I have been working on the excavator for many months at a somewhat leisurely pace, and am now starting to feel the crunch, as I imagine everyone else is...

The video went well, as most sub-systems are operational. I'm still working on the navigation, and it's going fairly well, however, I still need to examine plan B.

After the registration close date I expected to hear about the remaining teams, but was surprised to hear that 5 more signed up. As with last year, I suspect that some won't make it to the competition, perhaps 50%, but we'll see. I don't know what the refund policy is for those who opt out. Regardless, it will be a busy weekend.

With so many teams involved, it will be fun to see all of the designs. Things have been quiet on the web, as expected, so it will also be interesting to what gets published after the competition.

Be sure to check the FAQ often, or set up an RSS feed to it. I was surprised to see the talk about passive components. Since I hadn't really included any in my design, it made me wonder what I was missing. I have been whining about the ramp being a side effect of an un-filled sand box, but Matt assures me that the design challenge offered by the ramp is something NASA wants specifically addressed. I told him I would stop whining about it now.

I also expressed some concern about voltage drop at the robot power connector, and that due to the long power umbilical this year, it could be a real issue. I suggested using the third contact of the power connector as a sense line for a regulated power supply (perhaps better than last year's) to make sure we actually have 24 VDC delivered to the bot. If others share this concern, please send a message to CSEWI…

I guess that's all for now, the countdown continues…