The Code Red "Perspectus" #1

       Build sessions and build sessions, only a week has gone by and most of us have clocked at least 28 hours. At the start of the season my enthusiasm was unmatched, but only a week into the season, school and Code Red have been conflicting. Although my tiredness greatly hinders my ability to enjoy Code Red to the greatest of my capability, we have begun this season with a bang. Students brainstormed random ideas to establish a strategy; then, we refined those ideas by developing them into detailed stratagem.  All of this was followed by voting on these particular plans and after finally deciding on an approach, the fun could begin.

        Team members split up into groups and thought hard to devise an
ingenious, unique and never before imagined design that might win them
critical acclaim.  The ideas that I suggested lacked clarity and
practicality but enhanced my understanding of the design process. After
providing annotated sketches for some outrageous ideas and seeing some,
even more outrageous, we came to a consensus on the following; the
robot must possess treads, must be able to pull itself onto the tower
with an arm, preferably support the weight of another robot, and has to
be able to kick soccer balls into the goals.  With brainstorming,
strategy and design out of the way, the scene was set for prototyping.
By Saturday, we had built bumps in an effort to recreate the field of
this year’s game and tested our equipment/prototypes. As always, we
must go back to the drawing board. I think I should put an end to this
paragraph but I have really loved the experience that is Code Red
robotics and yes we are actually building robot!