Competition week is finally here! This past week we had finished slightly ahead of schedule so we've been tweaking and tuning our machine. In preliminary test runs, we found that the front gate wasn't moving quite as we had anticipated so we decidedto mix around the gear ratios. We had some on-the-spot adjustments to our original design as well. One noticeable difference is the net structure. After originally planning to make the net out of nylon mesh and string, we found that the material

was too heavy. We next resorted to making a net out of packaging tape and heavy duty plastic bags. This solution, however, proved to be aesthetically unappealing. Over the weekend, we decided to make a net out of fabric with needle and thread. Another on-the-fly adjustment was the redesigning of our bottom ball corral. We originally had planned for a V-shaped understructure, however, we realized that the balls were rolling out the front of the tower. Therefore we added an additional piece of thin sheet metal to separate the ball corrals. These final few days we hope to get some practice in on the table and make any last minute adjustments. We will also be working on our introduction video as well.