4th of July Parade
Micah Richards
On the fourth of July we walked through the parade and threw out candy. It was fun. We drove two robots. One was our 2016 robot, that one could throw candy. The way it threw candy is because there was a bucket that we put a bag in. Then we put in a hand full of candy in it and the robot would slam the bucket on the ground and candy would spill out. Our other robot was our 2018 robot that did not throw candy. The drivers were Kai and Gage. Erin and I were the ones running and throwing the candy. When we were done running the parade we sat at the festival and were selling stuff. The things we were selling were short sleeve shirts, long sleeve shirts, stickers, and a few different kinds of magnets. During the festival I was sitting under the tent and somehow I got some seagull poop on me so I had to wash it off. So a lesson for everybody is don’t ever think you are safe enough under just a tent.
We would have driven our 2017 robot in the parade but it had mecanum wheels. The reason why mecanum wheels is a problem is because they are very expensive. Each wheel is about 150$. When mecanum wheels are on pavement it would just wear down the wheels. Having 150$ wheels worn down a lot for a parade would just be a waste of money. If you need specifics on mecanum wheels, they can turn any direction you want them to go depending on how fast you turn the wheels. They were a big deal within our robot because we could do the stuff we needed to do faster than we could with other wheels.
Our 2018 robot was built from our original parade robot. Our original parade robot could drive, and spit out candy. You might be asking yourself how would it spill candy. Well, it there was a filter at the top you put candy in and then it would fall on the spinner and when you activated the spinner the candy would spill out and the kids could go and retrieve it.
The direction of the parade was starting by the school and then it went down the bluff and drove towards McDonough’s market and turned to the left on the corner next to the big blue house. Then it went up the hill and across the whole back road. Then it ends back at the Beaver Island Community School, so if you are going to be at the 4th of July parade then stay on that path for some candy!
