Because Mr Jewell was away, last lesson we had an extra lesson where I ended up finishing my robot. Yay!! I was so proud of my creation and how it turned out. This lesson I was helping people to fix theirs. Next Thursday is the day we do the race with our robots. It's going to be really fun!

Today in design futures today I got a lot done. I used a process to stick the wires onto the motor. This process is called soldering. It was quite difficult as you had to get the timeing just right. After that I cut out some more wire with an alligator clamp. The wires were made out of copper as copper is a great conductor of electricity. Next lesson I think we are going to finish the robot and I'm so excited!

Today's DF lesson was really fun and I got a lot of things done. 
I was away for one of the previous lessons but luckily Lauren helped me catch up quickly. I had to fix up my wheels and glue them onto the body of my robot with a hot glue gun. My robot is turning out very good so far and when it is finished, I am hoping to turn it into something like a dragon or a puppy. I'm really excited to finish it!

Today Design futures was very interesting and cool!
We got given the packs that had all of the necessary parts to building the robot, such as the gears and the wheels.
Mr Ward gave us a demonstration on how to put the wheels together. It looked fun but quite challenging. After, we got to go into the workshop and started cutting out the metal and the plastic tube. 
I think this lesson went really quickly as it was so fun!
I really cannot wait until next lesson to complete more of the robot! 
I also am very excited to race the robots and I think I'm going to win!

During today's DF lesson we finally got to go into the workshop again and I was so excited! It was really fun as we got to use this cool machine to bend over the plastic for the controller. The place that we wanted to bend was put on the machine to be heated and then after about 5 minutes we would run over to the wall and press the plastic to it to form a right angle to make the controller easier to hold. I really liked this machine, it was really interesting.
We also got to use the scroll saw to cut out some holes in the body of the robot and then we would sand down the edges of the holes.
I loved today's lesson it was so fun and I also learnt that real men use tools to do their nails!

Today in DF Wardy was away so we had a substitute.
During the lesson I read through the deisgn brief and got given the investigation to answer.
The questions looked similar to the ones from last year but a bit more challenging which is good.
I started researching some of the questions but it was quite hard to find the information.
Next lesson I hope we will go into the workshop and do some more of the robot.

This lesson was awesome.
Today in DF I got to use a big drill machine to cut the holes out of the body of the robot. Id like to learn more about that machine. Drilling the holes out was harder than it looked as you had to hold down the plastic really hard or it would wobble.
I also had to cut the holes out of the remote of the robot with the small drill which was fun.
I can't wait until next lesson to see what the class will have to do next!

Today was the first time this year when the class got to go into the workshop to start making the little critter.It was so much fun and I learnt some new stuff too. During the lesson we made the base for the robot and also the controller out of thermo plastics. I chose to use black acrylic for mine. We had to trace the designs and then Mr Ward cut them out on the big machine. I then got to sand the shape myself using the disc and belt sander. I think this lesson went really quickly as it was so fun! Next lesson I think we are going to drill out the holes in the mould and curve the remote so its easier to hold. I'm really excited about next lesson and can't wait until the product is finished!!!

Today in DF Mr Ward explained the design brief to us. It seem really fun and I'm so excited to make the little critter! It looks so cool! I'm quite interested in learning terms such soldering and I also can't wait to learn about molding acrylics. I really hope that there is green and brown acrylics because I want to make my robot a turtle!! I can't wait till next lesson where we get to go into the workshop for the first time and start to make the little critter which I'm going to call Herbert!

This first lesson of DF for 2011 was great. Mr Ward helped the class understand what we were going to do this term during DF including the three aspects of the assignment which are the product, the submission and the blog. I think that the blog is going to be a great way to express our thoughts. I am really excited to make the little robot, it will be so fun and cool. I'm also really excited about DF this term with Mr Ward and can't wait till next lesson!