College is Fast Approaching!

Hi readers,

I first want to apologize for my disappearance again. I've been very busy at robotics and work, as usual. I promise these aren't empty lies! I truly think my hard work paid off somewhere, but we will get into that later. 

First, let's revisit some stuff from other discussions. Two blogs ago, I discussed my grandma's passing, but I did not mention that she suffered from dementia. Dad, if you're reading this, please skip the next few sentences. Anyway, many of you know my brother is a big fan of country music; one of his favorite songs is called "Numbers On The Cars", by Riley Green. On the way home from work, my brother would often play country music, and he would almost always make sure this song was in the queue. The more and more I listen to it, the more and more I realize how perfectly it described my grandma's state. So. Kudos to you Riley Green. 

Anyway, great country song, highly recommend. 

Moving on, let's discuss the competition: CHSy Champs. Ever since the end of the official 2021 season, my team has been preparing for this offseason. I've been showing up as often as I could, programming autos, practicing, climbing, and addressing issues as they appear. Going into the competition, I felt really confident in the robot, and myself, which was something I hadn't seen in a long time. All in all, despite the fact that the competition was outside of FMA, lacked interesting competition, and we didn't win, I still had a great time. I personally feel like the team had a rocky start, but greatly improved after the second match. Our performance was enough to put us in second and ally ourselves with the first alliance captain, another out-of-state team from Rochester, New York: Team 340. Unfortunately, a combination of disappointing second picks and an unlucky round robin, we went home without a win. I still believe we were the best robot there, and I think the numbers hold to prove it. Here is the Blue Alliance page for the event, as well as the Twitch live stream link. I definitely recommend looking for our close, yet successful, triple climb, as well as our highest scoring match (198)! I can't say I didn't perform without a little help however: 

Yes, that's right: the powdered root beer made a return for my last competition! For those who are unfamiliar, my team has been doing a "ritual" where the driver, or drive team, drinks this disgusting powdered root beer purchased from a specific Dollar General in York, PA. Now, my friend told me that this root beer was not from that specific dollar general, which therefore resulted in a lack of additional luck. Perhaps this is why we lost?

Work has also been very stressful, as it seems as though I have a bit of a mutiny on my hands at times. All I'm going to say is that employee morale has been quite low, and that put's a lot of stress on me as a leader. We did just have an employee party, so I hope that brightened the general mood. It was my brother's first time on Storm Runner, and it was also one of the last times I'll ever see my one friend Aidan. Aidan and I have been pals since the beginning of high school, and now he's moving to Missouri. I just hope God gives him some sense of direction with his life, because he got potential and drive! So, this next Coke is to you Aidan. Cheers!

I've also been spending a lot of time at my internship, which is currently testing the working, prototyped wind turbine my boss has been developing. I've done a lot of algorithms and generator setup, which has been proving more and more useful as I gain more and more direction in life. Go support them for funding round two!

Now that I've talked about that, let's look forward. My graduation party is on the 7th of August, and I was very hesitant to give out invitations, because these parties stress me out. I get stressed when I feel as though I am being judged, and for some reason I feel almost selfish for hosting a party to celebrate myself. I know when you put it that way it sounds weird, but nevertheless, is that not what's happening? 

I also just received my AP test scores back. It seems as though the universe is trying to improve my lack of self-confidence, because apparently, I did incredibly well on my tests. My scores from this year and last year are:

1. English Language and Composition: 4
2. Calculus BC: 4,  AB Subscore: 5
3. Physics I: 4
4. Computer Science: 5

I'm very proud of these scores, and they will certainly help me cut off some credits. In fact, with these scores, I'm qualified to start in Calculus III! That would be stupid though, so I'm probably going to start in Calculus II. 

Moving onto how I feel about college. As college gets closer and closer, and relationships just happened to get more stressful, I began to put two and two together. I'm not great at sensing emotion, making friends, or just expressing myself. Combine this with a faraway college full of people my age, and it gets a little scary. I'm gonna do my best to build self-confidence and become more extroverted at college. I can promise you that. 

There. I think I covered about everything. I'll touch in again after my graduation party!

As always, thanks for reading,

The Questionable Programmer

P.S. That questionable invention is still in the works, but substantial progress has been made!

"Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something"

- Plato

Graduation is on the Horizon!

 Good day readers,

It has come to my attention that I have not posted in quite some time. Perhaps I was too busy? Who knows?

Anyways, I was reading through a recently discovered blog. I think it's hilarious that I have never found this before given the authors! Check it out if you have some time!

Moving on to what has happened; let's see if I can summarize it in one really long sentence, because why not?

After receiving my recognition, the idea of leaving my schoolmates and teachers behind really hit me, but not like a brick, no; instead, I like to think of it as a really friendly and aggressive slap in the face, making part of me want to sit down and riminess, and another part of me want to run away as fast as I can, and this goes for most of my teenage experience; for example, both robotics and work are incredibly vulnerable to this line of logic; after working countless hours at both robots and work, it dawned on me that a part of me would not miss the grind.

So I hope that disgusting sentence helped you understand where I have been, as well as what I've been thinking recently. In case it didn't however, I will go into more detail. 

So I have totaled close to a thousand dollars in earnings recently, so if that doesn't give you an idea of how much a part-time, weekends-only worker works, I don't know what will. Sure there were a few weekdays here and there, but those were only five hours, which isn't too long compared to the classic 13 hour shift I usually work. Lastly, let me make it explicitly clear that I died after that vaccine! I was up till about five AM with an awful fever and muscle aches. Unfortunately, as you may have guessed, I missed the Food Truck Trek, but I heard good things. It seems in about five years our teams gonna be really big!

Now that work has been explained, let's move onto robotics. I suppose I should start off with senior night?

First off, it was a blast, so thank you everyone that did attend, or at least attempted to!

Next, it is unexpectedly important to say that I did not cry! Unlike a lot of seniors, I did not stop showing up to robotics. I need to attend to teach people, fool around, learn, and grow, in that order! Last night, a student from the class of 2020 created the ultimate drift bot using a Cheap and Dirty Radio Control set from Andy Mark. We have been working on perfecting the drifts for a long time, and I think we got it. The best part is, it can pull +3 people! It also can seat one of them on its chassis!

Now, moving towards a more focused and questionable task, I am almost done with my part of the driver station! I have completely remodeled the way this team programs robots in Python, making the process more user friendly and more modern! Again, very sketchy, very questionable. It is certainly possible that the poor RoboRIO will be trying to do too much at once, but hey, it wouldn't be questionable otherwise! I am really excited to see the final product of the driver station, using my exciting networktable-value publishing system and another student's ingenious web design and backend abilities! Wow, that is going to sound really bad out of context. Here's a graphic for understanding backend:

So apart from an absolutely fantastic senior night, nothing has changed too much there; still questionable! Moving onto the Sunday after senior night, May 16th, 2021!

For those who didn't know, this Sunday was the Drydene 400 at the Monster Mile, or Dover International Speedway! This was my first NASCAR race, and boy oh boy was it a blast! I had the time of my life and definitely learned to appreciate my hearing! From the moment we saw rip-off Chase Elliot to the moment Alex Bowman crossed the finish line, I was in paradise. The race was also very special because it was the first time in Hendrick Motorsports' history in which they earned a 1-2-3-4 finish, meaning that their four drivers conquered the top four positions. What made this even more remarkable was the fact that only two of the drivers had excellent starting positions. While William Byron and Kyle Larson both had optimistic starting positions, the other two were not so lucky. Chase Elliott unfortunately had to start from the rear, and Alex Bowman had a solid start in the middle of the pack. After an exceptionally fast pit stop, Alex Bowman was able to get out of the pits and take the lead, passing who I think was Kyle Larson. 

When I came to the race, I knew I wanted some Chase Elliott gear. I think every Hendrick Motorsports fan has some sort of Chase Elliott gear! But I also wanted some of Jimmie Johnson's which would be harder to find since he was no longer racing in NASCAR (he drives the #48 Carvana in Indy Car, also really cool!).But I did however find a piece to remind me of his Lowe's sponsorship!

Back in 2001, Lowe's partnered with Jimmie Johnson, who was a nobody at the time. Why? Great relations with Hendrick and a promise from the legend Jeff Gordon, former Hendrick Motorsports driver of the #24 car, claiming that Johnson had great potential. 

Some people think Lowe's left because Home Depot, the classic Lowe's rival, bailed in 2014. It is certain that the reason they left had to do with business however; Lowe's loved Jimmie!

Anyways, after I saw Alex Bowman in Jimmie's famous Ally car cross that finish line, I knew that although the drivers have changed, my favorite car has not! I think it's time to say I am a proud Alex Bowman fan after that day; or better yet, a fan of the #48 car!

I also had all of my AP tests over the time I was missing. I absolutely wanted to die on the Calculus BC exam, but the Physics I and the Computer Science A exams went very well! Yesterday, I finished all of my finals, except the second part of my calculus one. Ironically, apart from my computer science and English exam, I did the best on the calculus final! Or so I think!

Now on to a little more discomforting subject. Last Saturday, as much as I hate to say it, my grandmother passed away. She was a legendary cook and a legendary grandma! She always loved given whoopins', and I'm sure those will be carried on by my cousin! I never went to Disney World with my dad's parents, but I do know my cousins did, and boy oh boy did they have a blast! It makes me happy to think that my hardworkin', firefightin', grandpa and his good boy Tawny have been joined by my grandma so they can feast at the big table with the big man!

As an introvert, I find funerals very uncomfortable however, so I am a little concerned about that, but I know it means a lot to my dad and the rest of my family, so I'll tough it out. 

I still remember where I was when I learned that my grandma died; my mom told me that morning that they were expecting it soon, and that was all I could think about on that beautiful, Saturday drive to work. When my brother hauled his lazy butt in later that day, I told him to be cognizant towards the fact that she might pass, and he seemed a little shook, but seemed to manage himself well. Later that afternoon, my brother went on break, and returned to tell me she had passed, apparently she had left us earlier that morning. I still remember sitting in the back room, making about a dozen money bags for my clerks. I was a little shocked because I thought she had a little more time. I guess not. 

But people die, and that's life. I think I've talked about this unfortunate subject a lot at this point, so I'll shut up now. 

All in all, my eventful absence has been filled with ups and downs, but I think I'm going to use the "ups" to look at the good in the bad in the "downs", if you catch my drift. Oh, that also reminds me, I'm now practicing skateboarding at robotics! But that's a story for another day!

Congratulations if you read this far, but like always:

Thanks for reading, 

The Questionable Programmer

"Ups and downs in life are very important to keep us going, because a straight line even in an ECG means we are not alive"

- Ratan Tata

2021 At-Home Results

We won!

Ladies and gentleman, my team has claimed its first blue banner! Two of our mentors even made a cake to celebrate!

I know the cake may not look the most professional, but it was the best any of my teammates could do. It also tasted quite good! 

I learned that we won when I was sitting in my seventh period class, HACC United States History, last Wednesday, the 21st of April. An alumni/mentor of ours sent a screenshot of the events page and a "we won!!!!". I didn't do anything for the rest of the class to be honest! I was ecstatic and quickly informed by brother who was sitting right in front of me. 

Alright, that's about all I have to say I guess. It is current 6:52 in the morning on a Sunday, so I am kind of tired and also very busy. The reason I'm up so early is because I have to work a double today. But that's ok because I don't mind my job. 

Until next time, farewell.

The Questionable Programmer

"We are the champions" 

- Freddie Mercury

So I'm Receiving Recognition

Hi readers, 

First off, I know this title may be a little clickbait. I acknowledged it, so it's not greedy!

Anyways, apparently I am in the top 5% of my graduating class, which consists of about 280 students I think. If you do the math, that means I am one of 14 students. 

Now, if you're reading this, you probably know me. And if you know me, you probably know that I'm an idiot who applies himself when interested. 

So how did I manage to rise to the top 5%? Dedication. Effort. Focus. Respect. Punctiliousness.

I also feel it's because some of my classes have not been the most challenging. In fact, in my freshman year I took your typical, college-prep classes. Why? I was not as dedicated or as interested in the sciences as I am now. But thanks to robotics and friends, I have changed by ways and look forward to challenge! Especially programming challenges!

For this recognition, I did have to choose a mentor. It doesn't matter what relation you have with the mentor, as long as they influenced your education. So naturally, who better than a robotics mentor? I selected my team's head mentor; let's call him Joe. So Joe has been here about the same length of time I have, and we became very close throughout this experience. My brother and I still learn, build, and even snowmobile with Joe! I could not be more proud of my selection, who also happens to be a frequent reader!

I'll update you guys with my "keys to success" once I develop them. 

By the way, still first in our division, but 20th in the world unfortunately (I think I'll live). 

I worked my first double shift last Sunday too! Super fun and adrenalizing! I really enjoyed transporting my coworkers, which actually included a team member's sister! But at the end of the day, the radio was the coolest part!

Lastly, I am developing a series of lessons for teaching students who to program on my team. Or, at least how I think programming and the programming department should look. I will share all of this eventually, but I want to finish it first!

I also have some very exciting events approaching, but I will wait to share those until next time!

Once again, thank you for reading!

The Questionable Programmer

"A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning." 

- Brad Henry

2021 Results Update

 Hi all,

I don't want to waste your time so I suppose I'll jump right in. Although this title is partially clickbait, it is still partially true! We did submit all scores last Thursday, and when we did, we were still in first in our group! This is great news, and I really look forward to seeing if win! Technically, we already unofficially won our division, but I need FIRST to say that for it to be true and exciting!

Our division's scores can be found here if you have not seen them yet. 

I apologize for not updating on Thursday or Friday, but I think this is close enough! 

Thanks for reading,

The Questionable Programmer

2021 At Home Season and Catch Up

Hello readers,

I'd first like to apologize for my disappearance once more; I have been awfully busy with work events as well as robotics of course. 

As most of you know, the FRC 2021 season is a little special, to say the least. Rather than hosting the typical build season with in-person events and a World Championship (which we attended in 2019!), they decided to create three different challenges encompassing both those who have access to their robot, and those who don't. 

For those who are interested in FRC Game Theory and Design, there was a challenge for that. There was also a product design challenge for team's who are more focused on universal and community impact. More information on these two challenges can be found here.

Personally, I took more interest in the third challenge: the at-home challenges. These were challenges that involved the robot and its capabilities, such as cycle speed, accuracy, driver skill, and autonomous potential. 

Long story short, we were randomly assigned a group of 29 teams to compete with, and it seems pretty good. 303, Test Team, was the only team I recognized from the FMA district however; all the others are new to me. 

We generally have really strong scores across the five challenges. Not perfect, but good; in fact, maybe good enough to win our group? Maybe. We are interested to see how other teams do, but so far no team has compared to our scores. Until now. 

FRC Team 3130 of Minnesota is here with some good scores, and it's rather frightening. We are about even, and I have yet to see them post scores to the two shooting challenges. I need to get the autonomous challenge faster to secure a win however. Nevertheless, there are less than three days of competition left. All scores are due on the eighth by 3 PM Eastern. Tomorrow I plan on speeding up that auto, and taking Wednesday if need be. 

Nevertheless, we are going to do the best we can, and if we cannot beat them, too bad so sad. Nothing much we can do about their score. But I remain hopeful. I look forward to updating you all on the eighth. 

Small rant time. Skip if you want. 

So when I first started the season, I was excited to see FRC's unique take on the 2021 game/games. My opinion of the 2021 season gradually declined however. To be honest, I feel as though it is a lot more tedious and frustrating than a normal season. I also really dislike the way FIRST is handling the scoring. For two of the scores, they state that if you over-score yourselves, accidentally or purposefully, they throw your score out. If you underscore it, they do nothing. It's like The Price is Right. Yet unlike The Price is Right, this infuriates me. I think it's stupid that one small mistake or difference in opinion is a throw-away of what could maybe be the best score ever. It's not like teams would argue; they basically have no valid way of arguing since they have no idea who scored their piece. 

Although the Power Port challenge, a challenge which includes 60 seconds of cycling and shooting is exciting, it is, in my opinion, almost ignorant of the robot's skill compared to the skill of the human participants. 

By forcing two people to collect the same three balls from either behind the power port or in front of it (depends on which configuration you used), you are testing the robot's aim, and that's about it. Speed of the robot does not play a huge role, but human speed and hand-eye coordination do. FIRST prides itself on offering activities that give the competitiveness of sports, but also the joys of robot skill and performance and not the physical potential of team members. Speed of the robot is typically regardless because humans will usually take longer than the robot. This challenge also frustrates me because the challenge incorporates little of the robot. For us, it was really only the shooter and the aiming components. We didn't need the intake and the climber, and that goes for most challenges to be honest. It was always these systems. I felt disappointed in the challenges we received. To prevent being overly hypocritical, let me lay down a few suggestions: a speed-climbing challenge, an auto challenge which involved shooting, or a color wheel challenge. 

Although my proposed challenges present a plethora of difficulties, isn't their job to overcome these? I don't think the challenges are that difficult to implement, and I certainly think they provide a better alternative to the 2020 game people were looking forward to playing. Shooting these yellow dodge balls repeatedly is quite boring, and drivetrain skill is certainly nothing new. 

All in all, I feel as though these games are the "tip of the iceberg", and that this season could have been so much more if they put more effort into these at-home challenges. 

However, what's in the past is in the past, and I certainly can not change it. 

End rant. 

In early March, I managed to earn myself a promotion at work. In fact, I am now an assistant supervisor. My tasks are much more different than what they used to be, but they still revolve around the same core concepts: respect, treat guests well, and honor our founder. I look forward to dealing with the Karens and helping out my coworkers across the park! My first day is this Sunday, although it was originally supposed to be the past weekend (one of my close friends and team members got COVID-19 [he will be ok]), so hopefully I can inform you when I also inform you about FRC Team 3130 and our performance. The shift also happens to be a double shift, 0830 - 2100 *excited nerd noises*!

Easter was also yesterday, so it was nice to see most of my family together and healthy too. 

I have a lot of stress on my mind with these challenges, so the sooner its over the better I suppose. Just gotta do my best! 

Again, sorry for my disappearance; just know that I'm still here, and still coding. 

Just kidding! Look here for my most recent work involving Bezier curve generation and following. If you wanna see the inner guts of it, trace it back to the swervedrive.py file in the subsystems folder and locate the methods you are interested in (which is most likely the slope finder of higher degree Bezier curves!) This code certainly lives up to my name of, The Questionable Programmer. 

And with that ladies and gentlemen, I bring this to a close. Thanks for sticking with me once again, and I look forward to writing to you all very soon. 

Sincerely,

The Questionable Programmer

"It always seems impossible until it's done." 

- Nelson Mandela

COVID-19, Swerve, and My Brother's Decision

 Good evening readers,

As many of you know, my last post discussed the new project my team was facing: swerve drive! If I must say so myself, the project is going fantastic! We had full teleoperated functionality within just four days of the drivetrain assembly! It was really awesome to see the swerve work, as swerve drive has always been one of the most captivating pieces of FRC robotics for me. 

Now that I got that out of the way, let me move on to the COVID-19 situation. As of now, my mother has a pending COVID-19 test, but she seems to be doing just fine. She is an elementary school teacher at a private school, and has been sending kids home sick recently. I imagine she caught whatever it is she has from there. Whatever it is, I don't think it's COVID-19; here's hoping! 

My grandma has it as well. She lives in a nursing home, which was on lockdown, so I find it very concerning and frustrating that she was somehow exposed to this virus. However, if she is anything like the rest of the family, she will certainly pull though! 

My cousin, who is an elementary PE coach at another private school, also caught COVID-19. If I heard correctly, the school did not require students to wear masks at the time. I do believe that is why he caught COVID-19. Thankfully, he is a very healthy man, and managed to beat the virus. 

These are all the cases in my family which I can remember or know of. I know there are and were some potential cases on the team, but I will not disclose any information about that. 

I will say, programmer attendance has been really poor recently, and it does make me concerned about the future of the programming department. The team needs programmers. But if students don't show up, they won't stay engaged, if they're not engaged, they don't wanna stay on the team, and we then have no programmers. Anyway.

Now, onto my brother. As you people know, I decided a little after Christmas. My brother; however, plans on deciding by the end of January, which is tomorrow. Frankly, he still seems unsure. He is deciding between Pennsylvania State University and Michigan Tech, the school I'm going to. He crossed out West Virginia University about a month ago. Yesterday, we were looking at Penn State's reconstruction plan. This seems really exciting, but he's concerned that he won't get the experience and education he wants while this renovation is occurring. 

All in all however, I think he is going to go to Michigan Technological University. Again, mark my words: Michigan Tech. I will inform you all of his decision tomorrow!

Thanks for reading, 

The Questionable Programmer

Robotics Endeavors (swerve?!?!?) and Kickoff!

 Hi readers,

Let me start by apologizing for the short break I took. I have been very busy at robotics ever since kickoff, and midterms are approaching!

This leads me into my next topic: robotics. A lifetime goal of mine has been fulfilled! Swerve drive!

Recently, my team invested in some MK3 Swerve modules and parts to go with them! Most of us are super excited to be working with them, and are thrilled to try something new this season! Most of my team and I agree that this year is the year to do it! My brother and one friend really pushed for it, and have been pushing for it for a long time. Why do I push for it? 

Swerve is certainly one of the most competitive drivetrains in FRC, which explains the increase in teams who are interested in swerve drive. Let's look at some other drivetrains real quick. 

A mecanum robot offers great adjustment in any direction, but is incredibly prone to defense as it is 100% rollers. Similar to its vulnerability to defense, it is also much more sensitive, and will break much easier than something like a treaded billet wheel! With that being said, mecanum is not a bad drivetrain; we used it in the 2019 competitive season! Sure, it was not that great towards the end of the season since teams learned to maneuver carefully and score without an advantageous drivetrain, but it got the job done in the beginning. The point is, I'm not hating on mecanum, but there are better drivetrains that offer similar capabilities!

When someone thinks of a robot, they probably think of something like this. A robot with a tank drivetrain can usually benefit from qualities such as speed, durability, and lightweightness (there is an even lighter manipulation of tank drive, called west coast drive, another competitive drivetrain). Some of these robots, however, may suffer from a lack of maneuverability, especially along the horizontal axis. There are a lot of factors to consider when making one of these drivetrains, including the wheel drop, wheel size, number of wheels, number of motors, and more. Nevertheless, this general drivetrain configuration is common in FRC, and will provide a decent level of competitiveness and simplicity to almost any robot from any year. 

A lesser known drivetrain, H-drive, is a very unique drivetrain that blends these two drivetrains in a questionable way. Some people find this drive exciting and beneficial, while others think its inferior to mecanum. An H-Drive consists of four omni wheels (one in each corner), and an omni wheel along the y-axis of the robot. Unlike the other wheels however, this wheel is oriented horizontally. Since omni wheels have one way rollers, the robot can drive like a skiddrive, but also move side to side very slowly. This configuration is great for people who need more swing and maneuverability than a tank drive, but don't want to be as vulnerable as mecanum. Again, this drivetrain is more rare, as teams will typically just pick mecanum or tank. You decide if it's better than one or the other!

Swerve drive is possibly the king of all drivetrains if I'm being honest! Imagine motorizing four caster wheels, as well as their pivots. These "modules" make up a swerve drive, and can range between very complex and incredibly complex! This drive offers the maneuverability of mecanum by allowing 360 degree motion. In fact, this drivetrain can move on two axises and spin at the same time while maintaining a decent amount of speed. This speed and the counter-defense level maneuverability is what makes it better than mecanum. Tank? Well, tank can't side to side or spin like this robot. Tank can be faster however; it depends on gearing, wheel count, wheel type, etc. 

Another reason to use swerve, is because it is a great learning opportunity for all departments, especially design and programming. 

For my team in particular, we are redesigning our drivetrain so it is compatible with swerve drive. This project therefore gives knowledge in both drivetrain design, and swerve design! Not to mention, swerve modules can be modified, upgraded, and redesigned over and over, allowing for almost unlimited improvements and learning opportunities! 

Much like any new challenge, the programmers will have their work cut out for them! This applies here to! I actually already programmed all the math and logic, and have an idea for a curve command. In fact, I already did the math for it! Super excited to be working with swerve! This also creates more programming projects for the entire team, which gives the younger students more meaningful work!

Lastly, swerve is a great investment. In my opinion, there has never been a bad year for swerve (I would say a rugged swerve would have survived 2016!). Maneuverability and the ability to counter some defense bots is incredible! So, to keep up with the innovation and development of drivetrains in FRC, I believe its necessary to invest in swerve early, and stay ahead of the game!

So, that's what I have to say about swerve and other drivetrains. 

So here we are. 

My final kickoff and season (as a student 😉)!

Regarding COVID-19, it sucks. But, there's nothing we can do.

I applaud FIRST and FRC, as I feel they are doing all they can to ensure the safety of our students, mentors, and spectators. I think they have done an excellent job integrating more than just robots into this season!

So, overall, am I happy? Yes. Would I change it if I could? Yes. 

By forfeiting a normal season, we lose so much of what matters in FIRST: community, togetherness, and that indescribable feeling we get at competitions we get when something goes right (or wrong!). 

I think I'll get over it though. Look on the brightside: at least we're with our teams, FIRST is still together, and the FRC community and game have branched out even more!

I know this blog was a longer one, so once again,

Thanks for reading,

The Questionable Programmer

Teaching Time

 Hello all!

Nothing too much has happened since my last post but I have been getting a lot more teaching in a robots. I got a kid fully capable of writing advanced autos and another one wrote four commands with little to no guidance last night! I'll continue to teach now that I have the time. There has always been a lack of strong teaching in the programming department, as most of the leads prior to me have done everything themselves. I'm looking to change that and make the department more welcoming and engaging. 

I took a lot of criticism for my lack of teaching in 2020, and I truly think that people need to step back and realize that one programmer in a very busy season and just as busy offseason cannot teach everything at once. People seem to forget that if the one capable programmer is teaching, nothing would get done. This can appear to be very selfish on the student's part, even if unintended. I taught myself by looking at the code again and again each timed I learned a new python concept. The way the robot code works is very theoretical, and I can't just present a clean explanation. It is critical in my opinion that students do independent work, like homework, and review the language, the theory behind the framework, and how those two concepts tie together. 

Anyway, pardon my rant above. Just wanted to vent somewhere, and I suppose that's one of the reasons I continue this blog! 

But we must not fear, for the time has come to teach! With the current robot as programmatically competitive as it can be, I now have plenty of time until January. No competitions, no major modifications, nothing. We obviously don't have time like this any other year, so I figured now is the time to teach! So, I sat down with the future programming team and reviewed a lot of different concepts. Some more complicated topics have yet to come, but the students who consistently show up now have a decent understanding of their subsystem. As I said, I got one writing simple commands by himself, and will try to get him writing more commands next Thursday! He has also gotten very comfortable with version control by the looks of things, and I certainly hope he continues to explore Linux! The other, our newest member, is now capable of interpreting and writing complex autonomous' programs. He is learning at a remarkable rate! 

All in all, I think the entire programmer team is developing well and quickly! Dare I say it has something to do with the implementation of the scrum board? Not going to lie, I really like the concept of it. It makes tracking and distributing projects much easier. 

To close, I think I will share my senior quote with you guys! You ready? Here it is!

+++++++ [ > ++++++++++ < - ] > + . < +++++ [ > ++++++++ < - ] > . <
++++++++++++++++ [ > ----- < - ] > + . < ++++ [ > +++++++++++++ < -
] > . < +++ [ > +++++ < - ] > ++ . ---- . < ++++++ [ > ++ < - ] > .
+ < ++++++++ [ > ---------- < - ] > ++ . < +++ [ > ++++++ < - ] > .
+++ . -- . ++++++ . < ++++++ [ > ---- < - ] > .

That's right! It's in Brainf**k! I'd love it if someone, some where could figure it out. It is very much school appropriate, but I still am unsure if I'll be allowed to use it. 

Thanks for reading!

"We did not come to fear the future. We came here to shape it." 

- Barack Obama

Forwarding a Blog

Hello, readers!

This is going to be an incredibly short post, as I only want to share the link to a blog post.

For background information, I was scrolling through Chief Delphi, and found this awesome page after passing through a few links. I'll leave it here, since it is a good source of laughs. 

I encourage you to check it out!

Link to Post

See you next time!