Traveling With Robot Boys

Part 1: Discussions we had while traveling up to Seattle.

– What is the difference between the terms “cylindrical” and “tubular?”

– Have people done scientific research to figure out the most annoying/scary/attention-getting sequence of flashing lights on police cars?

– Does the term “guys” refer to only males or is it gender neutral?

That last one I heard just as I was waking from a nap, and I began to explain how the term “guy” originated from Guy Fawks, not really sure if it was relevant to the conversation or not.

“Yeah, does she look like Guy Fawks?” said one boy to another. So I think someone had referred to the whole vanload as “guys” when there was, in fact, a girl along: me.

Part 2: Cool Labs

Our first stop was the University of Washington, where we got to tour a couple labs and see how they make underwater gliders and these floaty things that measure wave turbulence.

It was super cool. But as I had gotten up and eaten breakfast at 5 in the morning, and it was now 3 pm, I was too hungry and tired to enjoy it properly.

Part 3: The communications specialist gets to work.

We fought rush-hour traffic, ate supper, and got to our motel. I took a nap, and then woke up at 9 pm and began working on the tech report, spec sheet, and speech.

I drank tea to keep awake. Now surely my sleep schedule is messed up, but I feel as though I’ve contributed to the team even though I didn’t design a robot arm with continuous spin.

Sam, Amos, and Griffin figuring out what they’ll say for the speech portion.

Part 4: Last funny side-note.

Griffin has a mustache. The ROV club constantly makes “Griffin’s mustache” jokes. Griffin’s mustache is not only a sort of Chuck Norris esq character, it if also the source of Griffin’s magical powers.