MLTI and FINE Lookin' Tether

You got ready this morning around 4, as you had not been able to sleep due to your upset stomach. You arrived at the HS around 06:10 and left soon after, driving Nick, Liam, and Josef to UMaine to attend the 17th Annual MLTI Student Conference. You, along with your friends, were keynote speakers at the conference.

The conference started with an engaging discussing about innovation in Maine. After the keynote speaker you went to two different learning blocks. The first block you went to you learned how easy it was to program Mac Apps using Xcode (found in the App store). After the Mac block, you head over to the Hackathon. This block was awesome. There were tons of students working on different programming and electronic activities. Your group was even approach by the leader of the session who inquired about the project, and if your group would be able to be an approachable groups during the Hackathon. You, Nick, Josef, and Liam agreed that you could do this. 

At around 11:50 you headed to the UMaine bookstore so Liam could buy a sweatshirt. Then you headed back to the Collins Center for the Arts to eat lunch and be debriefed on the technicalities of your keynote presentation. After eating, setting up the presentation, and wiring up the mics, you were all set. You then waited around for 30 minutes. At around 13:30 you presented. You had a good presentation, although you wished you had not stubbled over your words as much as you had (at least there is room for improvement). After the presentation you listed to a brilliant 8th grade coder and a recent Lewiston HS graduate who urged Mainers to stay in Maine. 

After driving back from the conference in record time, you, Nick, and Liam headed over to Nick's to put the tether together(this tether looks REALLY professional). You had just received the foam you had been waiting on. Below is a picture of the 2 wires we are using for power and communication, as well as the foam cord for flotation and the polyester tubing:

After preparing 100 feet of the tether (because that's all the foam/tubing you had) you worked on creating the power transfer system on the float. Using aluminum and brushes from a DC motor you, Nick, and Liam worked on creating a system to transfer power to the tether. You ended up settling on using large "washers" on each end of the spool which are connected using the brushes from a DC motor to the batteries. This took a while and you plan on finishing it tomorrow.