Trip to APR

My family went to the American Prairie Reserve (APR), for their annual open house over Memorial Day weekend. APR is located in northeast Montana, between Lewistown and Malta. I participated in activities including stargazing, plant collecting, and a swift fox presentation. My favorite activities were removing fence and visiting the Buffalo Jump.

The volunteer activity for the weekend was to remove fence from APR's Dry Fork Unit. We took out the fence to allow bison to get through. The fence was a 4-strand barbed wire with mix of metal and wooden posts. The jobs were clipping wire clips, pulling posts, transporting materials, and rolling wire. I mostly transported materials. The most exciting part was building a bridge across the creek.

On Saturday we took a driving tour to White Rock, looking for baby bison. Our vehicle got stuck in a mud hole, and a truck pulled us out. We decided to turn around and go to Buffalo Jump instead of White Rock. Before they had horses, Native Americans would direct bison off the cliff. Hundreds of bison could be harvested at a time this way.

Crosscut Biathlon Race

The race was held at Crosscut Mountain Sports Center, located in the Bridger Mountains near Bridger Bowl Ski Area.  I practice at Crosscut twice a week. Race day conditions were cold (19 ⁰F) and snow was icy.  I used blue wax which worked well for the conditions. The second shoot was gusty and third shoot was straight wind. Our coach gave us adjustments for the wind.

My race category was IBU (International Biathlon Union) U14 Elite. Anyone under 14 years old can enter this category. The race type was Individual with four one km ski laps and three shooting rounds. The penalty for each  missed target was 30 seconds. Racers started every 30 seconds. There were three competitors in my category.

Targets can be set to standing or prone.  Usually the right half of the range is set to prone and the left half is set to standing.  Standing targets are about the size of a CD and prone targets are about the size of golf ball.  Racers shoot standing or prone (on their stomach) depending on their category.  The novice category shoots prone on standing targets.  My race category shot three rounds of prone shooting at prone targets, with five shots per shooting round.

I hit a total of 8 targets.  My competitor hit one less target than I did, but skied faster.  We both shot well considering the wind.  For the last ski lap, I knew I would win if my competitor didn't pass me. My competitor was just turning the corner͒͑ when I crossed the finish line and I won by 9.5 seconds!  This was my first time to win a winter biathlon race.

Battle Bots

My Battle Robot

I am taking a robotics class. Our last assignment of the semester was to build and program battle bots to compete in class. Two robots at time compete on a 1 by 5 foot board. Last robot on the board wins.

My strategy was to make my robot as heavy as possible. I put as many Lego pieces as possible on my robot. My robot weighed about 2 pounds. I programmed my robot to drive at full power infinitely until the touch sensor gets pushed.

My classmates had a lot of different robot designs. One robot had a arm that would come around and whack the other robot off the board. Another robot spun in circles to knock the other robot off the board. 

The robot that nearly beat me had a 4 wheel drive system with a worm gear.  the worm gear locks the wheels when the motor is stopped.  My opponent reprogrammed his robot to take advantage of my robot's weakness.  My opponent's plan was for his robot to stop when it hit my robot, waiting for my robot's wheels to fall off, and then his robot would push mine off the board.  In the battle, the worm gear of my opponent's robot popped off and fell into the steering transfer case.  This allowed my robot to push his robot off the board. 

I won the competition! The prize was a 140 piece Lego Technic motorcycle and 100% on the next paper.