First Basics, for those of you who are wondering

Okay, so many of you are probably wondering what FIRST is and what we are trying to do this year. I posted a few things on twitter, but since there's a word limit, there's only so much I can explain on there.

FIRST Robotics is a 6 week robotics competition. This year's challenge is to build a robot to score different shaped inner tubes. Another part of scoring is deploying a minibot that must climb an 8 foot pole.

Currently, the robot stands at 4 feet, 10 inches and reaches with a single arm to a maximum height of 9 feet. The arm is hooked up to belts and a fisher price gear box motor setup for greater torque. Two springs counterbalance the arm, so the center of gravity maintains stable.

The team is now in week 6/6 of the competition. (Because we missed a week for bad weather, time has become even more of an issue than usual.)

Right now, the robot is working, but it is a bit unstable, so the FIRST team is working tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that, on until the job gets done (or, more likely, until February 22, the robot send off date- though they will meet consistently after that as well).