Announcements

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Final Competition - Family & Friends Welcome!

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Johnson Athletic Center Ice Rink

Attendance at the event both days is mandatory for all students!

Wednesday 7 May 2008 @ 6:30

Thursday 8 May 2008 @ 6:00 - Family and friends welcome!

Directions to Johnson are here. Parking in West Garage @ 5:00.

 

Parents can't make it? Watch the WEBCAST:

Semifinals (7 May) - Finals (8 May)

 

GOOD LUCK ROBOTS !!!

 

In class seeding week of 28 April as per your instructor.

 

Impound Friday 2 May ending @ 16:00.

Early impound on Wednesday 30 April for 10 pts.

 

24 April 2008 - As impound approaches some notes ....

• If you want to impound early on Wednesday but are scheduled to seed on Thursday what to do? You can seed with any instructor, just ask.
• If your robot is equipped with rubber bands, belts and other stretchy items it should be stored with them disconnected, otherwise they will stretch and probably fall off at an impromptu moment.
• Heed Shane's warning regarding connectors and strain relief. Have your friendly UA fiddle with your wires and break then now, rather than later.
• Notebooks, reflections and, yes, websites are due Tuesday 13 May, unless your instructor has a different deadline. This is not implemented to stress you, rather it leaves us sufficient time to review your hard work with the attention that it is due.
• Websites need not be overly complex, but they should document your design and manufacturing abilities such that you will be able to send the link along with an internship application. Photos, scanned notebooks, jpg's of CAD models, your CV (but be careful with personal information) can be posted. Good samples from previous years are here.
• The final competition pdf contained two errors. The Semifinals are 8th May which is Wednesday, not Tuesday. Likewise the Finals are on Thursday, not Wednesday.
• Drive Time - By request the lab will be open late Friday (tomorrow) from 17:00 - 19:00 for driving practice only, no machining. Anyone not actively driving will be mustered for cleanup duty.

 

21 April 2008

• Decorating you machine with non-kit materials is, of course, permitted.
• Excellent New York Times Article analyzing the Titanic's rivets - Forensic Engineering (Passed on by a 2.007 student.)

 

2 April 2008

• Hinges have been made available in the supply cabinet, to a maximum of 12", as justified with your instructor.
• Sample Websites of past students are here.

 

Exam Post Mortem & Ford Presentation

17 April 2008

11:00 -12:00 in 1-190 - Exam Review or

11:00 -12:00 in Papp - Work Session with Ford's Kristin Schoendorf

12:15 - 12:30 ish PM in Papp - Ford Presentation & Lunch - All should attend!

 

Thursday Night! - 3 April 2008 - Dinner with Tim Vanderpol.

• Tim is an MIT graduate and a veteran of 2.007. He will; be speaking about engineering in the real world. Dinner @ 5:00, lab open until 9:00.

 

12 March 2008

• Tonight Only! Solid Works Help! Bldg. 3, 4th Floor Computer Lab.
• The contest is now remaned named Da MIT - Yes MIT!

 

11 March 2008

• Makeup Exams are only possible Thursday 20 March during class 11-13:00 in 1-190 by special arrangement with Prof. Slocum, please e-mail Maureen Lynch.
• Last Year's Exam is available here. Solutions are not. We recommend that you get together with your peer review groups, find a blackboard and work problems in context of your robot design, pay particular attention to the class examples.

 

9 March 2008

• The System Engineering Process Review checklist, presented in Thursday's class, is available for download here.
• The Kit List has been populated with up-to-date SolidWorks models.
• Midterm Exam scheduled for Tuesday, 18 March from 19:30 to 21:30 on the 3rd floor of Walker Memorial.
• The Spring Pins used in the motor couplings by popular demand have been shortened. The new pins should be in Tuesday.
• Vista users, if you are still having problems, individual SW CD's are available that you can try. Please e-mail privately. If your install did work, but SW runs very sloooowly, a fellow student may have diagnosed the problem, troubleshooting information is available.

 

3 March 2008

• Timing Belts are now available (i.e. we have found a box in the storeroom) and samples have been tied to the gray cabinet. Supplies are limited so timimg belts will only be distributed by instructors provided you have a plan which demonstrates their use. If done carefully, belts can be cut, shortened and glued/secured. Info on timing belts here.
• The Food Ball Release Doors have now been fixed. When unloaded with food balls all open with ~3 lb of force. Why did this fix take so long? The problem was the manner in which the magnets in the closing clips were constrained. All shall be explained in lecture....
  

 

26 February 2008

The 2.007 Archives are now back online! They are very messy, so exploring should be interesting....sorry for the missing bits, they are outside my control. I will soon pick out some of the highlights and really useful bobs and bits and transfer them to the new site.

 

19 February 2008

The 2008 table is now done!

A few adjustments have been made to eliminate potential sources of frustration, but the contest is not significantly changed:

The cones have been reduced to 9" high from 12". This should make it a little easier for the Robots to extract beavers from underneath.

Cones will be color coded to match the noodles so you know exactly which one your beavers are hiding under.

The beaver lodge was slightly enlarged to aid access.

The noodles were a very tight fit, so we have added slots, thus allowing removal by pulling forward too.

Handles have been added to the starting bin flap to aid in ball release. We understand that the magnetic catches are a bit finicky, this will be corrected.

All adjustments are reflected in the online solid model.

Kit: And just in time for your simple cars the rest of the "Stocked in Bins" kit items have indeed now been stocked in the large gray cabinet. Please only take what you need and return the excess to the bins. Bins will be restocked as needed, please alert a UA to any shortages. Other years we have ended up with a huge mess of wasted parts that cannot possibly be sorted out, I would like to avoid this.

And do you really, really want to use something that is not on your kit list? Consult your instructor or UA, then e-mail the court and we will consider stocking it.

Superme Court: Regarding the deluge of Court e-mail traffic it has come to the 2.007 team's attention that repetitive questions are being asked. Supreme Court rulings are frequently updated, so before e-mailing the court READ the latest rulings. In addition, not all questions are created equal and therefore, like any Supreme Court, the Court may decline to issue a ruling, i.e. just ignore your question. Bear in mind that this is a design and manufacturing class ... not a legal loophole finding class. Your time and energy is limited and prior experience has shown that a robust, not a persnickety, design always wins.

 

13 February 2008

Motor Lecture: March 4th by Prof. Steve Leeb, Electrical Engineering.

Drawing Tutoring: Noah Riskin will be available in the Pappalardo as follows:

M,W 15:00-16:00,T, R 13:00-14:00

12 February 2008

The Supreme Court is now hearing cases, please consult the recent judgments.

10 February 2008

Thank you to Marie Planchard from Solid works for her excellent training sessions.

Vista: We're sorry, but we do not have a working copy of Vista, and there are no loaner laptops available at IS&T, we did check. Please use the clusters.

Kit: Oops, there was a small error on the kit list. I listed item #13 the 1"x1" Al angle iron as being 2' long. The correct length is 18".

Contest: The rules are now posted and the table is appearing in the Pappalado Lab this week. Please also consult the Kit page's notes.

Controllers: For 2008 the controllers and podiums have been completely redesigned and two are now up and running in the Pappalardo.

Tamiya Motor Kits: As the more astute of you may have noticed, correctly aligning the Tamiya gearboxes is difficult. We are trying to help Tamiya to improve the design, but this will not happen this year. Until then, as a stopgap measure, we are providing 5-40 screws, which fit tighter than the supplied M3 screws. Two length screws and nuts are now available in the Pappalardo.

 

5 February 2008

Solid Works Professional Training Sessions

(Attendance recommended)

Time: 4 possible 2-hour sessions - 6 & 7 February from 3-5 and 7-9 pm

Location: Building 35 Computer Lab

Download training handouts intro, glossary, instructions.

Download training files here.