Today we got caught up on some little jobs. We’re still waiting for our machining to be finished, and for our welding to be done. In the mean time, we painted more bumper numbers… 
…looked online for teaser videos to see how others are approaching the competition….
We worked with programming some more…
And, while all this was happening, part of our team met with CanAssist to get feedback on our Kare-bots initiative. We were glad of the good ideas our discussions produced, and we’ll be talking with them again in the near future to discuss details.
We machined a few parts today. 
Most of our cheeseholes are now complete!
work in progress
Things wrapped up a little early this evening, but we’ll be back on track again tomorrow.
To make these parts we needed to go through quite a process. Drawings were made using CAD software.
The printed drawings, were then checked over
And then they were taken to Transformix for machining.
We turned all of our metal into much smaller parts.
Thanks to the machinists who made it happen!
When parts are completed, they need to be examined, and the sharp edges removed.
Looking at the pieces in this small cardboard box….we begin to wonder about the final size of the robot.
Meanwhile…back at KCVI. We had a visitor today who dropped by to get more yarn for 
We also had visitors who brought us our batteries from Florida. Thanks so much!
We devised a way to do tandem knitting. 2 knitters on one project is pretty cool stuff.
We did some bumper math calculations. Look at our reversible bumper instruction 
We looked at various sensors and how to use them effectively.
Our team had been working on a super top secret project for the past few days. We’ve made warm fuzzies for our mentors. Today they were delivered. Mentors are appreciated for the time and effort they put into our team.
Who doesn’t like warm fuzzies?! Why not thank a mentor today!
Programming needed a little tweaking to make the robot easier to drive.
It takes a little time to get used to the controls….
…and then it takes intense focus to drive the robot without hitting the cones. We saw a lot of promising drivers today! We’ll keep practicing, and have some driver tryouts in early February.
We’re organizing all of our tasks on our big organizational chalkboard. There is so much to do!
We’re working on our CAD drawings still. We’ve got lots of part drawings to get done before we can manufacture all of the parts. 
We’re prototyping various devices to manipulate the ramp. To make it more fun we split up into two teams (girls vs. boys) and had a competition.
We’re planning and measuring and cutting material carefully.
We’re working together, mentors and experienced team members are showing our rookies how to work safely.
It’s exciting to see our designs work well! Even if our designs don’t work well, we can learn from that.
We also get to meet family members…
…and welcome them into our big purple family. Family members love Tweedles as much as the rest of us!
After dinner we kept working on our prototypes for ramp manipulation. When tested on the ramp, the boys’ prototype was definitely the loudest, but the girls’ seemed to be a little more effective. Good work girls!
We’re getting a second driver station up and running so we can have drive practice before we hold tryouts later in the season. 
Some of the older students had a turn driving the robot, while the younger ones seemed more concerned about if the robot was alive, or if it was a boy or girl robot, and what its name was.
Tim was having such a good time teaching driving skills that he let us catch a smile on camera!
Some of the grade 8s were very intrigued with how the robot was built, and they look forward joining our team next year.
…and then we got to use it ourselves. 
Thanks to our mentors for waking up early and supervising us at Transformix. Thank you to Ira and Kevin for the instruction this morning.
Exams start tomorrow, and there’s nowhere better to study than at robotics! Tonnes of helpful study buddies, and a big white board!
Look at our beautiful room now! We’ve got bets on when it will look chaotic again. Maybe if we all work together we can keep it nice and organized.
