Purchase Order #1

Mkay.

I said in the meeting yesterday that I was going to submit a P.O. for some battery chargers and a speed controller...
So I did.

I guess Mrs. Fisher is a little behind in printing up the receipts for stuff, so our account balance showed up as only $347.58, however we have received $500, $100, and $129.40 from various sources, putting our account balance in at $1076.98.
The purchase order for two battery chargers (Astroflight 110 Deluxe Charger) a speed controller (IFI Thor 883) and two PWM signal booster cables came to $492.38 leaving us with $584.60.

Julien, I need to bring you in there with me one time, because, as you know, Mrs. Fisher is a little picky with who she deals graciously with. I think she likes me (:P) so I'll get you on her good list for next year so things will be a little easier for you.

On a different note...
As you all know, I drew a rough sketch for the 120 lb ring spinner. I want to know what you guys think the best thing to do is. Should I just finish it and finialize it myself, or should I show the club at meetings and have you give me input? I know I haven't really gotten much of any input from anyone about the design, so I am worried that only doing it at meetings will be painfully unproductive and I might as well be doing it on my own.
Should I just finish it or do you want to contribute?

And as far as fifteen pound bots are concerned, I think you should all form little "groups" that you want to work with within the club (like three to five groups), and I want each group to come up with an idea for a 15 or 30 lb bot that you want to build, and have rough sketches and stuff. We can do this next meeting if you want, or you can do it between now and then. I would prefer the latter. Because I don't think you will get as much out of this club if you are just working on fabricating parts for something you had no part in designing. That isn't engineering, that is machining.

I'm getting really optimistic about being able to build several smaller robots and compete them because I think we may have enough money for that, and possibly not enough for a fresh 120. If we can afford a 120 as well, that would be wonderful, but in the meantime, I think we should focus on smaller bots. They can be almost as exciting as 120s. I promise!

So think about it (please!) and we'll lay down the groundwork for the three to five small bots you guys are going to build. All the components you could possibly need are available at RobotMarketplace so GET TO WORK! I want lists of components, a description of the weapon system, a description of the drive system, and how it will all work together.

I know you're not totally sure what you're doing. I know you've never built a robot before. That's what I'm here for. Try it, ask me if you need any help, and you'll be all set to do it again next year because you will have learned from this year.

I'm hoping to be ready to start ordering parts and finalizing drawings by the time we get enough money to do so.

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As far as this constantly updating blog page goes, we now have a "sponsors" thing at the bottom that is a constantly looping display of the logos of our sponsors, and those with websites link to the websites (you just have to double-click them... i'll fix that lol) and on the right, in the "links" box, I added a members list. If anything in that members list is incorrect, let me know and i'll fix it.

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On an even different note...

I mentioned a competition that is taking place in Pennsylvania: MOTORAMA.
The Competition is taking place in Harrisburg, February 20 - 22, 2009.
I have looked at many different options for travel. We could fly or drive or maybe even take a train (which I haven't looked at yet...). Driving, it is an 1100 mile drive, about 18 hours. This is long, two days, and we would need to probably rent a van or RV and we'd have to leave on Wednesday, and get back late on the next Tuesday... but it would be cheaper than flying.
In order to fly, right now, the tickets would cost about $270 per person, round trip. Plus hotel rooms for four night, so I would budget each person at $500 for the trip. This is only to compete non-120 lb bots. So to make it worth it, we should have several.

This is definitely a challenging logistical problem...