Blog #3: JPL

Well, the Trevellini's pizza machine got a little stage fright at the actual JPL contest but I'm still really happy with what we were able to accomplish. We made a machine that, in practice with the rules they said they would uphold (they didn't but it's ok), could complete the full challenge in 23 seconds and do it consistently. We did that with a full redesign and a lot of headstrong group members that somehow were able to find a way to work together and I think that is a testament to how powerful all of our time with PLTW and our teachers here are. I think we did the best we could have with JPL and a lot of the issue came from weird rules and strange circumstances. Maybe we could have been more efficient with the building but I think we gave ourselves ample time to test and to calibrate and we made a functioning machine and that's all that matters to me. If I had to do it again I'd say that it's better to go into one design and if it isn't perfect find some work around rather than doing a complete redesign.