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As it is crunch time, the period during which The Hawaiian Kids finalize the robot before shipment (Tuesday, February 22, 2011), the team began preparing everything for their first competition in New York City. Today, the Machinery division modified the mini bot release so that it will attach to the pole quicker for the end game bonus. They also mounted the camera to the front of the robot so that the drivers will be able to see the inflatable pieces during the game and be able to align the robot with the pole correctly for mini bot release.

The Construction Support division sprayed sealant on the bumpers’ embroidery, made a table for the crate (which will be turned into a workstation at the competitions we attend), and started to create designs in Mastercam for prospective trophies. The trophies are going to be given to other teams at the New York, Hawaii, and Las Vegas Regionals, and at the FRC Championship in St. Louis, Missouri.

As for the Programming/Electronics division, they finished the wiring for the controller station switches. These switches will toggle the color LED strips on the robot to indicate to the human player the exact game piece required for the completion of the logo.

Meanwhile on the Documentation subteam, the Communications/Public Relations division worked on editing the program binder once again. The Visual Media division finished and submitted the sixth week video to the Website Creation division and filmed the different divisions at work.

With only three days left before the FedEx truck comes to pick up the crate, Team 359 is getting closer and closer to being completely finished with the 2011 build season.

With just a few days left in the build season, The Hawaiian Kids are digging deep and working harder than ever. Though FedEx will not collect the robot crate until Tuesday, all supplies and materials that will be needed while away must be packed up by Monday night. Knowing this, Team 359 spent almost all of Sunday sorting through tools, packing containers with supplies, and making spare parts for the robot.

Regardless of division, everyone had a hand in packing. The Machinery Division spent the day divided between machining spare parts and packing all the tools, materials, and supplies that would be needed on the trip. Construction Support helped with the packing by preparing the bumpers for shipment. They sprayed a sealant over the embroidered numbers on the bumpers then allowed them to dry, thus ensuring that the threads will be able to handle the rough contact of match play. The Documentation Subteam all helped with packing in any way they could, by taking inventory, wrapping fragile items, and tracking down all the necessary tools.

The Visual Media Division had an earlier start than the rest of the team due to an early morning meeting with mentor Gene Kois. Mr. Kois stopped by to see what the division had filmed and what progress had been made during the week. After their meeting they proceeded to film the rest of the team’s activities, in between also helping with the packing themselves.  

By the end of the night The Hawaiian Kids had stored most of the necessities away in containers, so that they would need to just be placed in the crate on Monday night. Then they prepared Ho’okahi for Monday’s scrimmage at Moanalua High School. See you there

While many school, state and federal workers spent President’s Day as a day off of work and stress, The Hawaiian Kids were all well at work since Ho’okahi will be shipped the next day. Because the crate and robot won’t be returning to our school grounds till summer, members prepared for all the upcoming regionals by taking inventory of what will be taken and shipped in the crate. Items included spare motors and parts, back up electronics, and tools such as screwdrivers, wrenches, and clamps. Once the inventory was taken, Team 359 packed up Ho’okahi, the controller, and back up batteries for practice held at Moanalua High School. Team 2348, Cool Geeks, hosted an event for all teams on Oahu to play on the full sized field, since many teams don’t have enough room to build a full field; in return, we brought the car scale to allow other teams to weigh their robots. After the drivers got to practice driving and the human players got to throw the inflatable pieces across the entire field, Team 359 went to pick up safety supplies to keep the team, by buying items such as hydrogen peroxide, hand sanitizer, and lip balm, while traveling across the country. Next, the team went back to our school to enjoy the last team dinner provided by team members of the 2011 build season. After consuming the delicious meal, The Hawaiian Kids were energetic and motivated to get the crate packed up before the night ended. After 3 hours of packing Ho’okahi, spare parts, electronics, and items needed for the pit, everything was finished, packed, and ready for the cover. Before we closed up the crate, the traditional routine for Team 359 is to put ti- leaves for safe travel, say our final goodbyes to the robot, and lastly take a team picture with the fully packed crate. As the final screws of the front cover were being put in, at the stroke of midnight the last screw was inserted, which meant it was the last day of the six week build season.