RoboLab woes...
well spent a while at the lab tonight putting the final tweaks on the robot for the presentation tomorrow...and as usual..it worked...for a while then decided to do something completely different using the exact same program. Run it 2 times..flawless...press run a third time...and every time after that...it freaks out. it looks like a tire is losing traction now...and the batteries seem to be draining at double the speed of usual...which is already insanely fast. this thing has used 18 AA batteries now in about 30 times run. Some groups have been able to use the same set of 6 batteries since the start of the semester. This only goes to prove our equipment is rather gimp.
the conversation of the night was rather enjoyable though...started out as usal making fun of our TA...and his very prickish attitude..and how nothing in regards to our projects is ever good enough. favorite parody quite was "If i drop kick your robot in the nuts then trow it off a cliff...it should still function and find it's way back to the line!" Then someone asked how much it would cost to get a rat or a mouse....we were all rather perplexed as to why the random inquiry. Turns out they wanted to know so they could have something to cahse with thier killer robot they wanted to make. Let me clarify robot for a sec...our robots are nothing more that programmable lego cars we build. now thier idea was to attach knives to the car and have it spin in circles around the table trying to find the rat/mouse....i would rather it be a rat...mice are too small and i rather like them too...but after analyzing the design..;we determined that it would not work well cause if it hit the walls...the blades would suffer damage...but being the ever so crafty engineers we are...we solved that issue. Attach the knives to string...and then have it spin...that way if the impact the walls..they will swing away...and if it hits the target...if properly shaprened...they could swing clear through. Yes...we are rather twisted and sadistic...thanks for asking >: ).
but anyways...now i have the privelage of getting up early and showing up 2 hours before th lab starts to put in new batteries and try again...and i'm sure i will get it working before do or die time. And once me and the team show off this gimpy biatch to the TA...we need to take some pics of it...and then get ready for our presentation next week. And thankfully i will not have to deal with this monstrosity ever again. This would have been a really fun lab if the equipment wasn't full of hardware problems...and other performance related issues. But from what i have heard from other current and former EE majors...my experience with this is not uncommon...in fact it is the norm. At least we had an easier set of tasks this go around compared to semesters past.
But in other...less bitching and whining news. I GET TO GO HOME TOMORROW!!!!1one!!! Mitch decided to go home too...it seems like several people i know are having car troubles. Marvin is getting a look over...Kristen's car is having tire troubles...Frances...well her car is just trouble...end of story...and now Mitch's car won't start. Might be the battery....or he is out of gas...he isn't sure...but he thinks it may just be gas..since he was running on fumes for the past few days he said...baka...hehe. So he's gonna bum a ride from me and the 'rents. i'm just really excited to see Houston again. Not that i really care for the city or anything...it's more for the people i care about there...
Programming is certainly getting interesting...need to thank mitch once more for pointing out to me how to solve my problem. I would have never figured that out...seeing as how we have done...absolutely nothing these past 2 lectures in that class.
My prof is quite a cool guy...but i would not say he is the most focused teacher...Wednesday we had a relaxation day...we covered no material...instead he gave a humor laced presentation on the state and problems facing the electronics and computing industry. it was quite cool...especially when he talked about if we applied the way the electronics industry preformed to other industries. Like automobiles for example...if electrical engineers designed cars...we could build a car that could go 3000 mph...we could build a plane that could travel from the US to Europe in 15seconds...and we could build a train that could travel from New York to California in 25 seconds. However...appliying the quality aspect of our industry to those products...well...once a month a car would explode killing everyone in it. A plane would just fall out of the air during the travel from US to Europe every 3 hours....and a train would derail every 2 hours. all in all it was a very hillarious lecture about nothing...i'm glad i appreciate and enjoy british humor...otherwise that class would bore me to tears.
but anyways..it is getting late...and i have to get up in a little while...might as well get some sleep for what is probably gonna be a long day.
the conversation of the night was rather enjoyable though...started out as usal making fun of our TA...and his very prickish attitude..and how nothing in regards to our projects is ever good enough. favorite parody quite was "If i drop kick your robot in the nuts then trow it off a cliff...it should still function and find it's way back to the line!" Then someone asked how much it would cost to get a rat or a mouse....we were all rather perplexed as to why the random inquiry. Turns out they wanted to know so they could have something to cahse with thier killer robot they wanted to make. Let me clarify robot for a sec...our robots are nothing more that programmable lego cars we build. now thier idea was to attach knives to the car and have it spin in circles around the table trying to find the rat/mouse....i would rather it be a rat...mice are too small and i rather like them too...but after analyzing the design..;we determined that it would not work well cause if it hit the walls...the blades would suffer damage...but being the ever so crafty engineers we are...we solved that issue. Attach the knives to string...and then have it spin...that way if the impact the walls..they will swing away...and if it hits the target...if properly shaprened...they could swing clear through. Yes...we are rather twisted and sadistic...thanks for asking >: ).
but anyways...now i have the privelage of getting up early and showing up 2 hours before th lab starts to put in new batteries and try again...and i'm sure i will get it working before do or die time. And once me and the team show off this gimpy biatch to the TA...we need to take some pics of it...and then get ready for our presentation next week. And thankfully i will not have to deal with this monstrosity ever again. This would have been a really fun lab if the equipment wasn't full of hardware problems...and other performance related issues. But from what i have heard from other current and former EE majors...my experience with this is not uncommon...in fact it is the norm. At least we had an easier set of tasks this go around compared to semesters past.
But in other...less bitching and whining news. I GET TO GO HOME TOMORROW!!!!1one!!! Mitch decided to go home too...it seems like several people i know are having car troubles. Marvin is getting a look over...Kristen's car is having tire troubles...Frances...well her car is just trouble...end of story...and now Mitch's car won't start. Might be the battery....or he is out of gas...he isn't sure...but he thinks it may just be gas..since he was running on fumes for the past few days he said...baka...hehe. So he's gonna bum a ride from me and the 'rents. i'm just really excited to see Houston again. Not that i really care for the city or anything...it's more for the people i care about there...
Programming is certainly getting interesting...need to thank mitch once more for pointing out to me how to solve my problem. I would have never figured that out...seeing as how we have done...absolutely nothing these past 2 lectures in that class.
My prof is quite a cool guy...but i would not say he is the most focused teacher...Wednesday we had a relaxation day...we covered no material...instead he gave a humor laced presentation on the state and problems facing the electronics and computing industry. it was quite cool...especially when he talked about if we applied the way the electronics industry preformed to other industries. Like automobiles for example...if electrical engineers designed cars...we could build a car that could go 3000 mph...we could build a plane that could travel from the US to Europe in 15seconds...and we could build a train that could travel from New York to California in 25 seconds. However...appliying the quality aspect of our industry to those products...well...once a month a car would explode killing everyone in it. A plane would just fall out of the air during the travel from US to Europe every 3 hours....and a train would derail every 2 hours. all in all it was a very hillarious lecture about nothing...i'm glad i appreciate and enjoy british humor...otherwise that class would bore me to tears.
but anyways..it is getting late...and i have to get up in a little while...might as well get some sleep for what is probably gonna be a long day.