Since this is an entry for the "Best Product" category of the 2015 Hackaday Prize, there are a few extra requirements that I need to meet. The most challenging is that I need to ship 3 prototypes to arrive at the Hackaday offices by 8/17.

I'll admit I was a little late to the game when I decided to enter SAB3T in the competition. I was stuck on trying to create something world changing, which is hard to do. SAB3T isn't going to eliminate world hunger or cure cancer, but it can be a piece of puzzle when it comes to improving the available resources for STEM education.

So I officially kicked off my entry on 7/24. At that point 8/17 was less than a month away so I started off by making a project schedule to make sure that I could deliver and meet all the requirements. My schedule looks like this:

Monday, 8/17 - SAB3Ts at Hackaday offices

- 5 days worst case shipping -

Tuesday, 8/11 - SAB3Ts are shipped

- 1 day -

Monday, 8/10 - SAB3Ts are packaged and prepared for shipping

- 3 days -

Friday, 8/7 - SAB3Ts are assembled and tested over the weekend

- 7 days worst case shipping -

Friday, 7/31 - All required parts for 3 kits are ordered

So I stuck to my schedule and managed to get all the parts ordered last night. I already had the wood and plastic in stock. Over the next couple of days I'll be getting all the laser cut and printed parts fabricated to prepare for next weekend's build. I'll also be acquiring my shipping materials (boxes, padding) this week. This schedule has a little bit of padding built into it. For instance, it should only take 3 days max for USPS to get my package to Hackaday, but I've scheduled for 5. My day job has been very busy lately, so an external factor like my job could impact my schedule.

Once the proto units are shipped on 8/11, I'll use the remaining time make the 2 required videos and ensure I have all the required project logs. I think at this rate I'll be all set on project logs.

One little side note: if I had started this entry about a month earlier and stayed on top of the schedule I would have ordered the touch screens for my judging units from an overseas vendor and paid 1/3 the price I paid to source them in the US. But I would need to have 4 weeks in my schedule to comfortably do that.