Heart of Texas B.E.S.T. Robotics
Penelope High School
Wolverine Extreme Team
Team Number: BST 467
Lead Teachers: Jessica Thomas and Jonathan Shaw
October 18, 2014
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Contents
Penelope .......................................................................................................................................... 3
History of Penelope..................................................................................................................... 3
Penelope Independent School District ........................................................................................ 3
The Wolverine Extreme Team Company Structure........................................................................ 4
Engineering Design Process ........................................................................................................... 6
Preliminary Designs .................................................................................................................... 6
Trial and Redesign ...................................................................................................................... 8
Final Robot Design ..................................................................................................................... 8
Safety ............................................................................................................................................ 12
Game Field .................................................................................................................................... 12
Strategy ..................................................................................................................................... 13
Programming............................................................................................................................. 15
Wind Turbines in Texas ................................................................................................................ 16
Works Cited .................................................................................................................................. 19
Appendices .................................................................................................................................... 20
Appendix I: Budget ................................................................................................................... 20
Appendix II: The Game Field ................................................................................................... 21
Appendix III: Original Robot Design ....................................................................................... 22
Appendix IV: Robot Pulley Design .......................................................................................... 24
Appendix V: Programming ....................................................................................................... 25
Appendix VI: Safety Test ......................................................................................................... 26
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Penelope
History of Penelope
To know our company, we feel it is best to know our history. From 1893 to 1895 the first
settlers began to flow into the area, farming the land and settling in homes for themselves. The
first school was finished in April 1895, paving the road for growth and prosperity inside of the
community of Penelope. In 1902, Penelope became a boom town, flourishing under the hands of
Czech immigrants moving to the amazing area. A railway flowing through the outskirts of town
and new techniques in farming conducted in swells of money, allowing residents to shape the
town into their idea of a countryside utopia. The small town of Penelope was so successful, the
residents built a bank, a post office, a grocery store, and two churches. Sadly, Penelope’s forward
progress was slowed by an enormous fire that destroyed every business and establishment in
town. Some of the broken down buildings still stand today as a reminder of what happened many
years ago. Today Penelope is an agriculture-centered town filled with hard-working citizens and
a successful school district.
Penelope Independent School District
Penelope I.S.D. is one of the smallest districts in Central Texas with an attendance of
around 200 students. With small classes ranging from a ten to fifteen students, teachers have the
ability to schedule one-on-one time with anyonethat needs extra help. Because of this, Penelope
ISD’s standardized test scores went through the roof, giving the school a new and glistening
reputation of being one of the best schools in the area. Families are eager to drive from as far as
Waco and Ennis to have their children attend Penelope ISD. Penelope ISD supports all levels of
education, from pre-kindergarten all the way to twelfth grade. Under the observant eye of the
superintendent, Scot Kelley, students are allowed to flourish and learn in a safe environment. To
allow growth in a variety of areas, there are multiple different extracurricular activities offered.
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For example, there are many different physical activities including volleyball, basketball, track,
cross country, football, and cheerleading. For students who want to exercise their minds, they
have the option of Robotics, Yearbook, One Act Play, UIL academics contests, and many more.
Also, Penelope recently constructed a junior high One Act Play program that enables junior high
students to get a taste of acting in their own play.
The Wolverine Extreme Team Company Structure
Figure 1: Company Structure Hierarchy
Like the inner workings of our robot, our company has a very complex structure. There
are many parts that coincide to make our company successful. Our company structure is split into
different departments such as Documentation and Exploration, Research and Development,
Outreach, Exhibit, Financial Operations, Production, Project Operations, and Information and
Technology.
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Wolverine Extreme Team does not receive adequate funding to carry out its required
functions. To overcome this deficit, the company developed a new fundraising strategy. To
fundraise, we went to surrounding towns and asked for monetary donations or contributions of
supplies from local businesses. We gained several sponsors using this method. We also hosted
fundraisers. Our most successful fundraiser was the second annual Penelope Powder Puff
football game, held on September 24th, 2014. The Financial Operations branch not only oversees
fundraising, but also the marketing of our project. The CFO is one of the most important
members of our team because without their input, our company would surely fail (see Figure1
and Appendix 1 for details).
Our next branch of thecompany structure is Outreach. This branch oversees spirit and
sportsmanship. To show our spirit, we made posters for our own team and in support of all other
teams that are included in the Heart of Texas Hub. Noisemakers and hula-hoops covered in
ribbons were used to get everyone pumped up for competition day. To spread the word and get
future team members excited about Robotics, we invited all 8th grade students to attend the
BEST competitionwho wish to learn more about robotics as a whole. Also, Wheezy the
Wolverine showed his support of the Wolverine Extreme Team on game day.
The next branch of the Wolverine Extreme Team is the Information Technology (IT)
department. The purpose of the IT department is to coordinate all technology for the team and
distribute pertinent information through a website at peneloperobotics.weebly.com. They are also
given the task of programming the robot so that it works in sync with the remote controller. To
program the robot, they used MatLab.
Next is one of the most important parts of our company structure, the Production Team.
The duties assigned to the production section are to construct a robot out of the given materials
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in a period of six weeks. Each day, they work on specific tasks assigned to them that day. They
also spearhead the creation of the engineering notebook.
The engineering notebook is a collaborative effort. This notebook has been created by
many of the board members and team standouts. The project notebook outlines the details of our
project throughout this vigorous competition.
Engineering Design Process
At the BEST competition kick-off at Texas State Technical College, after seeing the
course and learning about our robot’s tasks, we immediately came up with a robot design. We
thought, “Why not replicate a machine already existing that can perform these certain tasks?” As
a result, we came up with a forklift design for our robot.
A forklift has been used for many years to lift and transport materials with ease and
precision. We believed that this was the best design choice because not only would we be able to
lift and move the large game pieces better with forks than with a grabbing mechanism, but the
simplicity of the design would result in less confusion and
more efficiency come game-time.
Preliminary Designs
During the first week of competition we conducted a
production team meeting. In this meeting, we discussed how to
create our forklift design and incorporate it into our robot. We
also assessed and proposed several ideas. We looked at each
design and voted on the best plausible idea. From there we
began drawing them up (see Figure 2 and Appendix III).
Figure 2: Original Lift Designs
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One of the proposed ideas for our robot design included having two large front wheels
with separate motors attached to the base that would allow it to
utilize a tank-like drive system. We also thought about including a
smaller center rear pivot wheel by utilizing the ball bearing
turntable and the roller blade wheel. One of the key points about
this proposed forklift design included utilizing an elevator shaft to
raise and lower the forks (see Figure 3). To attach this shaft to the
base, we considered using a hinge. A hinge would allow us to tilt
the shaft backwards, which would in turn tilt the forks backwards
Figure 3: Forklift Prototype
and keep the objects we pick up on the forks. To keep the shaft from falling back onto the base,
we thought about adding a support bar which would catch the shaft at a slight angle and keep it
from moving. Another consideration included adding a spike in between the two forks that
would allow us to lift the prairie chickens with ease. With our original robot design, we only
included three of the four motors that were provided. This would benefit us by keeping the robot
lighter in weight and maintaining simplicity.
The negative points about our proposed forklift designwere few, but concerning. One was
that we may not have enough clearance for the elevator shaft to travel over the
oversized/overweight bridge; it may hit the bridge head on, getting the robot stuck. Another
problem we might encounter is tilting back the elevator shaft. The back bottom edge may hit the
ground when tilted backwards, halting the movement of the robot. The last problem we may
come across is being able to raise the forks without tilting the elevator shaft backwards, or vice
versa.
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Trial and Redesign
The first test of our robot on the game field was at Test Drive at McLennan Community
College. Problems we found were that our back rotating wheel would drag across the carpet, we
still had not decided how we would pick up the prairie chickens since we had no hook
mechanism, and we had trouble climbing the bridge ramp. We returned to the school that day
and came up with new ideas for our robot design. We analyzed all the problems in our new ideas
and tried to find a design for their solutions.
A design we found to be most useful would have not one, but two lifts. Each would be
attached on opposite sides of the robot, but run off of the same small motors in the middle of the
base. From this design, we were able to solve the problem of picking up the prairie chickens by
incorporating a bent steel rod on the backside. Another part of the new design changed the back
rotating wheel to a rotating golf ball because it would have less drag and roll easier. Our original
rotating wheel was constructed similar to a shopping cart caster and consisted of the ball-bearing
turn table, a bracket made out of aluminum sheet, and the roller blade wheel that was given to us
in our returnable kit. Although it seemed like a good idea at the time, we learned that it was
setting us back because it would not turn properly.
To solve our problem of trying to climb the bridge, we decided to modify our front
wheels with strips of bicycle tubing by weaving them in and out of holes drilled in the inner
circumference of the wheels. The only downside to having two lifts was that we had to decrease
the size of our base in order to be in compliance. For that same reason, we could not make our
bent steel rod as long as we anticipated.
Final Robot Design
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Our first base design was a 16 inch by 18 inch piece of ½ inch plywood. However when
we added our extensions, the robot would no longer fit within compliance, so as a result, we
reduced the original base size to a 14 inch by 14 inch
square (see figure 4).
Our original ½ inch plywood wheels were 8
inches in diameter, but were later reduced to 6 inches
because they were too large and made the angle of the
base of our robot too steep. We used four 1 ¼ inch
long 8/32 size bolts to attach a 2 inch by 2 inch
Figure 4: 14in. x 14in. base
aluminum block to the center of the wheel for attaching our large motors heads. Using a tap, we
threaded a hole in the 2 inch by 2 inch aluminum block to pinch the motor head with a screw. To
add grip our wheels, we drilled out eight ⅝ holes around the inner circumference of the wheels
and weaved strips of inner tube through them. We ended up supporting the back of our robot by
creating two PVC “skis” and placing them 6 inches apart from each other. The “skis” were each
made of a 4 inch long 1 by 4 block of wood. To allow them to slide easily across the game field,
we decided to cut a 4 inch long piece of ½ inch PVC pipe in half and attach it to the bottom of
the 1 by 4using two pan-head screws.
We fastened our large motor mounts three inches from the front of the base using six 1 ¼
inch long 8/32 size bolts. These mounts held the large motors that turn our front wooden
wheels.On the top of the base, the small motor mounts were centered seven inches behind the
front of the robot in the same fashion as the large motor mounts. The small motors turned a 4 ½
inch aluminum rod which was drilled out on both ends to fit the small motor heads. We then
tapped a hole ½ inch in to pinch the motor heads in the aluminum rod. The string that lifts and
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lowers the forklift and hook was attached to the aluminum rod by wrapping it around the 8/32
bolts in our tapped holes.
The elevated guides on both sides of the robot were made using the aluminum track
system provided to us and screwed to an 18 inch long piece of 1 by 4 inch wood using four panhead screws. The 1 by 4’s were then attached to the base by creating an aluminum “L” bracket
by using the aluminum sheet cut down to a 5 by 2 ½ inch rectangle. We used a brake to bend the
aluminum sheet in half and attached both sides, one on the 1 by 4 and one on the base, using
eight 8/32 size bolts with accompanied nuts.
The forks themselves were made using a 6 inch by 3
½ inch piece of 1 by 4, a piece of aluminum sheet cut to the
dimensions of 9 inch by 6 inches, and a sheet of plastic cut
to the dimensions of 6 ¾ inch by 6 inch. To attach the
aluminum sheet to the 1 by 4, we first had to bend it at 3
inches with a brake. That side was later attached to the 1 by
4 using four 8/32 size bolts with accompanying nuts. To
Figure 5: Spacer for Forklift Runner
make the fork prongs, we cut a 6-inch strip three inches wide
in the center of the aluminum sheet. To support the forks
and make them sturdy, we attached the sheet of plastic to
the bottom of the 1 by 4 using three pan-head screws. We
then cut a 6-inch strip three inches wide in the center of the
plastic so that the plastic and aluminum matched. We then
screwed an eye-hook in the top of the 1 by 4 for the string
Figure 6: Forks with strips of friction tape.
to run through to act as a movable pulley. Then we put a 2
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inch by 3 ¼ inch plastic spacer on the back so that our screws that hold the runner of the
aluminum track in place would not drill all the way through the wood and the aluminum (see
figure 5). Last, we wrapped the forks in friction tape to increase grip (see figure 6).
We made six pulleys for our string to run on; one on the top of each elevated guide and
two on the base three inches directly behind it. We also created movable pulleys on the hook and
forklift. To make our base pulleys, we cut a piece of sheet aluminum to the dimensions of 6
inches by 2 inches, and used a brake to bend them to make a U-shape, making each side two
inches long. After bending it, we drilled a hole one inch high on both sides then bolted it down
using two 8/32 size bolts. Next, we inserted a four inch long aluminum rod with tapped holes on
both sides through one hole, slid on a 1 ¾ inch long ½ inch piece of PVC, and inserted the rest of
the aluminum rod through the other hole. Last, we inserted 8/32 size bolts into the tapped holes
to keep the rod in place. To make our pulleys that attach to the top of the forklift elevated guides,
we fastened two pieces of 4 inch by 1 inch aluminum sheet to both sides of the 1 by 4 using 2
pan-head screws. The rest of the pulley was made exactly like the base pulleys; we drilled holes
in the aluminumsheet, inserted the tapped aluminum rod through the PVC and holes, and finally
inserted the pan-head screws in the tapped holes on each side. Each of our extension pieces uses
movable pulleys; the hook has a locked nut system that the string runs around, and the forks have
an eyelet that allows the string to pass through it (see Appendix IV).
We ran a 20-inch long string from a screw in the top right side of the forklift elevated
guide, through the eye-hook on the forklift itself, over the pulley on top of the forklift guide,
under the base pulley, and then finally attached the string to the aluminum rod in the center of
the robot by wrapping it around the screw in the tapped hole. The same procedure was done for
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the opposite side.The last thing we did was mount the VEX on the back corner of the base and
attach all the wires to the motors.
Safety
Safety is our number one priority on the Wolverine Extreme Team. Before working on
our robot, we had lessons about safety and took a test afterwards (see Appendix VI). It was
required that the students pass this test before working on the robot or in the shop. We utilized
safety goggles and glasses at all times in the shop. Team members opened up the shop doors to
ventilate our work area and turned on proper lighting. We checked our equipment to make sure
everything workedand was in good condition for use. Only then were we ready to start making
cuts. Materials were clamped down, and if the materials were metal or plastic we sprayed it
down with water to keep it cool so as not to melt the material tothe saw blades and drill bits.The
correct blades and drill bits were used for the correct materials. We also made sure to wear closetoed shoes, short-sleeved shirts, blue jeans, and had our hair tied back. Our team maintains a
system of small work groups that allow experienced group leaders to oversee activities and
enforce our above-mentioned codes of safety.
Game Field
The game field is divided into four separate sections, one for each team in play with a
maximum of four teams competing each time. Each section is a triangle that consists of two main
areas. The 2x2-foot starting box is connected to the first main area, which is called the stockpile
area. The goal is to construct wind turbines using materials from the stockpile area and
transporting them to the assembly area. Blocking the path to the assembly area are three prairie
chicken environments, which must be moved back to the safety of its starting box. Thenthe
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driver will decide whether to navigate the robot over the bad road or over the bridge after
acquiring an oversize/overweight permit. If the robot chooses the bridge, it must open the bridge
gates. If the robot chooses the bad road then it must simply be able to move the turbines, the
small nacelle,and the small hub/blade assembly across the road without getting stuck or dropping
its load.
Once on the other side, the robot is now in the assembly area. The robot must be able to
drag turbine materials to this area and then to their prospective turbine and, with the help of the
spotter, place each blade in its correct position on its turbine. There are two turbines in the
assembly area, one large turbine tower and one small turbine tower. The large tower requires that
the robot carry all of the blades to the assembly area and put them each in the right position on
the turbine. The smaller turbine blades are all attached together and the robot must drag these
over to the small turbine and then lift the blades off of the ground and place them into the correct
position (see Appendix II for game field details).
If two teams decide to work together, then they must alert the referee, who will place a
co-op card on the cactus plant to signify that these teams are working together. When this
happens, the field changes dramatically. The assembly area of one team becomes connected with
the stockpile area of the other team, allowing the teams to build turbines much quicker. Both
robots will be able to work together to lift and carry turbine parts and both are able to work with
the spotter to build both of the turbines. All of the points scored will be pooled and equally
divided amongst both teams after the competition is over.
Strategy
When the round begins, the robot must drive out of the starting position, collect the
prairie chickens, and reposition them to a safe location. Each prairie chicken collected and
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moved to the robot’s starting position will earn the team 10 points. Then the driver must choose
which road to drive over. In order to access the assembly area, the robot must be able to press the
oversize/overweight release button. Since the bad road is hard to cross, the robot must have a
good drive system so that it can make it across without getting stuck. If the team chooses not to
cross the bad road, then they must access the bridge by lifting the bridge gates. When the robot
carries the materials to the assembly area, it must put the parts in the right turbine, and with the
help of the spotter, get the turbine lifted into an upright position, and the blades in their correct
position. Once the turbine is raised, the spotter can adjust the blades, and if one falls out, then the
spotter must lower the turbine and let the robot return the blade to its correct position. A spotter
may not pick up a fallen blade. Only when the blade is on the turbine, may a spotter adjust them.
When all of the blades are in the turbines, and in their correct positions, then the spotter may
raise the turbines and make any necessary adjustments. When the turbines are raised, then the
team scores points. If teams choose to work together, then they must tell the referee beforehand
and then a co-op card will go on one of the cactus plants to signify a co-op relationship between
the two teams. In co-op play, teams must use each other's parts so that they can get the turbines
built faster without having to go over the bad road or the bridge. All points scored by teams
working together, get pooled and divided 50-50 between the two.
Our offensive strategy is to move the prairie chickens to their safe environment at the
very beginning of each round. There are a total of three chickens in the environment and each
chicken is worth 10 points, for a grand total of 30 points. Our robot is designed in a way that
permits us to easily pick up the prairie chicken with our front hook. After moving the prairie
chickens to the safe environment, we plan on opening the bridge gates to earn us 10 points. Our
robot is not built to easily travel over the bad road, so we will ignore that pathway. The bridge is
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our target. To transport our parts across the bridge, we plan on pushing them into the assembly
area with the forks of our robot. With the help of the spotter, we will fit each component into its
correct place. Our defensive strategy is to advance to each round by being consistent in scoring
points. The other portion of our defensive strategy is to be the first team to hit the
oversize/overweight button.
After we put everything in its correct place, it is up to the spotter to raise the turbines and
make sure that the blades were inserted correctly. If any blades fall out, the robot must fix the
problem, not the spotter. The spotter’s job is to guide the robot through the course and aid in the
raising of the turbines when each blade is inserted.
If we decide to play the game in co-op mode, then our strategy will change. It is a new
field if two teams decide to work together. Turbine blades can be moved more quickly across the
field and we will be able to avoid both pathways altogether. When in co-op, all points scored by
both teams are pooled and then divided equally at the end of the round. It is likely that we will
not even participate in co-op. Although we might be able to get things done faster, we would
still receive fewer points. Playing alone is probably the best strategy so that we do not have to
rely on another team to score points.
Programming
The programming for our robot is very simplistic. Our robot features a tank-drive system
this year as well as a dual lift system. This means that each drive motor is controlled by separate
buttons but operate at equal speeds. The dual lift system is controlled by the right analog stick.
Our dual lift system is operated by two motors to double our lifting power.We added a block in
the programming allowing us to control both lift motors with one analog. Without this block the
two motors will pull against each other, which could damage them (see appendix V).
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Wind Turbines in Texas
The use of wind power has been around for ages. From the grain-grinding windmills of
the fifteenth century Holland to the water pumping giants of the American west, though their
purpose and appearance has changed drastically, their importance has been undeniably
sustainable. Since their invention, wind turbines have come a long way.
Wind turbines are propeller-like blades that spin with the wind to generate power. As the
propeller spins, it starts to power an electric generator for the community. The wind turbine is
made up of three blades or rotors. The rotors are connected to the top of a tall tower that is about
one hundred feet tall so that they catch more wind. As the wind blows it creates an air bubble
around the blades. That air bubble then pulls the propeller down and makes it spin.
Wind turbines are used extensively throughout Texas and the rest of the United States.
Although wind mills were used for an extended period of time by settlers for moving water and
producing food, Americans quickly learned that wind turbines were useful as well. The first out
of all of these amazing wind turbines was constructed in 1888 by a man named Charles F. Brush.
By 1920 the first vertical axis turbine was created. In 1927 the Jacobs Wind Factory began
production. This factory and others like it produced energy from wind. However, they did not
produce enough power to sustain our needs. By 1941, megawatt turbines were in use. Forty years
later, turbines became several times more powerful. In 1981, the first 7.5 megawatt turbine was
built by NASA. Every year, wind turbines are getting more and more efficient. Energy produced
from wind was up 13% compared to 2012. Today, wind energy is experiencing exponential
growth. Since 1990, energy production from wind has increased by 25% annually.
There are many advantages to having a wind turbine. Some of the advantages to wind
turbines are that they do not take a lot of space. If the wind turbine is on your lave and then they
will have to pay rent to be able to keep it on your land. It also gives many people jobs like
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welding, construction, engineering, technician, repairs, and transportation. They produce a clean
source of energy compared to coal or nuclear energy. If enough people adopt the use of wind
energy then it could reduce the amount of fossil fuels used today which is a large cause of global
warming.
Texas is currently ranked second in the nation for the number of turbines, totaling over
seven thousand five hundred. Texas also ranks first in power generated with over 12,300
installed megawatts of power, which is equivalent to twelve trillion watts of power. With over
1800 megawatts of power installed in the past two years, Texas is leading the nation in installed
megawatts over that period of time. Currently ten percent of Texas power comes from wind
power. This is the largest amount in the nation. Wind power in Texas is quite sustainable, to say
the least.
By harnessing the wind power currently in Texas, we can avoid producing twenty-one
million metric tons of carbon dioxide. This is comparable to taking over three million cars off the
road. Producing wind power produces no emissions and uses virtually no water. It will also help
the world’s environment and air quality. Wind power is becoming a big deal in the world today!
Some of the disadvantages of wind turbines are that winds can be very unpredictable on
some days. Some days, turbines might not create any power while on others there can be the
perfect weather to gather energy that day. If there is a storm in the area then the turbine might get
damaged or will not be able to operate like it is supposed to. There might also be fatigue failure
inside of the wind turbine. Another is that people think that if they have wind turbines on their
land that it ruins the natural look of the land. They are very noisy at some times also. They can
be as loud as a car going 70 miles per hour. Some say that it can interrupt radio and TV signals.
When the turbine is constructed, the wildlife can be destroyed in that area as well. Also after
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these turbines are constructed then many birds can be killed by the massive blades on the
turbines, especially if those wind turbines are in a wind farm.
In the future, the United States will continue its construction of wind turbines. Currently
projects that will produce another seven thousand megawatts are under construction. Texas still
has the potential to produce another two million megawatts in addition to current energy
production.
Wind power and wind turbines are not going away. In fact, they are becoming the answer
to the age old question: How can we produce clean energy? Texas is the example for wind
production. Texas leads the nation in nearly all possible categories of wind energy production.
Texans will also enjoy even more prosperity in the future due to extremely high potential in the
wind power and wind turbine manufacturing industries. In conclusion, wind is the answer, and it
will not be long before the highways will be full of blade runners.
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Works Cited
Bratley, James. “The Impacts of Wind Turbines.”Clean-energy-ideas.Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
Hawthorne, Sam. “Harassing Wind Energy as Power.”Ezinearticles. 13 May. 2010. Web. 14 Oct.
2014.
Lucille, Brandon. “What to Know in Residential Wind Turbines.” Ezinearticles. 23 Jun. 2010.
Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
Osborne, James. “Texas Wind Farms Break Generation Record.”Bizbeatblog. 27 Mar. 2014.
Web. 22 May. 2014.
V, Ryan. “Advantages and Disadvantages of Wind Power.”Technologystudents.Web. 14 Oct.
2014.
N.p. “Wind Turbines - Wind Power | GE Energy.” GEenergy.Web. 22 May. 2014.
N.p. “Wind Energy.” Windpower.Web. 22 May. 2014.
N.p. “State Wind Energy Statistics: Texas.” Awea. 10 Apr. 2014. Web. 22 May. 2014.
N.p. “History of Wind Energy.” Energy.Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
N.p. “Understanding Texas Wind Power: A Policy Guide.” Texaswindenergy.Web. 14 Oct, 2014.
N.p. “Texas Wind Energy Success in Culberson County.” Windenergy7. 14 Oct. 2010. Web. 14
Oct. 2014.
N.p. “Exploring Wind Turbines Advantages and Disadvantages.” About-alternative-energy.Web.
14 Oct. 2014.
“Disadvantages of Wind Energy - Factors You Need to Consider.” Advantagesofsolarenergy4all.
Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
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Appendices
Appendix I: Budget
Figure 7: Expense Report Summary
Expenditures
Building Materials
Marketing
Fundraising
29%
Meals
48%
21%
2%
Figure 8: Distribution of Expenses
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Appendix II: The Game Field
Figure 9: Game field stockpile area
Figure 10:Game field assembly area
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Appendix III: Original Robot Design
Figure 11: Preliminary forklift design
Figure 12: Preliminary base design
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Figure 13: Preliminary base design, side view
Figure 14: Robot, version 1
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Appendix IV: Robot Pulley Design
Figure 16: Pulley mechanism
Figure 15: Pulley mechanism
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Appendix V: Programming
Figure 17: Programming
.
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Appendix VI: Safety Test
1.
What equipment is not included in proper protective equipment?
a. Gloves
b. Eye protection
c. Close-toed shoes
d. Apron
2. When using a table saw what type of push stick should be used?
a. Metal rod
b. Wooden dowel
c. Your hand
d. No push stick is needed
3. When using a band saw what should be done with the piece you are cutting before you begin?
a. Clamp it to the cutting table
b. Wash it in the sink
c. Hold it tight to the cutting table
d. Bolt it to the table
4. Which is something we should check on all electrical tools before use?
a. Cords for fraying
b. The outlets for proper electrical output
c. The casing for cracks
d. That we have water to spray on it in case it seizes up
5. What can be used on a drill press to help cool and prevent melting on a drill press?
a. A fan
b. Any liquid
c. Water from a spray bottle
d. Lysol
6. What should not be done at the end of every day in the shop?
a. Sweep all the saw dust up off the floor.
b. Place all tools back where you found them
c. Record all the steps that you did for the notebook.
d. Take apart the robot.
7. What is the proper way to start cutting with an electric saw?
a. Line up the blade with your marks and start the blade before touching the wood.
b. Place the blade against the wood and start cutting.
c. Push as hard as you can down on the wood and push hard into the cut.
d. You should start your cut with a hand saw
8. Your fingers should never get within how many inches of the blade cutting line?
a. 8 inches
b. 12 inches
c. 2 inches
d. 24 inches
9. When a saw is running never use what to remove small scrap from the cutting path?
a. Fingers
b. Push stick
c. Pencil
d. Stock being cut
10. When cutting with different electric saws you should:
a. Make sure you are aware of your surroundings, look around the shop once while cutting stock
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b. Make sure you have an audience so that you can explain what you are doing.
c. Always concentrate of what you’re doing, never talk to anyone nor look away from the cut.
d. Remove scrap from the saw and floor only at the end of the hour.
If a blade or something on the machinery breaks while you are using the saw you should:
a. Try to finish your cut
b. Turn off the power and notify the instructor immediately
c. When convenient, inform the instructor, preferably at the end of the class period.
d. Tell no one and hope someone else gets blamed
When sanding with a belt sander, your stock should be:
a. Held with one hand only
b. Placed against the belt and worktable at the same time
c. Placed against worktable first
d. Placed against belt first
When operating the drill press, what should be done with long hair?
a. Hold it away from the drill bit with one hand
b. Put it under a cap or hair net and keep your head away from moving parts
c. Get a hair cut
d. Keep your head away from moving parts.
When working in the shop which is necessary for a safe work environment?
a. Work area is free of clutter and scraps
b. Lights on
c. Teacher present to supervise
d. All of the above
If the metal being drilled begins to revolve, you should:
a. Turn off the drill press and free the metal.
b. Tap the metal lightly with a hammer to free it from the bit
c. Stop it with your hands
d. Move the drill press table to foul the rotating piece of metal
Which is not a safe way to secure metal while it is being drilled?
a. Hold it firmly by hand, but securely on the drill press
b. In a drill press vise
c. Clamp
d. Between supports mounted on the drill press table
After drilling operation is completed what is not a potential hazard to look out for?
a. The metal being hot
b. The metal melting
c. Sharp edges and burrs around the hole
d. The drill bit being hot
When measuring to make cuts, what is the best method?
a. Estimate and sand it down later
b. Measure once and cut
c. Measure once, mark it, and measure both pieces again
d. Use a diagram
Where should you stand when using a sander or electric saw?
a. Directly behind the cutting blade
b. Behind and to the side of the saw or sander
c. In front of the saw or sander
d. Where ever the cord isn’t
Please list any tools or skills that you may have in the Ag shop in the space below.
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