Jesuit Robotics

This past weekend, Jesuit Robotics was at the NURC competition, in Arizona. The basic story and mission are as follows:

“The government of Scotland has hired you and your team to help find and tag the legendary Loch Ness Monster. Yes that’s right, the Loch Ness Monster! The Scottish Government says they know it exists for a fact now and need a professional robotics team to use an ROV to put a radio tag on it, as well as retrieve its egg from its nest. They don’t want to send all kinds of people after it because its dangerous! In fact they have had too many amateurs trying to prove its existence and causing all kinds of problems, forcing the Loch Ness Coast Guard to mount several rescues. Nessie, as the locals call the monster, is very large and capable of much damage, another reason why the Scottish government wishes to use ROVs . The authorities have contacted your group for the outstanding reputation you have for being professional and getting the job done. You have been assigned to work with a local Nessie expert who the government believes is the best and most reliable authority on Nessie. Her name is Seamus McLeary. She will be in contact with you during your preparations for the mission, via webcam.”

1. Deliver 3 different and specific Nessie baits to three separate and distinct locations as well as different depths, and activate the bait.
2. Locate Nessie’s nest and remove Nessie’s egg in order to measure the temperature and depth of Nessie’s Nest made on a rock perch heated by geothermal activity.
3. Bring Nessie’s egg to the surface and secure in special incubator.
4. Activate one of three different sonar targeting devices, after Nessie has been detected by the NDC, Nessie Detection Command. You will be following one of three specific headings provided to you by the captain of the NDC.
5. Radio tag Nessie using one of the three radio tags provided to you with an untethered delivery system of some kind.
6. Play the live sound Nessie makes when hit with radio tag.

This year’s ROV,  SharkBait was designed with these mission goals in mind, and therefore was able to perform extremely well.

Our final rankings:

• 1st Place, High School Division
• 2nd Place, Overall
• 1st Place, Website

In the “spirit of men for others”, Jesuit Robotics helped several other teams make minor and major repairs to get robots in the water. We even helped get Arizona State University Robotics Advanced Systems into the qualifying rounds.

Finally, We will have pictures online soon. We are collecting photographs from team members, and then we need to process the photos. We will likely put the photos up at the same time as the MATE images, as we can batch process all the images this way.

Jesuit Robotics shipped ROV SharkBait to the NURC competition.  After many long nights, several sleepovers  and large amounts of caffeinated beverages, the ROV was ready to be shipped, and should be in Phoenix tomorrow.

Currently, the public relations people are putting together the team video, and the team is rehearsing for the technical presentations.

Meet SharkBait! This is our ROV that will be copeting at the NURC competition. We have been fortunate to have this ROV done quite early, as it as allowed us to have extensive practice with the ROV.  This picture is from one of our late night practice sessions.

The following departments have made progress in the last week:

Manufacturing:

• Manufacturing is currently finishing the tether control unit, and the can wiring. It is a really tight fit, but it all got in there.
• The waterproofing for sensors is being completed.
• We are installing a new, larger electronics can on SharkBait. This will allow for a completely electronic control system, and dual pressure sensors, dual temperature sensors and total control over all parts of the ROV.

Programming:

• The sensor code is still being worked on. Multichannel ADC converters are fun to work with. 
• The SharkBait team is installing Electronics this week. We changed our plan for the controls again, due to time constraints.

Public Relations:

• Season Pictures uploaded! Go to: http://jesuitrobotics.org/photos The new stuff is in the 2010 season gallery.

Operations:

• Technical Reports are written.
• MATE presentation board is being designed.
• Technical presentations are being designed.

Hello again! We apologize for the lack of last week’s build log. We are currently in crunch time, so some things are being put on the back burners for now. That was one of them. To make up for it, we’re releasing this one early.

The following departments have made progress in the last week:

Manufacturing:

• Manufacturing is done building the motors, each motor is now being tested in the tank, and will soon hit the pool, barring anymore major setbacks.
• The control can is being built, and everything wired. It’s going to be a tight fit.
• Light bars are done for GOD, and the final camera mount will be completed soon.
• A new, larger, electronics can is being built. We started machining it yesterday.
• The waterproofing for sensors are being completed.

Programming:

• The sensor code is still being worked on. Multichannel ADC converters are fun to work with.
• The GOD code has been forked. Due to a radical shift in design needs, the hardware and software needs have changed. About 1/2 of the code is reusable for GOD. The other stuff is being written as fast as possible by the programmers.
• GOD electronics should be finished this week.

Public Relations:

• Commenting for the public is now open. We feel that our spam and moderation systems are able to take the load from illegitimate comments.
• We will have more media soon. The video / photographer guys took a bunch of footage this weekend.
• New wallpaper! go to http://jesuitrobotics.org/photos/wallpapers/

Mission / Props:

• Minor mission props built.
• Most mission props currently built are tested.

-Greg Marchese, over and out.

The answer is 27 days. We’re in the home stretch of the build season. We’re cramming everything in, and everything is getting done. You can see the countdown at: http://live.jesuitrobotics.org. This website will have more active content once we are at the competitions.

The following departments have progressed in the last week:

Manufacturing:

• Manufacturing is STILL… continuing assembly of motors. This is a time consuming process, being completed on a tight schedule.

Programming:

• The code for telemetry data is being coded by the ROV / UX programmer.
• GOD robot interface code is being worked on.
• ROV Control Boards are being completed. These are important, as the code needs to be tested ASAP.

Public Relations:

• All current sponsor logos are on the website now: http://jesuitrobotics.org/sponsors
• Packaging the next set of media uploads.
• Started work on the team video

Operations:

• Operations has completed the first round of the tech report revisions.

Mission / Props:

• The tunnel for the MATE missions was built.
• An underwater camera system for the video crew is being designed and built. This will allow for video feeds from various points in the field to be recorded.

-Greg Marchese, over and out.

Again, we apologize for not having the monday update out, you know, on Monday. Our public relations guy is also one of the lead programmers. We are currently in the “CRUNCH” time of the season. We have few weeks left, and a number of things to complete.

The follwoing departments have progressed in the last week

CAD:

• CAD is in the final stages of drafting for a while. The CAD guys are quickly being “poached” to manufacture parts.

Manufacturing:

• Manufacturing is STILL continuing assembly of motors. This is a time consuming process, being completed on a tight schedule.
• The “GOD” robot project team built the stage 2 protoype Agar scoop mechanism for the ROV to use.
• The “GOD” robot project team tested several of the mission props for the mission props guys.

Programming:

• The ROV side / UX programmer is still building the 2010 ROV firmware.  The code for arm control is done, and speed control added. We are finishing serial communications and telemetry.
• The surface side programmer is working on interfacing with this years control system.

Operations:

• Operations is working on the powerpoint draft.

Mission / Props:

• Several more mission props were completed.
• The Nessie Egg for NURC was filled with water, and is being used for testing.

-Greg Marchese, over and out.

This weekend was a big weekend for Jesuit Robotics. We qualified for the 2010 MATE competition, in Hilo, HI. We are very excited and will continue working throughout the remainder of the season.

Departments with updates to report:

CAD:

• CAD is continuing to produce 3D models for the operations department. These models will be used in our tech report and presentation.

Manufacturing:

• Manufacturing is continuing assembly of motors. This is a time consuming process, being completed on a tight schedule.
• The “GOD” robot project team designed the Agar scoop mechanism for the ROV to use.

Programming:

• The ROV side / UX programmer is still building the 2010 ROV firmware.  A task that must be completed carefully, due to the unique circuits we are using, this project is being actively worked. At least programmers have this awesome tendency to stay up late to work on stuff.
• The surface programmers are working on the serial to servo protocol for the controller for the arm, as well as designing the serial
  TX system.

Operations:

• Operations is continuing work on the powerpoint and technical report. Draft versions are currently being produced.

Sorry again for the late post, We are SUPEr busy pereparing for the MATE qualifier in Monteray.  We are continuing work on various projects, and manyof them will be finished soon, assuming all goes to plan.

Departments with updates to report:

Manufacturing:

• Manufacturing is still working on motors. The motor mountiung system has been made.
• The electronics can is being redesigned to allow for a better cooling system.
• Project “God” is assembled and being tested. We are planning an electronics transplant as soon as the ROV firmware is done.

Programming:

• The ROV side / UX programmer is still building the 2010 ROV firmware, and is currently working on the serial communications system. The surface guys are working on motor vector thrust code.

Public Relations

• Public Relations is currently working with one of our sponsors in regards to one of thier products.

Sorry for the late post, but this past week and a half have been really hectic for us. We are currently preparing for the MATE 2010 Qualifier. In order to continue to the MATE International Championship, in Hilo, Hawaii, We must do well here. It is currently an “All Hand’s On Deck” situation around here.

CAD:

• CAD continued producing line art drawings of various ROV parts for the manufacturing guys to produce, and the operations guys to use in technical drawings.

Manufacturing:

• Manufacturing is still working on motors. We are in the process of welding our mounts on the motor casings, and beginning work on motor internals as the welds are completed.
• The “GOD” robot project team is currently assembling the frame for Project God.

Programming:

• The ROV side / UX programmer is still building the 2010 ROV firmware, and is currently working on the serial communications system. The surface guys are working on motor vector thrust code.

Public Relations

• Public Relations is working with several new sponsors. we’ll unveil them on the website soon.

Operations:

• Operations is continuing work on the powerpoint. The basic powerpoint is laid out, and the design background is done.

During Spring Break at Jesuit Robotics, we lose a few people to normal Spring Break activities… But there are a few macho die-hard robotics members that will work throughout the break to get team projects done.

Departments with updates to report:

CAD:

• One of our CAD guys continued to work on the CAD model of the ROV… Trust us, it looks amazing… but we can’t show you yet. (wouldn’t want to give away secrets)

Manufacturing:

• Manufacturing continued work on our Motors. The mounting tabs were designed and cut this weekend, and we are almost done with assembly of the mounting tabs. In addition, the SubConn interconnects for the electronics housing were selected. Manufacturing also started working out the nessie egg retrival system this weekend.

Programming:

• Programming continues to work through the break. The ROV side / UX programmer started building the 2010 ROV firmware, and finished making selections of parts for the remainder of the system. The Surface side guys continued building the application framework, in order to be ready for the remainder of the code.

Public Relations

• More pictures online! This should be the remainder of the media backlog. Check out the 2009 gallery. The video / photographers also built a steady cam in order to aid in their duties.  We also continued working on getting new sponsors.

Operations:

• Operations started working on the powerpoint.

On March 29th, 2010, at approximately 11 o’clock midnight, the electronics sub-team were successfully able to communicate with our arm servos. It was discovered that both power and communications baud rates were causing issues for the electronics people. Engineering and programming continued late into the night, ending at 2 AM (possibly the first of a few nights like this.)  In addition, the arm framework in the desktop application was started; averaging code for the arm controller was worked on as well.

This weekend marked the completion of the manufacturing of our motor casings. Many projects made progression this week.

Departments with updates to report:

CAD:

• Our CAD department produced animated videos of our motors this weekend.  In addition, they continued working on the arm drawings. Finally, they produced 2D drawings for the manufacturing department.

Manufacturing:

Manufacturing worked on, and completed the production of motor casings. We have some video of the process online, and is mixed in with the cad animations. Manufacturing also started work on the arm, by sanding the pieces cut by the waterjetter. They also started cutting the frame for a secondary ROV out.

Pictures are available as well.

Programming:

• Programming is putting in an extra work day today to continue working on servo communications.  They are also working on the arm controller to add a filtering system to clean up the output.

Public Relations

• Public Relations is currently updating the media content for the year. They have a small backlog of photos and video coming in from the other departments. PR also selected and trained two members to be joint videographers.

Operations:

• Operations continued working on our attendance system, and continued working on sponsorship marketing materials.

This past weekend was a slower weekend for Jesuit Robotics. Many of our members were at a science olympiad competition, and those that were left finished up some behind the scenes business stuff.  We started cleaning up our office and lab space to prepare for the school to come in and do maintenance work in the lab.

Departments with updates to report:

Programming

• Our user interface programmer, completed the firmware code for our arm interface. He is designing a unique control system for our arm, and was able to begin testing the code on the hardware input system.

Public Relations

• Greg continued working on the website. The work from this week included rebuilding our MySQL database for the web site, and recoding the footer sections.  Visible changes include the condensing of the competition info pages, the press and events pages, and starting work on featuring sponsors logos on the site. The photo galleries disambiguation page and the about us page was cleaned up.

Operations

• The operations department met with our business mentor and the public relations department to continue our work in obtaining new sponsorships. Operations also discussed involvement with some our schools fundraisers, and on proper communication techniques when communicating with current and prospective sponsors.

As we promised on March 5th, a lot of things were going to start happening on the website… We’re still working on things, but a lot has happened since then. The first major change, many of you will have noticed. We have redesigned parts of the website to use a blue, and white color scheme, as opposed to our black and blue scheme.

Some of our minor changes include:

• Administration Upgrades: We have redesigned our control panel so that we can work on the site much faster. We have recoded our page titling system, and added some new code to make our site more search engine friendly. These changes aren’t immediately visible, but they will enhance your browsing experience.
• All pages have been brought up to date to reflect 2009-2010 season information. Some of the pages that have notably changed are the staff listing page, which now has this years staff and mentors; and the competition information pages. The members page also has our current team organizational chart.
• The social media page is now a custom coded timeline. It pulls from all of our various networks, and integrates into one timeline. We have removed the javascript and flash widgets from twitter and the like.
• The video page now loads much faster. Instead of preloading several youtube videos, the page will now dynamically load only the video(s) you wish to play.
• Mailing List. As we mentioned earlier, we now have a mailing list. We’re preparing to send out our first newsletter, and would be excited if you were a part of it. Sign up here.
• Slideshows in the photo galleries. We have fixed the flash player that is used to display animated slideshows. Everything should be working now.
• Share / Bookmark system. Every page, and every post now has the option to share the page with your favorite social networking site, bookmarking site, or by email / bookmark.

A lot has been happening on the build side as well. The main part of our rov frame is completed, and work on our manipulators, and electronics can is being started.  Our new members are building a small rov so that they may learn the basics of ROV mechanics, balancing, and engineering.

Our mission / props department is working on building the props. They recently completed the vent chimney for the MATE competition, and completed a breakdown list of all the possible points for the competition.

Stay Tuned. More will coming from us soon. Greg Marchese, over and out.

Hello!

A couple things.

First off, We apologize for the lack of recent site updates. We are really busy and haven’t had time to get recent build logs online. A lot of things are being actively worked on, including the site.

Secondly, expect new things soon. We created a system for getting information from our various departments onto the site.  This system allows our department leads to get info online a lot sooner; and lessens the workload on our Public Relations team. We have a number of things to upload, andare wroking on getting them uploaded.

Third, and most importantly. We have a mailing list now. We request that you register for this low-volume list.  This year, one of our goals is to strengthen our connections with our followers, and more specifically, the alumni of Jesuit Robotics.