Hello Everyone!
Here is a recap of last Thursday's General Meeting, as well as miscellaneous announcements for the club. Before you continue, I should warn you, there's a lot of information going on here.
- Workshops have still not been started due to lack of funds. Currently, due to over 50% interest in the meeting, we are looking into offering an option for club members to buy Arduino microprocessors and related components (estimated at $30 each due to bulk discount) that you would use in the workshops, then be able to take home afterwards.
- Robotics Anonymous is still brainstorming ideas for cool projects. One currently popular idea is to repair Pieces of Eight, the club's first robot, which shoots tennis balls, for both practice and demonstration use. If you are interested in anything Robotics Anonymous, or have some great ideas, you can contact Tyler Williams at tjwill@uw.edu.
- URC sub-team updates:
- The control team has started organizing responsibilities and is waiting for delivery of parts. If you have any questions about the control team or are interested in helping, you can contact Collin Sutton at cjsutton@u.washington.edu or Luis Naranjo at luisnaranjo733@gmail.com.
- The chassis team has all their major components except shock absorbers, and is working
on preparing metal pieces for construction. If the chassis fits your fancy, and you have
any questions or want to help, you can contact Robert Dyer at robert4081@gmail.com. - Last but not least, the arm team has hit some troubles attaining new parts, but has already begun constructing a prototype out of scrap bits and pieces in the shop (we like to call it recycling). If you have any questions concerning the arm team, or would like to help, you can contact Christian Carpio at cdcarpio@uw.edu.
- We will be having work sessions for URC Friday starting at 1:30 P.M. with a focus on the arm team, and again on Saturday starting at 10:00 A.M. with a focus on the chassis. Everyone is welcome and shop certification is not needed (but definitely helpful)!
- Preliminary details on our trip to the URC competition in Hanksville, Utah have begun to
show themselves!
- The competition is three days, in addition to approximately 16 hours of driving each way, for a total of five days. We would be leaving Wednesday, May 28, missing a total of three days of school.
- As this is a school-sponsored event, so you would be able to get out of class excused and get homework extensions, but there will be no internet in Hanksville to work on such things.
- The logistics are planned to be completed by week four or five of next quarter (rooms, transportation, etc.). Charges not covered by fundraising will need to be picked up by those attending. Last year's cost was approximately $100 each for 7 people. We are looking into a more permanent form of transportation as well, such as a club bus.
If interested in going, please let us know by the first week of February.
- We are looking for a club photographer! If you have the skills, and hopefully a DSLR camera with short- and long-range lenses, we need you! Even if you aren't interested, we'd still love your photos! Whether it's of meetings, work sessions, or anything else within DUBotics, and the photos are of decent quality, we'll take it! If interested or if you have photos, we will be distributing contact information shortly.
- If you have yet to join the Facebook group (this is not the same as the Facebook page), you can find it at http://www.facebook.com/groups/dubotics. It is a closed group, so there will be a delay as we open the digital gates for you.
- If you are still looking to get shop certification that doesn't conflict with classes (i.e. on a Saturday), we expect to be able to do this around the beginning of second quarter, but no sooner the dead week.
- Finally, since our meetings are now bi-weekly, there will be no meeting this week on Thursday. URC sub-team meetings will continue as normal.
If you survived through this entire post, I would like to congratulate you for making it to the very end.
Ty Mundt Secretary DUBotics