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Senior Project: Day 9 & 10 / Lights, Curtain, Action!

I went into the UW on Saturday after rehersals to work on R2 for a few hours. When I got there, Andy and David were outside playing it. Unfortunatly, just before I had arrived, one of the power relays fried and had to be replaced. I replaced the relay and then called it a day.

Today I’ve been working on finishing up the final safety relays. The next task will be to supply 12volts to the GPS unit. And then hopefully I can start writting code tomorrow.

We start our short four day run of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying today. The show runs the next four days @ 7pm. Tickets for today and tomorrow are not quite sold out yet, so there is still time to come!!

Senior Project: Day 7 & 8

On Thursday I completly finished with the guidence computer. It required rebuilding part of the power unit, but it worked…and it worked on the first attempt…something rare in my usual line of business. Anyways, we plugged the battery in a everything worked just fine. It was rather errie because the computer didn’t make any noise until the floppy check. I also started working on the safety restraints.

Today I worked on finishing up the safety restraints. I also designed two custom fabricate brackets for some tether restraints. Before I left, I was able to wire all of the safety restraints. Tomorrow we plan on running R2 around the lot outside Sieg.

Cinco de Mayo already? / Senior Project: Day 6

*Sigh*, it’s the 5th of May and the year is getting close to be half over…but it feels like it just started. I had a dentist appointment today. Teeth look nice and clean, no cavities; but the wisdom teeth gotta go! So I’m going to schedule an appointment and get that taken care of. How to continues and we started Tech Rehearsals today. ONLY ONE WEEK ‘TILL OPENING NIGHT!! I would highly suggest you get tickets now as seats fill up fast in our small theater. I hope to have pictures from rehearsals up soon!

The Senior Project continues. R2 is getting closer to running status. I finished with the CPU box and began installing some safety cutoff buttons. I also have to create and install some safety restraints/cutoff ropes. I hope to have pictures of my project up soon as well.

Senior Project: Day 5

I started building the next compent of the power unit. It’s a small circuit that reboots the system. Then I moved on to wiring some cables for the visual/audible alert system. That should be installed by Thursday. The R2 should be up and running by Friday. (Re)Becca A. and Caitlin S. stopped by today. They had a break and decided to wonder on over.

Senior Project: Day 4

I finished building the power supply unit Friday. The UW Engineering Open House was also on Friday, so for the rest of my time, I pretty much just explained what different robots did and how they work. It was pretty fun. I also get free food which is also a major plus.

Time:
Today: 5 hrs
This week: 15 hrs 
Total: 15 hrs

Dead Panic / Senior Project: Day 3

So prom is pretty much just 36 hours away…and that has put me into a dead panic. I really have no reason to be in a panic…maybe I’m just excited. Hmm…I’ll have to ponder that one for a little while. In any event, work on the Mexico 2004 slide show continues and it is lookin’ good…in fact, it’s looking excellent! This has to be one of the best mexico videos ever!

Today, er, yesterday (Thursday), I started out by tapping the gas tank on robot 2 and installing a drain. I then reasseblembeled the engine and put some screws into the drive shaft to hold the brake and the gear in place. Then I began work on a new power supply unit. That was acutally really fun. I got to create my own layout and drill some aluminium to mount the 4 power control units and 4 capacitors to. I will probably spend another 2 or 3 hours on that project tomorrow.

Time:
Today: 5 hrs
This week: 10 hrs 
Total: 10 hrs

Everthing just seems to fall into place / Senior Project: Day 2

Prom prepartations are pretty much just falling into place. The corsage is order and all that is left is to figure out the transportation issue. That should be resolved by today though.

Yesterday I finished the computer rack and put the computers in it. We recieved a shipment of circut boards, so we had to go to the machine shop to cut them up into their individual boards. We used a very cool drill press. Setting up took forever, but the cuts were perfect. I started working on installing the tap into the gas tank on the second robot so that we can drain the gas when we’re done running it. I was able to take off the gas tank before I had to leave. Today I hope to finish that project and then start working on cutting some wheel wells for robot one.

Time:
Today: 3 hrs
This week: 5 hrs 
Total: 5 hrs

What a day! / Senior Project: Day 1

Wow. This was one heck of a Tuesday. Starting at about 3, we starting receiving quite a bit of hail. And then the wind kicked up. We lost power at about 6ish. I went to go get my tux and I had to take 2 different detours because of trees falling and blocking the entire roadway. I was able to get my tux from the Mens Warehouse, and I have to say that the service I received was exceptionally excellent. The person helping me, Richard, was very helpful. They defiantly have will have my business again. So yea, tux is done, that just leaves corsage and transportation. So back is the power outage. I arrived home at about 8:30 to find that we didn’t have any power. The first thing I thought was Hmmm, fun. Then I realized AAAAhhhhhh no TV!!! I can’t watch 24! But if any of you know me, I usually don’t take no for an answer…at least the first time. So I hooked the inverter up to the van and ran an extension cord from the front of the house where the car was to the back of the house where the TV was. I plugged the TV and DirecTV receiver into the cord turned them on. And voila! It worked! So I got to watch the last 40 minutes of 24 and that was cool.

Now for the Senior Project. As part of the Senior Project, I am required to keep some sort of log of my work. I thought this would be a good spot to keep it. So here goes! This was the first day of my Senior Project. I arrived at about 8:30 and waited for a little while. I had neglected to find out what time Andy was getting there, so I headed up to UPC for about 45 minutes. When I returned about 10:30, I found Andy in his office. He outlined the plan for the next few days and then I got started. Today I was moving some of the work benches around to make the room more efficient. I also started working on assembling the server rack. I left at 12:30 to go to ballet at school.

Time:
Today: 2 hrs
This week: 2 hrs
Total: 2 hrs

The latest on Prom / Senior Project: Day 0

Prom plans are going pretty well. We have dinner all set and I have my tux and the corsage all lined up and ready to execute. Transportation is still in the works, but I’m not too worried about it. We don’t currently have any post-prom activities planned, but I’m sure something will come up.

As for Senior Project, all I can say is that it’s about time. I’ve been tired of school for some time and now I’m done, for the sake of argument. Today is Day 0 of the project. I starting working tomorrow, but I had a meeting at school just to make sure everyone is on the same page.

solved, n; to find a solution, explanation, or answer for a problem

For the third time, I finally have a date to prom. But I think that this one will really work out. She goes to my school and wants to go…and was somewhat actively looking for someone to go with, so I would highly doubt if it wouldn’t work out. That makes 1/7. One for seven you say? Ah yes, number 6. I asked number six last night. I already knew the answer before I asked, but the question had to be asked. Also, a really good friend of mine offered to let me use his Beamer. I think I’m going to take him up on the offer. So, Tickets: check; Date: check; Vehicle: check. All that’s left? Pre and post prom activities and a tux. The tux should be done by the end of today and I have a good line on some possible pre prom restaurants. I have no clue on post prom stuff…ideas anyone?

Oh, by the way, I only have, oh, 3 hours or so of school left…for the entire year.

Link of the Day: http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/impacteffects/