 2012/12/17
Rotation Day: B
---- Mission Log ----
Kiosk: All field agents were charged with carrying down the kiosk panels to the student lounge. (location code: [INFO EXPUNGED] ) where there were greater space to work freely.
Movie: Agents Albanese, Pimentel, and Li started brainstorming for our organisation's video records. The first project will be a video documentary of our mission against [IDK PUT SOMETHING], which will highlight the salient facts of the mission and serve as an instructive case study for agents-in-training.
Website: Agent Dahdah and Matte have designed the general layout of The Agency's website.
Robot: Agents Bhabra, Fielding, and Fielding were tasked with the construction of a sturdy, mountable ball launcher. The dual spinning wheel system is the most promising so far, but catapult desgins have also been assessed as possible backups. Agent Chahal and Zhang have started on a potential drive system. Agents Morgan and Wan are experimenting with a caterpillar tread pickup system. This week will be mostly spent on experimentation and trial runs. Final designs for the robot will be determined in a few days. -
MISSION REPORT
Date: 2012/12/19
Rotation Day: A
---- Mission Log ----
Website: Yesterday's work was continued. The website has [DATA EXPUNGED]
Video: Agents Albanese, Pimentel, and Li are continuing on with the scriptwriting on out mission's film.
Robot: Agent Zhang was charged with downloading the programming compiler onto his computer (Robot C), and the programming portion has begun. All other agents resumed work from the previous day.
Kiosk: A quiet meeting was held on the colours of the bakery front. After some debate, Agent Patel and Morgan's choice was accepted. The walls will be painted in [DATA EXPUNGED] -
MISSION REPORT
Date: 2012/12/20
Rotation Day: A
---- Mission Log ----
Kiosk: All agents assigned to team B worked on erecting the general structure of the kiosk. For the greatest time efficiency, last year's kiosk will be re-used. However, the pre-existing panels will be attached inside out, and additional panels will be constructed out of wooden beams and boards. The kiosk is designed in a L-shape, Our headquarters will occupy the back, while a cupcake bakery will serve as a front.
Robot: Agents Pimentel and Yit have finished the top stabilising bar on the robot. Tests were then conducted to determine whether it would neutralize the shaking from the launcher's motors. Agents Dahdah and Grizenko-Vida have started designing a launch angle-changer, so the robot might be able to hit targets of variable height. Agents Morgan and Wan have finished the trading on the pick-up system. Their work will continue when our supplier delivers the elongation parts on Friday. Agents Wolfe, Albanese, and Pimentel have started on the feeding system and the hopper. -
MISSION REPORT
Date: 2013/01/04
Rotation Day: A
---- Mission Log ----
Kiosk: Agents Zhang and Chahal have finished installing door supports and screwing in latches. With help from the rest of the kiosk team, they have also put up the third wall, perpendicular to the door panel. The panels were secured with wood screws, and are now clamped together for temporary support. Agents Morgan, Wan, and Patel have started construction on the bakery counter. The four sides have been cut from plywood. The plexiglass top will be cut and inserted tomorrow. Agent Fielding has finished construction on the rotating display cases, which will eventually be used for gadget display in HQ.
Movie: Agents Albanese, Pimentel, and Chahal have scoped out filming locations. The movie will be shot both in school and in the general vicinity. The equipment has been procured from the school's technology counter.
Robot: Agents Grizenko-Vida and Dahdah are still pursuing a working model of a variable angle launcher. Unfortunately, progress was stalled when the metal epoxy proved too fragile and shattered. Work will continue tomorrow. Agent Wolfe has started a prototype of a remote-controlled blocker. -
MISSION REPORT
Date: 2013/01/05
Rotation Day:B
---- Mission Log ----
Video: Agents Albanese, Chahal and Yit have started filming the individual scenes of the film. All scenes that require the bakery as a setting are pushed until the kiosk is completed.
Robot: Although the launcher system has been completed, the robot is still shaky. Several feeder designs were considered and then discarded. Agent Wolfe suggested a rounded aluminium sheet, but in the end the feeder was made of clear plexiglass, and fixed at rigid angles. The feeder's wheels were also changed several times in order to have a better grip on the foam balls used during the competition.
Kiosk: Construction continues. A plain counter and display plan was decided upon. For the simplest and most time efficient construction design, the coutner will be rectangular, while the display stand that goes on top will be trapezoid on its sides. Agent Wan was put in charge of both, while Agent Morgan will supply the tools for cutting the plexiglass. Agent Li insisted on the installation of a fountain in the back of the bakery that was to serve as the secret HQ. Several modifications was made to the original plan regarding the interior design. The team decided against making fake exposed pink insulation, and rearranged the gadget display counter inside the HQ.
NOTE: To give ourselves the maximum amount of time on the robot, the team is giving our weekend to work on Saturdays. -
MISSION REPORT
Date: 2013/01/06
Rotation Day: B
---- Mission Log ----
Robot: The agents on rotation were divided into smaller groups, and two different pickup systems are currently under construction. One uses multiple treads placed close together to carry up the balls, while the other uses a several rolls of bristles made out of common tie wraps. Both will be tested out later to see which one is the most efficient at picking up foam balls.
Video: A list was made of the different costumes and props needed for the film. For the bakery, items like aprons, cupcake stands, fluorescent lighting for the display case, etc. need to be ordered online. The scenes in the film that require minimal mise-en-scene (ex. the debriefing video from the Agency’s head explaining the mission) started shooting today. -
MISSION REPORT
Date: 2013/01/07
Rotation Day: B
---- Mission Log ----
Video: The first half of the exterior shots of the school were done by Agents Albanese, Chahal and Yit.
Robot: All agents assigned to the robot continued with the previous day’s work. -
MISSION REPORT
Date: 2013/01/11
Rotation Day: A
---- Mission Log ----
Video: As the kiosk's construction is nearly done, the filming crew can now start to shoot portions of video on the completed bakery side.
Robot: Most of the team have been assigned to wiring the robot. In the afternoon, a short competition was organized between potential drivers to test out the agility and maneuverability of the robot. M.Paradis, the supervisor, served as a judge amongst several non-competing members. In the student lounge, the team set up an obstacle course with fake goals. Every driver who wanted to try out was given the chance to make ten shots at each goal, and their points were tallied up. Agents Zhang and Pimentel tied for first time. More try outs will be held in the following weeks leading up to the competition, so the drivers can practice more.
Kiosk: The kiosk is almost completely finished, except for minor aesthetic details. The finishing touches, such as stapling on the moulding, touching up the paintwork, and smoothing over cracks with wood putty were all finished today. The rest of the time was spent dismantling and packing away the kiosk, and then cleaning up the debris in the room. -
We did the bulk of our work during the weeks of winter break. On the last day of the robotics session, while we were cleaning up the student lounge and the robotics workshop from the chaotic jumble of power tools, plywood, and paint cans, we looked back and realized just how far we had came.
The level of experience varied wildly between the members of the team – a few had been in robotics since high school, while others had the pleasure of discovering it for the first time this year. Yet despite the differences in our backgrounds, we all pitched in and found something meaningful to contribute. And no wonder! The competition covers so many aspects of construction and design that every member of the team has learnt something new in an area they had never discovered. These weeks were a crash course in everything from using a laser-guided electric saw to programming in Robot-C.
We struggled with the setbacks of working in such a huge team. The logistics of having so many components to work on was immensely difficult. Every trip we made to Home Depot requires getting a list from two or three sub-teams all asking for different things. Every change we made to the robot requires taking into account how it might affect the various other systems that made up the one entity Although our team has argued about everything from the size of the feeder system to the colour of the bakery wall moulding, by the end of January many new friendships were formed. We went through the shared experience of writing, designing, and building. Between work we had time for pizza lunches and a movie outing.
In December we had set out on a journey that has lead us all the way to the CRC competition. At the end of Project Velistic 2013, what we walk away with is not just what we had learnt about about robotics itself, but really what we had learnt about each other and ourselves. Here’s to hoping that this project will spark in some of us life-long love of science and engineering.