Robotics

Connor had his first robotics competition this last Saturday.

It was fun to watch but it lasted through the early afternoon.

It made for a long day.

The students build, program, and drive the robots.

These students have spent weeks building and practicing.

Since this was our first experience it was fascinating to watch everything.

In this photo they were inspecting a robot.

There were 13 schools represented.

Most schools had several teams with several robots.

Our school has four robots and two teams.

The teams were listening to the drivers meeting.

In the center of the background are some tables.

There were banks of tables on either side of the far end of the gym.

These were designated "pit tables".

Each school had a table to store and repair their robots.

Connor said they had to repair and or replace motors a few times.

Quite frequently parts would fall off or break off of the robots during a match.

This was the competition side of the gym with four competing fields.

At the far end of the gym were two more boards for practicing.

(The guy sitting and taking pictures is one of our teachers that leads our team.

He was like a kid with a big grin on his face most of the day.)

I will do my best to explain how a match works...

A match consists of two teams, each with one robot and two drivers. A match lasts 1 minute. Drivers are required to switch midway through the match. The orange and yellow things are called hubs. Points are scored several different ways and all points go to each team that is in the match... i.e. they co-op the points. There are two boxes, called building zones, in the corners at one end of the playing field. To score points with orange hubs they need to be inside a building zone. Once they are in the building zone, low ones (not stacked) are worth 1 point and high ones (stacked) are worth 2 points. The yellow hubs score a little differently. It's 1 point if it's removed from it's starting peg. A yellow hub scores 2 points if it is in the building zone at a low level (not stacked) and 4 if it's high (stacked). Before the minute is up the robots need to be hung. Scoring is based on the stages of hanging. If the robot is merely under the yellow bar, it is considered "parked" and worth 1 point. If it is hung, but low to the ground, it's worth 2 points. If, however, it is a high hanging robot, it is worth 4 points. A robot is considered high hanging if a hub can slide underneath cleanly.

This was a good illustration of two hanging robots.

You can also see the hubs in the building zones for points.

In one match a robot dropped off the bar just before the timer went off... so it didn't get the 4 points for hanging. We saw many robots that tipped over and some had parts break off.

Once in a while we saw a hub or two get flipped out of the playing field.

Some robots had coat hanger looking hooks that grabbed the yellow bar to pull themselves up with.

Others had long arms and folded themselves up around the yellow bar.

It was captivating and entertaining all at once.

One of the rules states that the students are to review the scoring with the scorekeeper after the match.

This was from one of the skills events.

They can either do a program challenge or show driving skills.

Connor and his teammate were doing a program challenge.

The robot is programmed to start from the starting box,

move forward, grab the yellow bar, and hang itself.

The kids set their robots down and hit the start button.

This one was programmed by Connor's driving buddy.

It successfully completed it's task and hung itself.

It's quite impressive to watch.

The driving skill is basically a solo match.

They had one minute to drive, score as much as possible, and hang.

Connor was second driver.

Passing the time between Connor's matches...

Connor's team made it as far as the finals.

Random

Totally random.

I was home Friday due to an e-learning day because it's so stinking cold.

So I was catching up on blog posts and quilting! :)

It's so cool to set the posts to publish whenever I want!

I'm sure the temperature was colder than that before I took a picture.

Add to that the wind and it was pretty brutal outside.

We finally took down our Christmas tree last weekend.

We've never put it away so late! Oh well, better late than never.

I'm not sure how well you can see in this picture but this branch was never "opened".

I found several branches on the back side of our tree this way.

I don't remember which offspring admitted to doing this.

Oy, teenagers.

Right now when we go to work/school with a 2 hour delay we can watch the sunrise.

I say 2 hour delay but all of us ride together and get there whatever time the first of us has to be there.

On a 2 hour delay, Dwayne has to be there first by 8. I start at 8:30 and the boys wait in the library or cafeteria until 10.

On a normal day, I start at 7:30. Which means Dwayne and the boys are a little early.

It's crazy but taking only one vehicle saves on gas.

We have had a time when there was a 2 hour delay and they closed the school after we were already there. Not wanting to do that again, Dwayne and I planned to drive separately the next time it was very likely they would close the school. Sure enough, just after starting the van to warm it up I got a text telling us school would be an e-learning day. Dwayne left 30 minutes before. So Nolan and I got to stay home. :)  For some reason Connor went with Dwayne so he stayed at school.

This is one of the bulletin boards in the kitchen at school that the students see.

There is one on each side of the kitchen.

Apparently the kitchen staff decorate these.

I was informed last week that the one on my side was sort of mine to decorate.

I didn't have to decorate it but was greatly encouraged to do so.

Totally not my thing and I recruited some suggested help.

After procrastinating for a few days I got it done.

Not bad for a first timer.

I even have an idea for St. Patrick's Day.

Snow

Just a few random pictures from the last few snow events.

A few webbed foot prints on the patio.

The ducks are not bothered by snow at all.

You can't really tell in this picture but the only animals that are out are ducks.

Our chickens hate the cold and snow... and rain for that matter.

So they stay inside the coop as much as possible.

The ducks bottomed out in the deep snow.

They will actually go to their belly and "swim" through the snow.

One day I'd like to get a video of them doing this.

It's pretty funny.

Pepper is not deterred by the snow either.

The colder and snowier the better for her.

She's down right giddy...bouncing around wanting to play.

Looking in to our lane.

Looking north on our road.

Looking south on our road.

The faint tree in the middle of the picture is down on the farm a little less than half a mile.

Duck run and coop.

The four ducks in the chicken run.

I know it's difficult to see, but there's a chicken just inside the door.
That's as close as they came to going outside that morning.
They really, really don't like any weather that's not fair weather.
Between being gone for work and the bad weather,
I haven't actually seen our chickens in several days.
Silly chickens.

Today it's super cold with even colder wind chills.
They're calling for yet another snowstorm to hit us Monday.
Ahhh, January in Indiana.

You Just Never Know

We love living in the country.

We love our farming community.

But sometimes you just never know what you're going to see.

We saw this in the parking lot of one of our grocery stores.

Apparently this person's shopping list included hay and groceries.

I do not have a photo of what we saw on the way to school today.

Part of me really wishes I did and the other part of me is glad I don't.

We were driving past the college when a couple of deer ran in front of us.

While we slowed down I noticed a third deer several yards behind the first two.

It was pooping! (Imagine a dog stance only taller.)

It looked distressed that his friends had left him behind.

We have never, ever witnessed anything like it.

We laughed and laughed.

It still makes me laugh just thinking about it.

You just never know what you are going to see in rural America.

New

I totally messed up with a Christmas post. We didn't have many pictures anyway.

Half of us were sick over Christmas break and we did't have internet access for 8 days.

So no Christmas post.

We did have a good Christmas though.

Things are changing around here.

I got a job in the kitchen at the boys' school.

I subbed a few days this last week.

Now all of us ride together to school/work.

Monday I start five days a week.

It will take us a while to get into a new routine.

This last week Pepper missed me while I was at work.

I always play with her when I do chores.

So even the dog has some adjusting to do.

Pepper got a new toy for Christmas.

It's a hedgehog. She loves that silly thing.

She carries it and tosses it around.

We can throw it and she'll bring it back.

Goofy dog.

 While the job is good for it's many reasons, there are some drawbacks.

It will take some time for me to figure out things like Bible reading and quilting.

I've been in the habit for about a year and a half of reading & studying my bible while I eat breakfast and lunch. I also had certain praying themes with my meals. I miss it. Now I'm trying to figure out how my study time will work now. I do have 2 hours after I'm done working to sit and wait at the school. So far I have tried the teachers' lounge and the library. Each time and place has had its share of disruptions. I know eventually I'll find a place & time that will work. It will just take time to settle into a new routine.

I would ask that you pray for me to figure out what will work with my new schedule.

And then there's the quilting...

I set a goal for my hand quilting project that was easy to keep to while I was home.

This too will take time to figure out how to quilt and work.

I'm not a big fan of change while I'm thinking ahead to it.

Once I'm there I go with the flow and work things out as they come.

This also means posts may be fewer for a while.