KwarQcast Episode 2

This is the second episode of the KwarQcast, a podcast about Watertown High School’s Robotics Team. In this episode Dan is joined by his Co-host Keith for the first time. 

There is a lot of great, important, and ridiculous information in this podcast. Topics include our presentation at school committee, Raboni coming to visit, Spirit Week, and much more. Sorry about the weird audio buzz on this one, but we’re still learning and it will be fixed for next week’s episode. For anyone wondering the podcast is about 30 minutes long and we have a bunch of different segments this week. In the future we're planning on including even more members of the team. Thanks for listening.

To listen to the podcast click here:     kwarqcast_epi_2.mp3

The KwarQs First Podcast

So Keith and I (Dan) have been talking about what new things the marketing sub-team could do this year and one of our ideas was to make a podcast for the team. Last night I put together the first episode by myself but future installments will include Keith and anyone else who wants to join in. The podcast is called the KwarQcast and the intro music is Our_Heroes by ramblinglibrarian (which is from a website full of music that is not copyrighted). In this episode, I explain what the team and FIRST is all about and a talk about what the team has been up to. I should note that this first episode is a lot more armature than future ones will be because I was just figuring things out and not using Keith's advanced audio equipment. In addition, future episodes will feature more segments and we'll actually write down some notes about what we're going to talk about. To download the podcast click the link below.


http://ia341321.us.archive.org/0/items/KwarqcastPilot/kwarqcast_pilot.mp3

What Have the Sub-teams Been Doing?

Today we had our first full team meeting in a while. All the sub-teams reported in what they have been accomplishing in the last few weeks. They also shared their plans for the future of their team. In addition, sub-team captains have been decided upon. The notes from this meeting are as follows:

Drive-Train and Chassis: Captain = Katelynn

• We have reviewed the chassis designs from the past two years 
• Reviewed basic skills 
• Helped with off-season community service project in which the team designs a new wheel chair for a disabled child

Programming: Captain = Amory

• The team is familiarizing itself with the C++ programming language 
• We are learning how to use the programming environment 
• Learn documentation and library provided by FIRST
• Practice programming the robot 

Marketing: Captain = Daniel John White

• We have brain-stormed about different fundraising ideas and pushed forward the team's flash drive project. In addition, we have thought about organizing a group of team members to shovel snow during the winter to earn money for the team. 
• We have also decided upon making customized Frisbees to sell for a small price and give out at competition. The Frisbees would be black and have the KwarQs Q logo on them. 
• We have also worked hard on the branding of the team and on making a new t-shirt design (as seen in previous posts)

Electronics: Captain = Clara

• Become more organized than last year
• We would like to have a modularized plug-and-play wiring system 
• Learn to capture wiring diagram/ document electronics of system 

Arm-Effector: Captains = Chris and Maxine

• Coming up with mock competitions to plan arm-effectors to help with organization 
• Helping with the wheel chair community service project 
• Develop a fully functional arm-effector this year

Q Logo Rough Draft

Made by Katie Purchase, a friend of the team :)

Graphics Update

The marketing sub-team has been hard at work the past few weeks bringing together new ideas about what kind of branding we want the team to have. We have come up with the first few sketches you see here as our starting points. The Q duck is our main brand and logo. The one you see here is our finalized hand-drawn version and a graphic version of it is in the process of being made.

Below, you see our idea for what will go on the front of this year's t-shirts. The writing will be gold while the duck will be green and the circle behind then will be black.

Following are some ideas that the team has played around with for Mascots. None of these are completely finalized yet but the main t-shirt and Q logo are the first things that are being turned into graphics with Illustrator. We'll keep you posted on our progress as we get further into the final stages of creating this year's t-shirt design.

All the pictures were drawn by Keith with the help and advice of the rest of the marketing team.

Project Adventure

On Monday the 26th, the robotics team met after school for a team-building exercise in the high school gym. Project Adventure, an alternative gym class at Watertown High, allows students to explore different forms of physical activity. First, we played a game of "Have You Ever", which is almost a variation of musical chairs where we learned about the interests and activities of our fellow team members. Then, we helped each other cross a course of balance beams. The goal was to work together and get everyone across. Several leaders emerged, helping organize and cheer.
The highlight of the event was the rock-wall climbing. We used harnesses, and climbed the gym wall while some belayed, or held the rope at the bottom. Everyone participated, and had lots of fun challenging themselves and working together.
Thank you, Donna Ruseckas, Watertown High Health and Physical Education coordinator, for this event. We had a lot of fun, and learned a lot about ourselves and our team!

High-Speed Robot Hand

What a game this would be!