Happy Friday the 13th!
Before I start blogging about ME72, I have to give a special tribute to one of my favorite days of the year...Friday the 13th. Now, being a scientist, I know that the chance of bad things happening is not actually increased just because the 13th day happens to also be a Friday, but it is fun to pretend that it is. So far, my day has been amusingly unlucky (and it is only noon!). So, a short story of my morning, and then back to 72...
I decided earlier this week that I was not going to do ANY work on Friday the 13th, since my sets would probably spontaneously catch on fire, or I would end up doing a bunch of unnecessary grunge work for a problem that was only supposed to be 2 lines or what-not...so I worked extra hard to do a lot for the non-work I am going to do today. Anyway, I woke up this morning at 8 (just because I do that every day...darn my biological alarm clock) and since I was not going to do any work, I decided to go out to Starbucks. The unluckiness started when I came back. So, in order to get back into Avery (my dorm) you need your id card...and I had forgotten it in my room. Usually, I can just call my friends in Avery and have someone come down to the parking lot and let me in, but since it was 9am the people that I would normally call were all asleep. So, I went through my phone book and called about 5 people who I knew would be up, but none of them picked up (it turns out they were either in the shower, in class, or I accidentally called their home...in Texas...). So, I had to pick which friend of mine would be the least angry at me for waking them up and making them come down to the parking lot and let me in. This person happened to be Bean Child (her nickname...don't worry, her parents were not cruel). But, since I woke her up, she was in a groggy state, and forgot to bring her id when she went down to the parking lot to let me in. So, I got into the parking lot, but then after you park, you need an id to swipe back into the actual dorm building. So, we had to formulate a plan to get back in. Luckily, I have had this problem happen before. So, I knew we could go from the parking lot, to the dining hall, into the piano room, and then climb out of the piano room through the window, into Avery's courtyard! Success!
That was the first thing. The next unlucky (but highly humorous) event happened on the way to my 11am class. Usually I walk with my 2 friends, but today one of them had to go into lab. Usually we wait 5 or 10 minutes for him and then we arrive to class right as it starts. But, today since he wasn't walking with us we arrived to class while the previous class was still going on...However, we didn't notice this. So, I was in the middle of telling my parking lot story, when I barged into the class and said very loudly "parking structure" looked up and saw a bunch of frosh and a prof all starting at me, and then ran back out of the class! It was funny/embarrassing, and I totally blame it on Friday the 13th.
Anyway, back to ME 72. This week there were no deadlines and all of the days kind of melded together. Every day (Monday - Thursday) I went into the shop from 1pm - 4pm. Day to day I would pick up from where I left off in the machining the previous day, and so they all feel like one continuous block of machining in my mind...But basically, earlier in the week we thought we finished Hateful. We made the skids bigger, shaved down the shell, and extended the leads for the battery and the receivers to the top of Hateful. After I closed everything off, and it was perfect, I put it on the floor and tried to drive it around. It worked fine for a minute, and then it started spazzing out! The wheels were spinning like crazy, and I was not even touching the controller. I turned it off and decided to let it "rest" for a day, and then tackle the problem the next day. When I went in the shop the following day, it was still freaking out. Noooooo! Why?! I talked to the TA, and it turned out that I would have to open the robot back up, and then break into the permanently sealed "waterproof" box and see what was wrong. I sadly broke into my masterpiece, and pried open the box with an exact knife and a screw driver. It turns out, our "waterproof" box was not so waterproof...there was one spot of leakage, and it got our receiver and speed controllers all wet, which is why the wheels were freaking out.
Luckily for us, our most wonderful (and awesome) of TAs figured this out for us. He spent an hour during lunch testing out our various electronics, until he came to that conclusion. And then after he discovered the problem, he fixed it! I just have to say, most of the ME TAs I have had at Caltech are awesome. There is at least one in every class that goes the extra mile. I do not know if I have just been lucky, or what, but in every one of my ME classes there have been one or two TAs that either meet with you on individual basis before the final to go over practice problems, or answer your questions on the set at midnight the night before it is due, or spend extra time to solve your robot's problem...Being a TA myself, I know that we get paid the same amount for whatever work we do (if we do no work, I'm sure we will not get paid, or at least not be asked to be a TA again...). So, I know these people are not getting anything out of being extra helpful, except bonus points on their conscience. If the TA is a grad student, I think they feel bad for us undergrads for working so hard, and so they want to help as much as possible to alleviate that burden. And, if the TA is an undergrad, I think they sympathize with us, for they remember how hard it was for them, and so they want to help you get through it like, presumably, someone else did for them.
Anyway, once we knew what was wrong, I went on to fix it. The waterproof box is almost fixed, and as soon as I am done writing this blog, I am going to go into the shop and (hopefully *fingers crossed*) complete Hateful. While I have been working on fixing up Hateful, Will has started working on Hungry, and he is about half way done! So, we are pretty far in our progress...seeing as the next deadline is the "vehicle trial" next Thursday. The only thing is that the shop is closed Monday (for the holiday) and so we only have 2 days to machine before this so called "vehicle trial." None of us are exactly sure what is being tested (graded) that day, and the profs and TAs blatantly told me that they were being vague on purpose. Basically, they just want to see what we have at that point in time. So, I think we are on the right path!
I am kind of afraid of going into the shop today...there are a lot of machines with sharp objects meant to cut metal that could go awry on Friday the 13th. Hopefully, I don't lose a finger or whatnot, but I cannot let fear stop me from machining! Wish me luck on this most unlucky of days!
Happy Friday the 13th :) And Happy Valentine's Day/ Singles Awareness Day tomorrow!
