Saturday, 17 Spetember- Kick-off for the Tennessee Valley B.E.S.T. competition.  Materials recieved, with the exception of our metal products.

Monday, 19 September- Mr. Raper unveils to the class the nature of the rules and game.  Thoughts of team names have already been discussed but undetermined.

Tuesday, 20- Friday, 23 September- Class breaks into four groups, each discussing ideas for the robot's seperate parts: Actuator, grasping mechanism, base/tray, and strategy.  Name decided upon as the Strangers with Candy on Friday.  Jennifer and Jessica begin design work on the table display.

Monday, 26 September- Measurements and beginning work begins on robot, though the lack of power tools is a hinderance.  Website work began (that's me!).

Tuesday, 27 September- The actuator concept was finally brought into understanding today, and we began cutting the PVC pipe.  Construction has officially begun on our robot.  Also, design ideas for the t-shirts have been tossed around a bit.

Wednesday, 28 September- Work continues on the main actuator, and team bios have been entered on the Bio page.  Much slacking going on as well.  Power tools are being gradually brought in to get construction done.

Thursday, 29 September- The main actuator is being outfitted with motor posts, and work on the claw began today.  More Bios entered in the website, not quite done with that yet however.  We figured out that a tray to hold electronics equipment was unnecessary, and so that group has "joined forces" with the collection trough group.  We might be done with the actuator by sometime next week, hopefully early in the week.

Friday, 30 September- More work on the main actuator, as well as the secondary actuator.  A bit of electronics problems, but we believe we have overcome it through a slight "detour" in wiring.  More use of my theatre shop access to be put into play soon.

Monday, 3 October- We encountered problems with the ball-socket joints in the main actuator, many possible solutions are being discussed.  The claw is coming together nicely it seems, so there is some good there.  Also, check the new music on the different pages of the site ^^.

Tuesaday, 4 October- Problems with the claw today.  On a lower note than that, more problems with the main actuator's axles.  Work finally began on the base. Design and building for the table display began today.

Wednesday, 5 October- Plans for the electronics box were drawn up today, cutting is left for tomorrow.  The main actuator has been epoxied, so we await that to dry.  More work on the claw as well.  Pictures are coming along nicely, though still not on the site yet.

Thursday, 6 October- Problems(again) with the arm's axles.  Electronics box is almost finished, as is the storage box.  More work is being done on the table display, and we still await the pictures.

Monday, 10 October through Friday, 14 October- Fall Break, no work.

Monday, 17 October- We returned to work today and continued working on our electronics box.  Ventilation and wiring holes have been entered, and we're soon to add a top.  Backtracking being done on the arm and claw, to rebuild them differently and hopefully better.  We deicded adding a soldering iron to the robot would be bad>.>

Tuesday, 18 October- Electronics, arm and claw are finally coming together.  Improvisions have been made, but we're doing fine.  Another weapon idea was shot down (thank goodness), the "PVC Cement Incenderary bomb".  Yeah, we need to stop with those.

Wednesday, 19 October- The electronics box is FINALLY finished.  Hooray for clear plastic.  We started painting PVC for our display, and the retard was left holding the wet pipes.  He has paint on his face, too.  The claw is COMPLETE!  Work continues on the arm, and it appears that that and actually putting everything together is all that remains (aside from painting and other uselessness).

Friday, 28 October- We need to put the finishing touches on, but the mass of wood and screws we started with now looks more like a robotic device.  Our notebook is finished, but the display is still lacking.  We have a lovely "surprise" for tomorrow, as well.  After school today, at 4:00 PM, we are to present at UAH's Engineering building our robot design and plan.  Afterward, we are to head over to Spraggins Hall to practice on the official playing field.  The competition is tomorrow at 8 AM, so it's a busy day for those of us who attend.