popo_licious | Entries tagged with robotics

Hello, everyone! :D As of yesterday evening, I’m officially all moved into my dorm and ready to start school! I’ve got most of my stuff unpacked, my new computer is running smoothly—for the most part, I’m getting along with my roommate alright (Example: tonight is Coffee-Pot Ramen and Olympics Night, since our meal plans don’t kick in until tomorrow) and I’ve already managed to meet up with a friend I made at orientation. I also learned that the captain of my robotics team for the 2007-2008 season is living in my dorm, as I accidentally closed the elevator door on his father during move-in. XD Despite the lack of air-conditioning, my bed is by the window and there’s been a nice breeze these last few days, so I’m keeping cool and comfortable. (The words biggest window fan is also behind my head, so that’s good too. XD )

HEAVY SIGH

I’m also really, really homesick. It’s not the fact that I have to share a bathroom with a bunch of strangers, or that my living space is about a hundred times smaller than what I’m used to; I just really miss my family, to be honest. If the four of us had to share this little dorm room, I’d still be perfectly happy—proof that home really is where the heart is. And as I told my dad over the phone a little while ago, the day can stretch out to be pretty long when you don’t have too many folks to talk to. My door has been open almost the entire time I’ve been here, but it hasn’t really helped me make friends with anyone new, at least not yet. Everyone else has their doors closed so… I can’t really pop my head and introduce myself, or even say “hi” while walking down the hall. Still, I’m sure things will get better. Right now everyone is still moving in, and I see about as many parents passing my door as kids.

Anyways, I just wanted to let everyone know that I’m okay and moved in. Please leave a comment… I need to talk to people I know! Pictures will be up soon enough.:)

Love,
Popo

Current Mood: uncomfortable

Hiya! I'm leaving for Atlanta tomorrow afternoon around one, so this is more or less the last instance of computer access that I'll have for while. How sad. XD

I'm pretty excited to compete! Naturally, I hope we do well, I hope it's as fun as last year ((You know... when we paid our way in... XD )), and I hope I don't get too bored and/or exhausted on the long trip down and back. XD

We don't get into our hotel until 2AM on Thursday, and we need to be at the Georgia Dome around seven, so... that's not a whole lot of sleep time. Luckily though, Thursday will be a practice day for both FRC and FTC, so I'll be able to snooze in the stands at various opportunities, as usual. XD I've finally mastered the art of getting comfortable in a really uncomfortable setting, namely, stadium seats. ((The New York Regional was the WORST EVER. They gave us benches to sit on for three days.)) When you're not actually participating on the field at a competition, which most members aren't, you're sitting in the stands for many, many hours on end, with any luck, playing video games or cheering. I'll have to remember to stretch my legs once in a while, otherwise, after the damage done at VCU and NYC, I might come back a cripple. XD

EDIT: URGH! The schedule says that FTC is competing on Thursday! Seeing as Lori and I are the only two people on 519 going to Atlanta, we're screwed. D:

I've been playing Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword non-stop lately, to the point where I have to pry myself away from my DS to do important things like homework and feeding the dog and, you know, sleeping. XD Really, I'm falling in love with the series all over again. My passion for FE6 and FE7 knows no bounds, it seems. ♥ [Shouts out to wonderful_words ] It's a shame the newer games have been so... lacking, in my eyes, because it's keeping me alienated from the community. I don't like the fact that the last two games have appeared to severely deviate from what is expected of FE games. What bothers me the most is all these outlandish, shape-shifting, animal-like characters that seem totally out of place when compared with the rest of the series. ((Filthy half-breeds! XD )) I hope it's not going to be a continuing trend because it was a deal breaker as far as my buying FE9 and FE10 went.

On that note, I feel like Intelligent Systems in general has been letting me down lately. The most recent Paper Mario game, which I got for Christmas, was so awful that I don't think I made it past the first chapter, which is unusual because PM1 and PM2 are all-time favorites of mine. I felt bad because that's a $40 gift from my parents that was essentially a waste, and seriously the only instance in which I've wanted to return a game. ((I'm big on asking only for things that I really want so this dislike is making me feel guilty...)) Everything from the dialogue to the new game-play style to the Wiimote, right down to the sound effects they used to express characters talking made me cringe. I hated how they stripped the game of everything players loved and tried to market it as something different. Sigh. [/Lame rant about Paper Mario]

Anyways, it's late, and sooner or later I'm going to have to turn off my computer and go to sleep. 'No use fighting the inevitable. XD Sweet dreams, respond to this if you play FE so I don't look like a total dork, and remember to wear orange and maroon tomorrow, if not for your country, than for me, as a future Hokie. :D

Love,

Popo

PS: Memai... Many thanks for defending me on dA from that phrase-stealer. I was touched by your efforts. ♥ XD

Current Mood: sleepy

This weekend, FIRST Robotics FRC Team 116 went to the New York City Regional Championship at the Javits Center and won the Chairman's Award. This is the most coveted award the program has to offer, and is presented to the team who best embodies the message of FIRST. Winning this award not only guarantees us a spot at the world championship in Atlanta, but also, bragging rights for the rest of our existence as a team.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Wow. Now that I'm done being serious... XD

Winning this award is like... winning the Nobel Peace Prize for Robotics! That's the only way I can explain the Chairman’s Award to a FIRST-outsider. Seriously. XD And I'm going to go on to say that right now, Team 116 just might be the team to beat.

Our FRC division [FRC: Think large, incredibly expensive, student-built robots] just clobbered the competition for the Chairman's Award at the NYC Regional, the biggest regional in the world, thus securing a spot in Atlanta; our FTC section [FTC: Think smaller-scale, less expensive, also student-built robots] (AKA Team 519) as you know, won first place at the Maryland Regional, also gaining a spot in Atlanta; and finally, our animation team won first place in the Autodesk Visualization competition at the Richmond VCU Regional for the sixth year running, giving them a spot in Atlanta and, promoting them as one of this year's top five national, award-winning animations.

I can't think of any other team in the world who can match this, or rather, us. And there's a lot of teams out there. XD

I have a little anecdote I want to share before I tie this up. When you get selected for an award at a FIRST event, the team leaves the stands, walks onto the field, and runs by a line of judges, sponsors, etc. for a quick congratulations and a high five. After Lori and I stopped screaming and hugging each other, we went down and joined the line with the rest of the team.

Now, I doubt many of you to know this name, but Dean Kamen, who among many things, founded FIRST, invented the Segway, and is a pioneering force in prosthetic limbs for veterans, was waiting at the end of that line with the massive Chairman's trophy. ((Can you see where this is going? XD ))

I walk up to him, noticing that no one has grabbed the award, but before I can shyly sneak away, he says, "Congratulations! Why don't you hold onto this." He then proceeds to maneuver the trophy into my arms, to which I'm totally shocked and panicking, and as I leave the field, I hear, "Stop! Stop!" coming from behind me. I turn around, and two photographers, one from th New York Post, snaps a few shots of me with the trophy and starts interviewing me, mentioning how he's going to put me in the press tomorrow and blah blah blah. It was incredible. 'Easily the best moment of my life, though, I feel bad for getting press attention regarding a submission I didn't actually work on. Obviously, my contributions to the team were a big help to our victory, but I only wish the people who actually wrote and delivered our presentation had thought to snag the trophy. XD

Anyways, we've been after this award for fourteen years, and I'm just so thrilled to be able to say that I was on the team the year we won, and also, the year that all of our sub-teams qualified for the world championship.

( A few photos...! )

Current Mood: accomplished

FTC TEAM 519 IS GOING TO THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP.

ON MY WHEELS, BABY.

( Photos )

Current Mood: ecstatic

All of a sudden -- and I mean all of a sudden -- it's started snowing like crazy! It looks so pretty; the sun is setting behind an overcast sky and the field behind my house is slowly starting to turn white with each passing moment. Tiny snow flakes are flaring up in the wind, licking my window sill and blah I just feel like being wordy at the moment, please excuse me, k'thanks. XD But honestly -- it's beautiful, and the snow really is blowing around in such a way that it looks like it wants to pour in through my window. ((That sounds so nice; I wish I had a prettier window! XD ))

That aside, I just got back from the dentist, hence the title. I'm drooling, it's gross, I thought it was funny at the time... you do the math. XD I'm not actually sure what they did to me today, to tell the truth. This is the third ((and last)) time I've had this procedure done -- upper and lower right molars, left molars all at once -- and they can't seem to decide whether it should be termed "filling" or "sealants" because only children get sealants but I don't have any cavities that need to be plugged up. In fact, I think the whole reason why they keep asking me to come back in is to prevent cavities but... I don't understand doctors, as much I wish I could. XD

Last night at Robotics was the first time this entire year that I actually did something productive, technical, and helpful, all in one go. ((And this from a captain. XD )) I re-geared one of the competition bots -- with little success, as the gear ratio was wrong -- geared it again, changed the system back to direct drive, and added a second wheel to each axel for supposedly added torque. I think I'd make a good low-level mechanic; give me a model to follow, and I can replicate anything, but ask me to design something on my own? Pfft. XD Ah, Robotics... I just love talking about things I don't understand. XD Gear ratios... Muahaha...

I've started playing Fire Emblem again, Blazing Sword, to be exact. As much as I absolutely adore the Ace Attorney series, I think FE still holds the #1 spot in my heart. I play it, and I feel affected by it in ways I can barely describe. All the friends, the memories... the good times when me and Christine would joke about Ninian coming to kill us in our sleep (( XD )), the sweeping array of characters... It's delicious, really. And it makes me want to write fanfiction, except I'm too lazy and Karel is the only character I've ever truly taken an interest in writing about. But I ramble. XD

Hmm... I'm trying to remember what else has happened since I last posted. Not too much, I suppose. I voted in the Virginia Primary a little while back as a first-time voter, and did my civic duty as a government student by getting my mom to go to the polls with me, as she's never voted in a primary. It was anti-climactic, as expected. A dinosaur looked my name up in the register, stared at my license for like, eight minutes, asked me what primary I was voting in, gave me a slip of paper with my voting specifications on it, pointed at an old guy, gave the other old guy my slip, voted, and left. That's all. XD But still, I felt excited when the news came on and I saw the poll results. The numbers in Virginia were surprisingly close so I'm glad I went out and made my contribution.

This is completely random, but we had an FTC ((FIRST Tech Challenge [off-shoot of our Robotics team])) event at the National Building Museum in DC, and Lori and I got completely lost in the gift shop. We told our team we'd be back in about thirty to forty minutes and went missing for two hours. XD One of the adults exploded on me, seeing as Roki was lucky enough to escape to the bathroom before he caught her. That dork. XD Aside from being utterly fascinated by a book filled with useless Japanese inventions from the 80's and 90's, I found a whole wall of stationary/journaling/organizing goods in historical patterns. I fell in love with this accordion-style organizer and bought it on the way out. The colors are darker and bluer in real life, but I thought it would be easier to post a link as opposed to a picture. I couldn't put it down in the store after I held it, so I saw it as a sign to take it home with me. Yay.

I can't wait to fill it up, though I never know what to use these things for. I have so many pretty notebooks that I feel unworthy to write in. XD Most just sit in my nightstand so that in the dark hours of the night, I can leap out of bed, grab one, and jot down a thought or a line or a word that pops into my head as I'm dozing off. ((Of course, when I go back to read what I've written in the morning, it hardly makes any sense! XD ))

Well... I think that's all. Feel free to leave a comment -- I love chatting with you all! ♥

Love,

Popo

PS: New layout! I just love it! It's like, I've finally reached a zen-like state with my journal. XD I got my layout from here so if your shopping around, take a peak! The further back you go, the better. :D

Current Mood: awake

Wow... I just realized something pretty much kinda-but-not-really horrible: my LJ account expires in 19 days. ;__; Nooo! XD I'll be back with the commoners and their six LJ icons and mediocre layout designs! How you've spoiled me so,

aryador! It's like riding first-class and getting bumped to coach on the return trip! Bah, I'll deal, I guess. This is mostly just a plea for some kind soul to renew my account, but I won't bet on other people's hospitality. ;D Still, just throwing the thought out there in the open... in all its nakedness... What a bad way to open an entry. XD

Anyways, things have been going pretty well for me lately. I've got a few worrisome events on the horizon ((i.e.: Calculus test; brilliant/amazing/awesome substitute English teacher leaving to make way for real teacher, who will be postpartum and angry seeing as she's ending her maternity leave...)) but other than that, I'm happy with my lot in life. Christmas is around the corner and I made little goodie-bags for all my friends; they're adorable! ((The bags and the friends!)) Each one is similar but different. They each contain something delicious, toasty and gourmet, something yummy, and some sort of... toy. XD That's all I can say! The only hamartia is that there's this one specific person who I for some reason feel obligated to get something for, but didn't. Maybe I shouldn't feel obligated; we borderline the notion of friendship and even though I've gotten her something the last two years, she never get's me anything is return. ((In fact, last year, she kinda took my gift half-heartedly and ran! No thank you or anything!)) I guess I shouldn't feel too bad, it's just that the whole gang exchanges gifts in class together and since we all sit at the same table, she'll notice for sure if I don't get her something. I guess it's not even about the "getting" when you break it down on my end; it's just that she's so ungrateful about everything. Bah... I'll risk it. XD I'm sure she'll be understanding, or hopefully, like last year, apathetic!

A few nights ago I experienced my first truly executive action as a Robotics captain; my fellow leaders and I cut three members from the team. Wow... Never saw that coming! We had an event at the University of Virginia last Saturday and they made us wait forty-five minutes in the cold at 5AM outside the high school for carpooling down to the university. And you know what? They still didn't show up! We called all three of them, multiple times, and they told us some variant of "drop-dead" before hanging up the phone and going back to sleep. One of the members said he was just on his way out, despite being thirty minutes late, and even though we waited for him, he never showed up. Later, he tried to defend himself with "I couldn't get a ride!" Umm... Then what's with telling us you were going to meet us there? Honestly... those damn freshman. XD So, yes... That's the end of the line for them. It felt pretty good to send them back to the big division, seeing as they're now someone else's problem. XD We also had talking-to's with other members, notably those with commitments issues, and in just minutes there was a huge upsurge of productivity and work ethics. As they say-- it's good to be the king. Or Queen. XD

Speaking of which, I was faced with a mini-moral dilemma the other day involving the other-fab-four. Basically, I got points taken off on a project for respecting Queen too much. XD I did a research project on Brian May, which turned out quite well considering he currently appears to have a PhD in bull-turd ((FYI Bri: Put your thesis online so we can all see what you actually contributed to science!)), and my teacher took points off the final grade because I refused to write an obituary segment for a man so full of life and love and happiness, and who, duh-- isn't dead yet. ((Really, the obituary would have killed the bright pink and yellow color scheme. XD)) Most of the astronomers we were allowed to cover ((I asked for Brian specially! XD )) are deceased, so there was an obituary portion we had to write as to constitute a biography. Well, I thought it would be bad karma and maybe even a little rude in some small way to reflect on the not-death of Brian, especially since he had that creepy-ass death-threat a few months ago, so I wrote a very comprehensive biography on him and wrote at the bottom "in place of obituary". I mean... wouldn't that be okay? The only real difference between a biography and an obituary is that one has a date of death and the other doesn't, right? She only gave me half the points on that section ((5/10)) and it made me a little mad. I would have argued the points with her if she didn't scare me so much. XD My grade in astronomy is way too good to jeopardize. Sorry, Bri. XD Anyways, I did the whole project in Photoshop so it took way too long and looked pretty spiffy at the end. I'm proud of it. Thank God the project wasn't on Roger! XD

...Can't you just see it now? *cackles*

So, the 7th marked my Three-Years-Of-Knowing-You-Through-The-Computer anniversary with Eli in England. Yay! I still can't believe it's been three years; it feels like soooo much longer! I remember one night a long time ago I missed the Super Bowl with Paul McCartney because I was talking to him about outer space. Pretty... cool? Lame? Trippy? XD I dunno. That memory just tends to stick out in my mind, for some reason. The conversation delved into a beautifully-platonic-but-sort-of-not, "I can see the moon, and it's nice to know that you're out there, somewhere in the world, looking up at the same moon..." sort of thing. Ah, the old days. XD I think I saved that message... I'll have to dig it up.

Which is a good segue into my next semi-pointless topic. FESS moved... again. Our domain was cyber-squatted and we all had to stare at this little peach for the next two weeks. Shifting locations with FESS is a little bit like graduating; the more you move onwards and up, the better things get, but you sacrifice tons of good ((and bad)) memories and compromise some of your comforts. Right now I'm having trouble adjusting to the new skin, as well as the commands ((member and mod)) but I'm sure I'll adjust to things soon. FESS 5... wow. XD

Okay... I think that's everything I have to say for now. Sorry this was so long, for anyone out there who finished this! I was in a writing mood~!

Love,

Popo

PS: Dirty Harry? Clint Eastwood? Is it worth watching? Do I feel lucky? Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya' punk? XD

Current Mood: touched

Hey everyone!

I'm going to Atlanta for robotics nationals. I should be back on Sunday in the evening but... I have a feeling there might be delays. Whatever happens, I'll keep everyone posted. :D

Love,

Popo

Current Mood: lonely

Popo's Tips: Goat cheese is dangerous! XD I'm just tossing that out there-- I totally over-dosed on some last night. Beware!

Happy Sunday, all. :D I hope everyone reading this is doing well and enjoying life to the best of their ability. I know I am! I feel so full of love these days. Albeit, the new man in my life might help, but I'm definitely feeling a new sense of peace towards people I've been angry at or annoyed by these last few weeks. All the social wounds hovering around the high school are starting to knit themselves together again...

Meaning that:

- Friend A and Friend B are talking again, finally.

- Friend B and Friend C have come to the conclusion that they're just going to have to suck it up and deal with Friend A's awful boyfriend and accept Friend A as she is, desperate her slightly impaired moral judgment. (Which is quite loveable.)

-Friend D is apparently still best friends with Friend C except Friend C didn't learn that until Mom D told Mom C over dinner. Needless to say, Friend C feels like an ass for not knowing that Friend D has no friends anymore because they all left her and is looking to repair old best-friend-ships.

Wow. XD So, anyways. Things are pretty cool right now. Robotics was fun yesterday because... Well... *squirms* I sorta got my first kiss yesterday... Which was nice. XD It was stolen too, which was cool because that's how I wanted it to happen. >w< Yay!

Well, that's all I have time for at the moment. >w< Spell-checking will come later.

Love, Popo

Profile

popo_licious

April 2013

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30

Style Credit

Style: Plain for Tabula Rasa

Page generated Mar. 27th, 2026 09:06 pm

Outpost of the World

[ take IV ]

Entries tagged with robotics

Post Move-In

[Insert Interesting Title]

Epic II

Epic

The Drool Princess

Looking At The Same Moon

Mr. Roboto

Happy Sunday!

Profile

April 2013

Links

Style Credit