Robotics for Next Year

Since this year's robotics competition is over I'm looking towards next years competition. Next year I am going to do the high school competition known as VEX robotics competition (VRC). In VRC the robots are made out of metal instead of plastic. The fields are also twice the size and it has been around longer than VEX IQ (the competition I did last year) so there is more teams that are really good. This will not only be my first year doing VRC but the robotics school I'm at first year as well. So it will really be a challenge but that means I will learn more. The challenge for 2016-2017 is called Starstruck. In Starstruck you are paired up with another team to fight against another pair of teams (an alliance). Teams score points by throwing stars and cubes to the other side of the fence and the opposing alliance will throw them back to get points for them. Teams can also score points by hanging their robot on the poles in the corners. Since teams get points by denying the other team points the competition will be very back and forth and competitive.

VRC Starstruck Feild

VEX Worlds

This past week I went to VEX Worlds in Louisville Kentucky. It was held at a huge exposition center where the Kentucky Derby is held. We flew into Kentucky Tuesday and tried to work on our autonomous program (where the robot drives its self) but the carpet floors at the hotel made it in consistent. The next day we actually went to the event. We signed in, passed inspection, and set up our pits (the area where you hang out between matches). We tried again to work on autonomous but it kept failing and we were really uncomfortable because the air conditioner was not working. The next day the qualifying matches finally started. We had three matches that day and we did fairly well. By the end of the day we were ranked in the mid twenty's. It was Friday when I realized that the rest of our matches would be with terrible teams. This meant that we would have to completely carry the teams we were with because the two teams in an alliance get the same score.  We had some terrible matches that day. One team we were paired with didn't have a working robot and couldn't even make it up the ramp. The worst part is that they refused to use the placebo robot (a robot that can be used by teams as a backup if there robot doesn't work) because they wanted to drive their robot only. The next matches were still pretty bad but by the end of the day we were ranked 37th. This was a little scary because we only had two matches to go and only the top 40 teams made it in finals. The last day was Saturday and our first match went well. We got paired with a team that used the placebo robot but since other teams past us we got bumped back to 38th place. For our final qualifying match we actually got paired with a good robot. However the drivers were elementary kids from China even though they were in a middle school division. We didn't have enough time to practice so we didn't know what to expect. When we had the match they hogged all of the balls but didn't shoot any of them. Since we could not score much with the balls that were left we had a terrible score. That match put as in 42nd place but three other teams dropped out of finals so we ended up in 39th place. In our final match we did okay since the team we were paired with was okay. After all the matches were done we were the 15th alliance or 30th team in the world.

Prepareing for Worlds

After US Open there was only ten days till worlds. In that time me and my team had to get enough practice in to do well, write an autonomous of about 100 points, and get a good presentation ready so we could have a shot at design award. This was a daunting task. We first just practiced until we reached the 160 mark with an alliance. Then we started the autonomous which is where nobody drives the robot the team programs it to drive its self. To make the program consistent we started to implement something called an x, y and theta system. An x, y, and theta system uses trigonometry and the sensors on the robot to figure out the x and y position of the robot on the field. Since we were not very familiar with trigonometry it took way to long but we got it done. Once it was done, writing the autonomous was a piece of cake. I had almost programed half the field when I realized that I wouldn't have enough time to climb the ramp. I then tried to make the autonomous faster and also have a different faster strategy so I could get up the ramp. But that took time and now I'm not even half done and we fly to worlds, held in Kentucky, tomorrow. It looks like I will have to try to program it at worlds which might work because worlds is a four day event. We also have to drive practice today and at worlds so it is gonna be close. I am so exited for worlds and can't wait till it has started.

US Open

Last week I went to US Open in for my robotics competition. The competition was in Council Bluffs, Iowa probably because of the cheap venue. I qualified for US Open back in October in my first qualifying competition where I had a completely different robot. I left for Iowa Wednesday morning arrived in Omaha, Nebraska in the evening. It was a short drive to the hotel in Iowa and on the way the roads seemed so empty for someone used to LA traffic. When we got to the hotel we were surprised to find that the hotel we were saying at was right next to the convention center where the competition would be held the next day. There was even a covered walkway connected to the hotel straight to the convention center so we didn't even need to go outside. We then went to a steak house across the river from Omaha where we had a panoramic view of Omaha and delicious Omaha steaks. The next day we unpacked our robots and headed to robot inspection. We checked out okay and starting looking at the other robots there. They weren't to impressive for a national event but that was because all the good teams were only going to worlds. The matches started out bad for my team because in the first two matches our robot broke. The next matches were a lot better and by match three we were in first. We continued like this until the end of the qualifying matches where we got paired for our final match. In the final match teams one and two get paired up, teams three and four get paired up etc. The team that we got paired with had a very long robot so we both couldn't get up the ramp. They also threw their balls so they tended to miss. In the finals match before us the alliance scored an impressive 125 points. Finally it was time for our match and we did pretty good but our alliance partner missed three balls. We scored a total of 116 points but if we didn't miss those balls we would have scored 128 and won. On the way back that night we had a connecting flight through Minneapolis. Our first flight was a little late and the tram at the airport was broken. Not only that our first flight landed on the opposite side of the airport as our other flight and we had to run all the way there. We barely made it on the plane and we were exhausted. By the time we got back home it was pas midnight and I went to sleep.

My Current Robot

My Current Robot is what I call a dumper robot. It basically has a long arm that is connected to a big shovel that picks up and stores the balls. The arm is on the top something I call the tower which is connected to my drive base. My base has one omni and one grip wheel on each side. An omni wheel is a multi directional wheel so it is easier to turn with it. A grip wheel is a wheel with rubber similar to the wheels on cars. The base has for motors on it (we have a max of 6) to power the driving. I also geared the base so the base has more speed but loses torque (power). The arm is powered by the other two motors and it is geared for torque so it can lift all its load. The field is covered with balls that my robot can either put in the low or high goals. The low goal is on the ground and is just over a small fence every ball there gets you one point. The high goal is a big bucket and ever ball in there is worth three points. My robot gets the balls its collected in the high goal by raising its arm and the balls fall out of the shovel and onto a ramp then into the goal. There is also a ramp on the field and a robot on the ramp gets you ten points. Since my robot is able to climb the ramp and score a lot of balls in the high goal I have qualified for worlds and nationals in April.

Robotics Update

Although I haven't blogged about my robotics competition it is still going on and a lot has happened. I designed a completely new robot that could score way more points for my state competition. The competition started off bad  with the judges telling me my robot was out of the size limit and I could not compete unless a fixed it very quickly. I was trying not to panic because I could fix the issue but then the robot would not make many points. Eventually I was able to find a piece that allowed my robot to stay in bounds and still score lots of points but just barely. After that was the qualifying matches in  which each match your team is paired up with another team and for that match only both teams work together and share the score. After ten matches like this it was time for the final matches. I was doing okay but not that great. For the finals matches the top two current teams get paired up then the next two teams etc. Then each pair has one match and which ever pair scores highest wins, I was in 3rd so I got paired up with the team in 4th who happened to go to the same robotics place that I did. Since we knew each other we had the advantage that we had practiced with each other but the top pair had better robots. In the match my pair did great but we still thought that the other pair could beat us. When it was there turn we thought they had beaten us but when it was actually counted we won 140 to 120. Since I won the state competition I am now qualified for the world event in mid April and I was already qualified for the national event which is in the first week of April. I am now preparing a slightly different robot for nationals and worlds.

Clash Royal

Clash Royal is a mobile game that just came out in America a few days ago. It was created by the same company that created the extremely popular game Clash of Clans. In Clash Royal you build a deck of eight cards consisting of spells such as a rage spell or arrows and/or troops like goblins, minions, giants, or skeletons. All of the cards are grouped into three categories: common, rare, or epic. Generally rare cards are better and harder to find than common and epic are generally better and harder to find than rare. You find cards by opening chests that you get by winning battles or just get for free. After you get the chest you have to wait a certain amount of time for it to open. The amount of time depends on how good the chest is. This is one down side of the game. Since it is free to play the game forces you to wait long periods of time unless you want to spend money. If you have a certain amount of cards you can upgrade them using gold which you also get from chests. In the actual battles them selves your goal is to get the most crowns. First one to three crowns automatically win but if you run out of time the person with the most crowns wins. You get crowns by taking down the opponents towers by attacking them with your spells and troops.You can also use your cards to prevent the opponent from doing the same to you. When you play a card it costs a certain amount of elixir which slowly builds up through the game. All of the cards do different things to games can be very diverse and with different strategies. Clash Royal is extremely addicting and fun to play with friends and anybody can try it.

Balloons Tower Defense 5

Balloons Tower Defense 5 or BDT5 for short is a fun mobile game. BDT5 is a tower defense game meaning that the player places towers (in this case monkeys) to fend off an army of anything (in this case balloons) that follows a certain path. If a unit in that army reaches the end of the path you lose however many lives that unit is worth. BDT5 has a lot of variety with towers, tower upgrades, balloons and modes. There is the basic dart monkey tower that just shoots darts at the balloons but the increasing layers of the balloons calls for more units and upgrades. The dart monkey can have its range upgraded like many other towers and you buy upgrades with money. You get money every round, from a certain type of tower, and from killing balloons. There is also upgrades that make your darts sharper and more powerful and that is just the dart monkey. There are about 25 towers and eight upgrades for each tower so there is a lot of variety and that is just scratching the surface. There is also tons of maps, special agents, and different balloon types. BDT5 is super fun and anybody can just get it for free or near free so I would recommend it to anyone.

Five Tribes

Five Tribes is another board game I enjoy. In Five Tribes the board is made up of 30 titles that are randomized into a five tile by six tile board so that it is a different board every time. The goal of the game is to have the most points at the end of the game. In Five Tribes there is five different kinds of meeples (little wooden pieces shaped like humans) that represent and do different things. The red meeples are the assassins and with them you can kill another meeple. The blue meeples are the builders and they give you money depending on how many blue tiles they're is nearby. The green meeples are the merchants that allow you to get resources. The white meeples are the elders that allow you to get genies and the yellow meeples are the viziers that just give you points. There are many ways to get points. One way to get points is money tokens that translate directly to points. Another way is yellow meeples which give you one point for every one you have as well as ten points for every person you have more then. A third way to get points is emptying a tile by killing the last meeple there or finishing your turn and collecting on the meeples on that tile. When you do this you get the amount of points it says on the tile. Genies give you points directly by the number on their card and indirectly with the powers they have. Resources give you points for the amount of unique resources you have. Five Tribes is very complicated and has a lot more to it and I would not recommend it to the beginner. I would however recommend it to somebody that has played a few board games and who enjoys complicated strategy. Because I do Five Tribes has become my favorite board game to play.

Ticket to Ride

Ticket to Ride is another board game I have really enjoyed. In Ticket to Ride your goal is to have the most points by the end of the game. The board is a map of America with train routes and cites all over it. On your first turn you get your three routes and you have to keep at least to of them. The routes have two places and a point value on them. You get the point value if by the end of the game you have connected those two places with your trains and if you haven't you lose that amount of points. Every turn you can do one of three things, you can draw more routes, pick train cards, or place a train. Train cards come in many colors and are needed to place a train.To place a train you need to have as many cards as the train is long all of the color of the train slot on the board. You also get points depending on how long the train you placed in. The game is over after the round in which one person has two or fewer trains. Ticket to Ride is super fun for beginners and people who know the game better because it does have quite a bit of luck however several strategies that you can use to sway the game in your favor. This is one of the best if not they best game to introduce someone to board games and really hook them because how easy and fun it is for new players.

Settlers of Catan

I have really been getting into board games and I don't mean games like monopoly that everybody knows of. What I mean is games that the average person doesn't know but are still extremely fun. One of these games is Settlers of Catan. Settlers of Catan is a classic resource management game. In Settlers you place settlements to gather resources to build roads, cites, development cards, and more settlements. They're five different types of resources: wheat, stone, brick, sheep, and wood and different combinations of them let you build different things.. Your settlements produce resources when a resources tile next to it has the number on it rolled. First person to 10 points wins and you get points from your cities, settlements, and possibly your development cards. Roads separate your settlements because there needs to be at least two roads between settlements. Cities are upgraded settlements and they get you double resources and more points. Development cards can be a variety of things including just points. Overall Settlers of Catan is a super fun and relatively simple board game I like to play and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to get into board games.

League of Legends

League of Legends (Also known as just League) is a free to play game on the computer that I just started playing this week. It is extremely popular with millions of people from all over the world playing it and League has even become a eSport (electronic sport). League is a real time strategy game but more specifically a M. O. B. A. (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena). In League there is two team each with five players and the goal for both teams is to destroy the opposite teams nexus which is at the opposite side of the map in the heart of the enemy base. To get there players can fight their way through one of three lanes or through the jungle. Usually there are two players who go in the bottom lane, one who has a lot of attack damage but not very good defense (ADC) and another player to support those weaknesses (Support). There is generally one player going in the middle lane (Mid) and one player going on the top lane (Top). Lastly there is one player in the jungle getting the team buffs. In League there is over a hundred champions each with unique capabilities and attributes that you can play as. League has a lot more to it such as turrets, minions, gold, crafting, and items. Overall League is extremely fun and addictive however the free to play aspect can be a little annoying because they want you to buy things and the learning curve is very high. But it is definitely worth trying especially because it is free.

Star Wars Battlefront

Star Wars Battlefront is both first and third person shooter set in the Star Wars universe. It was released November 17, 2015 and published by EA. I got it a while ago and have played it many times on the Xbox. Battlefront has been criticized  for its lack of content but its high price tag of 60 dollars. While I do agree with these complaints I can't help but like it because I'm a huge Star Wars fan. Battlefront has amazing graphics and sound that look and sound like they came out of the movies. In the game you get to play as either a rebel or a storm trooper as well as some heroes and villains such as Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Darth Vader, and Boba Fett. There are many different game modes in which the rebels and the empire play different roles. For example in walker assault the storm troopers defend their gigantic walker while the rebels try to stop it. In battlefront you can also customize your character, get power ups and gadgets (star cards), and buy different blasters with in game credits earned in matches. In conclusion I enjoy Star Wars Battlefront and while it is not the best game out there and it is not for everyone I like it and have fun.

3 Cause Just

I have a new game called Just Cause 3. In Just Cause you play as a leader of a rebellion against a dictatorship. To fight against this dictatorship you must liberate their towns and bases by destroying all the military assets in that place. (billboards, fuel tanks, speakers, police stations, etc.) Your character, Rico Rodriguez, has a lot of tools at his disposal such as guns rocket launchers, vehicles, a parachute, a grapple, and even a wing suit. One of the most fun things to do in the game is to just mess around with the over exaggerated physics. The game also has a gigantic map and great looking graphics that you can wing suit around on. There's also a lot of creative destruction to be had with the grapple hook by pulling things together in unique ways. In conclusion I think Just Cause 3 is a great game for people who like single player content and who also like having fun by just messing around by blowing stuff up.