Blog | Black Thunder

We can now finish gyro boy as we are on top of all our other work. FLL As gyro boy is nearly finished we can begin work on other things such as reliability and accuracy by using micro python add-on to  visual studio to code. The stacks are now coded and and ready to go. We also have a Gyro boy works as there gyro tucked under in between the two motors that can help the robot balance on two wheels. It also has a cute face. Sumo Stupidly low velocity won by 16 points as they played several more matches then the other teams. The teams are also having to restart their robots as we need the parts for fll nationals so they will begin after Christmas.  Hopefully their robots will be much better.

Re-coding FLL Over the weekend most of the bot code was deleted and then coded in python, this allows us to improve acceleration, deceleration, turning and also how controlled the runs are. The rest of the code such as the swing and elevator which we abandoned half-way through the regional competition still needs to be translated into python code. Gyro-boy is being vastly improved to show-off in nationals, we are hoping we can wow the judges through this small project and to also because when competition is high, Black Thunder are at their prime. SUMO Competiton The competitors are making general repairs in the first half of the session then will be participating in battles for the second half. The competitors have formed a close bond and if we compare them from when they started and when they are now, its a vast improvement in their ability to think outside the box think of innovative ways to solve problem caused by there improvements.

Positive changes  FLL After an inspiring win at the FLL regionals at The American School in London, we are back to changing code in EV3 and running through mission models, however this will be short-lived as one of our expert coders is going to take the bot, mission-models and mat home, during the holidays and recode the entire bot in micro python; a more reliable and efficient coding language. This will give us a better success rate and improve our chances in the Nationals greatly.  SUMO Competition Today, the SUMO competitors have been making small adjustments to their robots perfecting them. One team has made a new attachment for their medium motor and other teams have been making structural and other changes to their bot. On a more exciting note, the SUMO competitors have been started to be introduced to the FLL City Shaper mat and are thinking about how successfully their robots will complete the missions and whether minor or major changes are needed to make the...

Immediate Responses FLL The first Wednesday back was very effective, we practised some more, did some more coding and improved our score to reach 300 every time. We focused on the missions we had already done in the regional competition and memorised the placings. Next we focused on the missions that we bailed on but could be able to do in the same run as other missions, such as the building demolishing and the elevator along with the swing. They are not guaranteed points yet but soon will be as more tests are done and the code is improved. This week also we switched from block EV3 coding to the Micro-Python coding for EV3, this made our coding process very efficient as all members of the Black Thunder team are good in Python. We also restarted the gyro-bot project to show off in the nationals. SUMO Competition Today was a chill session for the SUMO competitors, to cool down from the hectic battles that took place in the previous weeks. They were allowed to do one of thr...

Competition Day Yesterday eight of us went to the FFL regional competition in The American School In London, there were many teams, half of them from that very school. Our first match at 9:55 went horribly wrong as we had some wrong information that we could touch the bot in the placing area as we thought it was a also part of base. Through this we lost 60 points putting us in 6th place. Immediately after the first match we had our core values presentation, in which we were split in two, one part had to make an animal while the other a habitat for that animal. The two teams were allowed to communicate but cold not see what the other was making. This in its core idea was a team building exercise. At 10:55 we had our second match in which we improved our score by 25 putting us in 4th place. Next we had our robot design segment in which we had to present our bot and why we had made it as we did, the two judges drilled us looking at the functionality of our code and efficiency of our ...

Project Presentation FLL We were all sent our lines for the project presentation, and had to memorise them. This session we had a practise presentation to prep ourselves for the real thing. Each of us had to something to say for each slide, about each aspect of the project and about the process. It was very successful but a few minor tweaks and a re-run and we had almost nailed it. SUMO Competition The SUMO competitors were in for a treat today as they had very little work to do, all they had to was sit down and watch our presentation about the project, they had time to ask a few questions which greatly improved the power point such as why did we choose to use what we did use. This test run boosted our morale and improved the team's confidence. After the presentation, the competitors could do general repairs and modifications for the battles on Monday.