Avon ÜberBots

UML Diagramming

Wed, 16 Dec 2015 20:14:17 GMT

by jweston (Posted Wed, 16 Dec 2015 20:14:17 GMT)
I urge anyone interested in programming to take a look at UML. There's a very nice tutorial on UML 2 here:
http://www.sparxsystems.com/resources/u ... index.html

UML (Unified Modeling Language) is a popular collection diagramming techniques to model various aspects of structure and behavior of a program or system of programs. You can pick and choose which diagrams make the most sense based on what you're working on.

For instance, you might want to use a class diagram to show the classes and their relationships representing a complex mechanism like a claw, plus an interaction diagram representing a command group like PickUpPieceWithClaw. Each diagramming technique highlights a certain kind of detail about your code (ex:, the flow of information, the timing of actions, the sequence of events, etc).

Diagraming your program before you begin coding helps you think through problems you might not be thinking about when you first start designing. It's also an excellent and often necessary tool for keeping a team of programmers working together on the same codebase.

Helpful Video Resources

Tue, 08 Dec 2015 21:06:57 GMT

by icecube (Posted Tue, 08 Dec 2015 21:06:57 GMT)
I found Stephen's post to be particularly helpful, especially the link to the playlist from 3476 on the old electronics system (associated with the cRIO).

I found a generic guide on WPILib to the new system if anyone is interested: http://wpilib.screenstepslive.com/s/448 ... e-overview

The 2015 Control System Layout:
http://frc.memphisfirstteams.org/files/ ... Layout.jpg

Aaaand some images of really nice wiring :
http://i.imgur.com/j5LdMfN.jpg
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/img/c0 ... faf0_l.jpg
https://frcdesigns.files.wordpress.com/ ... .jpg?w=512

General Discussion

Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:03:00 GMT

by Elayne.B (Posted Sat, 05 Dec 2015 06:03:00 GMT)
If any cares about yourself safety or comfortable life, then you need to come to have a look at this gps jammers , it will help a lot.

Falconeers

Mon, 12 Oct 2015 19:42:57 GMT

by foozie (Posted Mon, 12 Oct 2015 19:42:57 GMT)
It's been a while. I have the vector graphic somewhere on a hard drive at home if we need it.

New Freshmen

Thu, 10 Sep 2015 22:58:02 GMT

by Gaxis (Posted Thu, 10 Sep 2015 22:58:02 GMT)
Sounds like a great idea! I was thinking of tying this sort of thing into off season workshops on strategy because scouting would be very boring for new students if they didn't understand the game or how FRC robots function, though we could give it a shot. Some of the more prominent sophomore scouters from last year (Alex, Kelly, etc.) can give new students pointers and notes on recognizing certain aspects of gameplay. It could also stand to be an introduction to the strategy team, which is also highly involved during competition. As an introduction to FRC competitions it'll be useful, since we can show students footage not just from 2015 (which is an extremely different games from the FRC standard) but 2014 and the years before to give students a rudimentary knowledge of defense, scoring cycles, and efficient design. Of course this all ties in our ability to make sure that it doesn't get boring for them, because scouting is a tedious and repetitive process. It all depends on implementation.

Young Mind Awards

Wed, 28 Jan 2015 01:26:25 GMT

by smurfgirl (Posted Wed, 28 Jan 2015 01:26:25 GMT)
I wanted to share what seems like a great opportunity for FIRST students to gain recognition and hopefully earn some awards. I will be judging the middle school category, and Dean Kamen is also a judge. http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=133591

Strategic Design Slides

Tue, 06 Jan 2015 01:24:06 GMT

by Phil (Posted Tue, 06 Jan 2015 01:24:06 GMT)
Here's a link to the slides I gave at kickoff about strategic design. It's heavily inspired by Karthik's "Effective FIRST Strategies" presentations he gives every year (link to the most recent version, with his slides). Seriously, go watch it - it'll be really helpful.

Here is a link to my slides.

PID Control Explainations

Tue, 23 Dec 2014 20:27:29 GMT

by Phil (Posted Tue, 23 Dec 2014 20:27:29 GMT)
Pretty close. If you can wait until Kickoff, Justin and I will do our yearly explanation of some pretty cool control theory concepts, including the basics of PID control and some of the basic calculus behind it. We'll also explain some of the quirks behind the default LabVIEW implementation of the PID algorithms, as well as how to go about tuning your systems.

If anyone has any other questions that can't wait until January, feel free to post them here.

Pre-Kickoff

Fri, 12 Dec 2014 00:38:18 GMT

by SlugKing (Posted Fri, 12 Dec 2014 00:38:18 GMT)
Indubitably interesting.

LabVIEW Tutorials

Wed, 12 Nov 2014 00:53:35 GMT

by jweston (Posted Wed, 12 Nov 2014 00:53:35 GMT)
Here are a couple of start-from-scratch tutorials on LabVIEW.

http://k12lab-support-pages.s3.amazonaws.com/lvbasichome1.html
http://k12lab-support-pages.s3.amazonaws.com/lvadvancedhome1.html

Registration for MIT Splash is now open

Mon, 20 Oct 2014 01:35:03 GMT

by Anish (Posted Mon, 20 Oct 2014 01:35:03 GMT)
Splash is a really cool two-day event that goes on at MIT. Basically, the MIT students teach hundreds of classes on things ranging from karate to tea-tasting to theoretical math. A few kids from the team went last year, and it was pretty damn fun.

Splash itself will be on November 22-23 this year. Registration is now open, and registration closes on November 1st.

Just to clarify, this is not a robotics event. You will need to provide your own transportation, food, etc. That said, Splash is practically free so you should all go.

Hope to see you there!

Ellen made the news!

Sun, 28 Sep 2014 23:10:38 GMT

by J. Niezrecki (Posted Sun, 28 Sep 2014 23:10:38 GMT)
Not much more to say other than that. Congrats Ellen.

Click here for the article

University Day @ CCSU - Saturday, September 13, 2014

Mon, 08 Sep 2014 18:07:12 GMT

by Anish (Posted Mon, 08 Sep 2014 18:07:12 GMT)
My dad wants to go, not sure if it's too late to register yet

2015 roboRIO Control System

Thu, 04 Sep 2014 03:49:14 GMT

by Michael (Posted Thu, 04 Sep 2014 03:49:14 GMT)
All electrical team and programming team members should watch these videos, mainly the electrical team. Simbotics team members go over all the components...and the new Weidmuller connectors.

2015 FRC Control System Beta Test Playlist

First Meeting for Freshmen?

Wed, 03 Sep 2014 20:09:06 GMT

by Michael (Posted Wed, 03 Sep 2014 20:09:06 GMT)
The official Freshman meeting is Tuesday the 16th. Feel free to come, but the official meeting is is the 16th. Keep an eye on the calendar so stay up-to-date.

School Schedule

Thu, 28 Aug 2014 00:56:05 GMT

by J. Niezrecki (Posted Thu, 28 Aug 2014 00:56:05 GMT)
ÜberBots, I know a lot of you were looking for this.

Here is the school schedule that was so impossible to find online. Good luck my brethren.

A question to Matt and Phil

Mon, 25 Aug 2014 15:11:32 GMT

by foozie (Posted Mon, 25 Aug 2014 15:11:32 GMT)
Phil hit the nail on the head. PHP is a fairly good web-development language, but it's certainly not the best there out there. However, when we created the site, it probably was the best one out there and certainly a favorite of the open source community (Wikipedia, Wordpress, and Joomla, and Drupal are all written in PHP). A lot has changed, and my current web platform of choice is probably node.
I guess what you're faced with is an ages-old engineering dilemma. Do you invest the time and money into adopting a new technology, or do you build upon what you already have? Whatever the solution is, it's not going to come easily.

[POLL] Module Text Editor

Mon, 25 Aug 2014 12:22:38 GMT

by Phil (Posted Mon, 25 Aug 2014 12:22:38 GMT)
I second Matt's points - it doesn't really matter a whole lot what you use. They're all going to be very similar. Just pick one and move on.

Can we get a github / some sort of SVN for the website code?

Wed, 13 Aug 2014 02:11:14 GMT

by J. Niezrecki (Posted Wed, 13 Aug 2014 02:11:14 GMT)
Speaking of github, take a look at this blog post:

https://github.com/blog/1871-github-3-first-robotics

Website Version 3

Sat, 21 Jun 2014 03:32:36 GMT

by AlecK (Posted Sat, 21 Jun 2014 03:32:36 GMT)
Maybe some nice vector graphics, HTML5 elements, and CSS animations. I can help you with that stuff if you need me to. ☺

Too 90s

Thu, 19 Jun 2014 20:07:17 GMT

by Michael (Posted Thu, 19 Jun 2014 20:07:17 GMT)
I watched that video for almost 20 minutes before I realized I should be studying...but it is comical how new it is to them (here I am with windows 7) and how cheesy that video is.

Movie Night

Sat, 07 Jun 2014 17:43:36 GMT

by J. Niezrecki (Posted Sat, 07 Jun 2014 17:43:36 GMT)
Hi ÜberBots!

Trying to get the word out. A lot of us are going to see the new X-Men film tonight at Hoyts Movie Theater.

The movie is at 7 PM, but you might want to come earlier for buying tickets, getting seating, etc.

See you then

- Justin

Nominations

Thu, 05 Jun 2014 02:31:03 GMT

by J. Niezrecki (Posted Thu, 05 Jun 2014 02:31:03 GMT)
Management Nominations Update

After a few days, you all have narrowed down nominations to this list:

President
Justin, Jason

Vice President of Internal Affairs
Ross, Utah

Vice President of Public Relations
Jack, Beth, Christine

Secretary
Michael, Stephen

Treasurer
Anish, Stephan, Andy

Scouting Folder

Wed, 04 Jun 2014 17:34:37 GMT

by Riverdance (Posted Wed, 04 Jun 2014 17:34:37 GMT)
That's fantastic, thank you so much Mrs. LaReau!

Summer Interns Positions - Teaching Robotic Programming

Tue, 03 Jun 2014 11:19:35 GMT

by J. Niezrecki (Posted Tue, 03 Jun 2014 11:19:35 GMT)
If I were to do this, I would have to miss 2 weeks. Not sure if they would allow this.

The Poofs

Thu, 29 May 2014 21:02:53 GMT

by Gaxis (Posted Thu, 29 May 2014 21:02:53 GMT)
They're fantastic and amazing at the same time how can this happen?! Interesting choice of memes though.