Impossible is Nothing
My experience with BlueStamp is surely going to be a memorable one. Before coming into Bluestamp I didn’t know what to expect but I did expect far less difficulty. As I walked into the classroom on day one I experienced frustration and agony. While doing the starter project I wondered to myself, if the starter project is making me pull out my hair, how would the main project make me feel? As we started transitioning into the main project I started to slack off a bit and I just felt that I was going to finish the project with ease. As I was doing my sketch diagram for the Robotic Arm (Main Project) I started to sleep. Then our main instructor Robin woke me up and asked me what was I currently doing, and I answered I didn’t know what I was doing and he told me just start building the robot and figure out the dimensions. Without that advice I do not think I would be able to finish the project in time.
As I was trying to cut out the aluminum I started to complain more and more, but what I didn’t notice this was just slowing me down. I had to continue going on with determination and focus. I had to start moving as I was constantly told by the advisers and maintain my focus. I had to drill, cut, drill, cut, drill, cut and dremel. It was painful I thought I was never going to finish putting holes and cutting through aluminum. But I just kept going with the flow and kept working. After I finished all the cutting and drilling I went to go get the breadboard and arduino board and putting it all together. I can tell you from the moment I started it was probably the most agonizing part of this program. Putting the mechanical design together was a headache because I figured that I put holes in the wrong place or my design calculations were off. I had to go back to using the dremeling and cutting and after I had the base in a decent position, it was time to put servos in. But I was told I had to make a lot of modifications in my code, for the servos to work properly, or for the robotic arm to move more smoothly.
On the final days before the deadline there were doubts appearing constantly everywhere and I just put my head down with disbelief that I came to this program with a goal that I might not accomplish. But I thought to myself I won’t accomplish anything if I had fear implanted in myself. So I put everything together and I made many mistakes in the project, it was a painful process. Then on the day of the deadline I basically threw a Hail Mary and everything magically worked. I was fulfilled with happiness and relief. From the project I really learned the meaning of “Impossible is Nothing”.
Milestone Video:
Final Video:
A Difficult But Worthy Learning Start
Through the first week of BlueStamp, I have continually struggled with the building process. The biggest part of why I have struggled was the lack of reading instruction and it turned out to be big cost. I spent hours trying to fix my robot, but it was just a failure, but a success in learning. I had to start a new starter project and I learned how to solder better and most importantly “read instructions ” My new starting project was laser-light detector moved a little more smoothly because I decided to read instructions. I finally had a smile in my face.