Instead of showing all of the little additions and changes that was made to the robot, which means a lot more pictures, I decided to show you a more complete version of the bot. Obviously, the pickup mechanisms are in place. The shovel mounted on front is made for pickup of "soil samples" on the course. The freakish fork-looking design on the back is for pickup and dropoff of a battery. I'm surprised how our bot is turning heads for the design and how sweet it looks. But of course our bot looks sweet. We are Team Sweetness after all. Check that, we're Team $weetne$$ 

This is what we went with for the performance test that was last Friday. The long screws you see were temporary efforts for bump switches for the performance test. Also, we had to raise the Handy Board on wooden blocks because we mounted a Cadmium-Sulfide cell to the bottom of the chassis (under the black spot in the middle of the chassis). The CdS cell is used to detect light intensity; for the robot, it is used to read an LED start light. By the way, we passed the performance test with flying colors. 

Here's an update or our drivetrain. We added the nylon (or plastic?) bar to take away the slack on the belt caused by the new grooves in the idler wheels. 

Here's the new, improved, and current motor drive design. The motors and gearbox were dropped down, and were attached to the drive shafts via chain and gear. Plus, we opted to swap out our drive motors for new ones with better torque, because, let's face it, this thing is a TANK compared to the other bots. 

Did you see the white idler wheels on the drivetrain in the previous pictures? Well, we were having problems with keeping the tread belts from slipping off, and this was one of our remedies. We cut a notch into each idler wheel with a metal file. 

Ok, this is one of the cool, creative parts of our robot. The device on the wall of the chassis is our Dynamic Tensioner System. The left side of the aluminum bar is connected to the tensioner pulley on the drive train, and the right side of the bar is attached to a spring, which gives constant, varying tension that automatically adjusts for navigating inclines. 

Here's the unsuccessful drivetrain. The problem: Our homemade output shaft couplers and adapters were not in good alignment with the motors and drive wheels, causing the output shafts to wobble. 

So, here's what is beginning to resemble a robot. The drivetrain in this state was giving us problems, though... more on that later. Oh, and that box in the middle of the chassis is a Handy Board, invented by some guy at MIT. The Handy Board is our robot controller. Don't forget that this bot will be completely autonomous, meaning it will run by itself, without a human element like a remote control. 

So basically, the robot started like this. This is our main chassis body, made of 18 gage aluminum and bent to our needs. Our team got several remarks that this looked like a section of a heating duct. Not like we were looking to save on our budget... 

So here's the really ugly mockup of our robot. Believe me, it isn't going to turn out looking like this. 

First Item Up For Bid, Bob

Ok, now let me start my ranting on something that has been making me sore for a bit of time now, and that is the Cleveland Browns. Now, last year, they use the high draft pick they got because they sucked the year before, and picked Kellen Winslow from Miami. The same Kellen Winslow who said that the 2002 NATIONAL CHAMPION OHIO STATE BUCKEYES would be too slow for Miami in the Fiesta Bowl, just like in the '01 title game when Miami trounced Nebraska. Way to make a prediction, Kellen! Oh, and of course, Winslow is apparently "a f*cking soldier" or so he says in a 2003 post game interview. What a prick. Plus, he has contract issues, wanting too much money, so he misses the start of minicamp. Then, he lets himself get injured in the second game of the season, and the Browns try to ease the steam off of the horrible season by saying that half of the offense was built around Winslow. What a bunch of liars! If you even try to make a rookie the center of your offense, you're destined to get burned anyway. Looks like Butch Davis learned that lesson when his ass was kicked out the door. Okay, and now, to top the whole thing off, Winslow goes against the stipulations in his contract and rides a motorcycle, and of course, he gets into an accident, and is now sitting in a hospital bed with internal injuries, chest pain, and a concern from the Browns' training staff with his right knee. I hope the team takes back the bonus money and salary he is no longer entitled to since he broke the terms of his contract. Come on, Winslow didn't even have a license or learner's permit for the motorcycle! So, not only is he ignorant, he's breaking the law too. But I guess that's what you can expect from players who come from the University of Miami. Just ask Ray Lewis.

I'm only half done now.

So I wasn't happy with that pick in last year's NFL Draft. And since it just popped into my head, I'm still pissed that the Browns did not take one of the FOURTEEN BUCKEYES picked in the draft last year. Not one. FOURTEEN BUCKEYES picked in one draft. A record. But not good enough for the Browns. In fact, the Browns have had only two Buckeyes on the team since '99, and Chris Spielman got a career ending injury in the preseason! Darnell Sanders is the only Buckeye to play for the Browns in a regular season game since they came back in '99.

That's why I pick the best player ever to play for the old Browns or new: Tom Tupa, Punter.

I thought that would be the worst of it, because things were looking up. Romeo Crennel was brought in to coach and turn the team around, and Phil Savage was hired as GM, having one championship team under his belt already.

But things got a whole lot worse.

Romeo Crennel, a defensive minded guy, with serious needs on defense, takes the No. 3 pick and drafts Braylon f*cking Edwards. F*cking scUM. I was in agony all day that saturday. Ok, so the Browns picked the player who they and many other teams thought was the biggest talent in the draft. Well, first off, Crennel apparently forgot what state he is in and what University is two and a half hours south of him. What a scUMbag. And my hatred for ESPN got hotter when all throughout the draft they glorified Braylon in his effort against Michigan State, which to ESPN is apparently a bigger rivalry than THE GAME. What-friggin-ever. So Edwards racks up close to 200 yards recieving and a pair of touchdowns. Wow, Braylon, I guess it must be really hard to catch a ball over a secondary with player six inches shorter than you. Really tough, Braylon. Tell the people about your dismal performance against The Ohio State University. Tell the people how you couldn't perform against a REAL secondary. And no, Texas did not have a REAL secondary. Tell the people how you only beat The Ohio State University ONCE in your college career, and how you cried after you came into the Horseshoe and lost back in November.

Tell them all Braylon. Tell the truth ESPN. Tell me why you stooped to a new low, Cleveland Browns.

For what it's worth, I'm not gonna watch the Browns unless Edwards gets 1,000 recieving yards or gets injured. You all know who I'd cut first if I was GM for one day.

This year, I'm all about J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS! and the Minnesota Vikings. Those two teams got the biggest steals of the draft, and I bet Nuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge sets a scoring record for the Jets.

Man, I'm both tired and riled at the same time...

There is no friggin way I haven't touched this thing in a month!

Or is there?

I am in complete disbelief of myself... It has been a month of "Gotta post tommorrow" and "Gotta upload the new pictures" and "Gotta talk about the spring game" and all that other fine stuff.

It all snowballed, it seems... I might just be that lazy.

...Or that busy.

I have been working hard on that robot project; hell, I have so many pictures of it on my computer that I can classify it as a photo essay! Don't worry, you'll get to see some of them soon enough. I just have to organize them.

But other than that, I have so much to rant about it's gonna come like several PUNCHES TO YOUR DOME!!!

So much crap happened in the last month that I will certainly forget something...

So I better get to it. I'm out.
...For 30 seconds...