While the nation prepared for a historic event, the Gangstaz were busy making some momentous preparations of their own.  We assembled our first ever chassis, completely from interchangeable parts!!  George spent the time establishing the needed dimensions and producing a cut list to minimize the waste aluminum and produced all the components of the basic chassis frame, leaving only a few pieces of approximately 1-2 inches as scrap!  Taking these blanks, Will, Ryan, and Mike, led by our Ms. Thuy, drilled and tapped the components to produce the needed chassis members.  Then – the moment of truth – we assembled the chassis from any appropriatye part – and it came out exactly as planned!  All parts fit as desired and the finished chassis frame was straight and square!  Great job, guys!

While that work was progressing, George also laid out the drive motor and gearbox mounts.  Using this layout, Mr. Tate machined the needed pieces and once again, the team assembled drive units from random parts, producing drive motor assemblies that were once again, interchangeable at any position!  Our chassis frame is now complete, on wheels, ready to be driven and has been turned over to the electronics and programming teams for the installation of instrumentation and the development and testing of the controlling software.

That doesn’t mean the construction is over – we have now gone full force into the construction of our scoring mechanism.  We have the conceptual design developed and spent the weekend working out drive requirements and details and establishing the space requirements for the assembly.  We are beginning the prototyping and assembly of the scoring mechanism and will soon have it ready for testing.  When the chassis is instrumented and the drive software is ready, we will move to driver training – the scrimmage is rapidly approaching!

The robot is progressing, but there remain lots to be done to get ready for the Peachtree and the Championship competition.  Stop by and help us whenever you can!

It has been a busy week for the Gangstaz.  With the challenge in hand, the team has been busy developing ideas and strategies for accomplishing the goals of the competition.  This one is totally different from anything we have done before – the low friction playing surface changes all the “rules” we’ve learned over the past few year of how to design and drive a chassis. 

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