1st place in our FLL tournament!

We had a great tournament this weekend at the Nasa Ames Research Center.  We came in 2nd place in the robot game, but 1st overall (and received the champion's award.)  It has been a great season and I can't wait to continue.  Our team name is REX.

4WD Buggy

I saw a video on youtube of a four wheel drive buggy, and I like the design.  I tried to build my own version, using 2 medium motors in the back and two large motors in the front.  Unfortunately, I had no great off-road wheels, so I used other ones that aren't as good as I would have liked.  Here is the video I watched: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uff7vZ-Pcds

Here is the robot, with the "protection" I added to it:

This is the robot without the outer layer.  If you look carefully, there is a turntable gear in behind the front motors; this is to allow the front wheels to rotate from the back wheels, so when it goes over an object only one wheel will go into the air and the rest will remain pushing on the ground:

Here is the robot in action:

Fencing Robots

A few days ago, I decided I wanted to make fencing robots.  Instead, I ended up with a robot that can spin and jab out at you.

I put it on a base with four support legs, and played with it for a little while.  It can spin 360º, but can't move, so it isn't that fun to play with.

The next day my uncle came over, and challenged me to put wheels on it.  So I did.  Since it was pretty heavy, I used my XL motors, the strongest power functions motors.

Building Lego "Guns"

Last night I was up trying to build a crossbow, or gun, or whatever I could to project a object.  I had limited success.  In my first design, I compressed a shock absorber and then released it to hit and fire an object.  It only shot pieces about one foot.

 Next, I tried to use rubber bands to launch a piece down a track.  It could fire about four feet, but didn't work every time.

Happy Halloween!

It's a little late, but Happy Halloween everyone!