What It Takes to be Competitive

[Raul]

Since we are a week away from embarking on another intense build season in our quest to build a great robot, I want to discuss what it will take to be competitive.

In my opinion, there are several key skills (or you can call them assets) that a team can have that allow them to produce very competitive robot performances. And the better you can integrate these skills with the students, the better the team will be.
I think we all realize, that you can have a great robot and match performances without having a good team, and you can have a great team and not have a good robot. We all know this because inspiration (the “I” in FIRST) comes in many forms, which has been discussed in other threads. I just want to list those which lead to good robot performances.

I will attempt to list these skills and let you guys pick at them.

1) Ability to analyze the game rules and determine early on what it will take to win consistently. This usually entails coming up with a unique robot capability that if implemented correctly will give that robot an advantage over most others.
2) Ability to develop an overall robot concept that implements one or more winning capabilities very well.
3) Ability to design and fabricate almost any part and ability to design and fabricate unique parts better than most teams. This is especially true if these capabilities are within the team and they do not need to outsource the work.
4) Dedication to details, quality and reliability such that the robot rarely breaks down during a match and performs the functions it was meant to perform.
5) Ability to recognize yours and your opponent’s robot strengths and weaknesses. This mostly comes form scouting (in the case of your opponents) and practice (in the case of your robot).
6) Ability to determine multiple strategies that take advantage of your robot’s strengths and your opponent’s weaknesses. And strategies that minimize your robot’s weaknesses and your opponent’s strengths.
7) Lots of practice with the robot doing the moves needed to execute many different strategic moves. It helps to have drivers that are cool under pressure and learn quickly. And of course, the more competitive experience, the better.
8) Good Luck – well, we do not really control this one; so it is not a skill.

Did I miss any?

The more of these skills you have, the more consistently good your match performances will be. If winning matches is important to you, think of these as you establish the plans for your team.

Raul

[mightywombat]

Hmmm... They all sound like very good skills/qualities to possess and I think that a team with a good grasp one one or two of them will have a robot that performs well. However, it is my personal belief that having a good understanding of the game and what it takes to win is a must. And then taking that understanding and building a robot around. That will produce a robot that performs well.
Just my thoughts.

[KenWittlief]

I was thinking more in terms of the requirements of the robot itself.

The robot must be able to perform its most important function reliably - in most cases this means being able to move around the field - but not just move - it must be able to navigate the field effectively and consistantly - using last years game as an example, you must not only be able to move around the carpet, you had to be able to cross the ramp - the robot had to move and go where the driver wants it to.

I think second is the ability to repair the machine easily and quickly - even if you are very robust, if you get damaged unexpectantly your team needs to be able to replace any part within a short amount of time - remember this when designing drivetrains, actuators, and when mounting and wiring your controls systems - if your robot controller is buried deep inside the machine, and your wireing is a rats nest, you will never be able to swap it out if you have to (and sometimes they are damaged during a match).

third is the secondary funtions of the machine - using last years game as an example again, this would be things like wings that spread out, stacker functions, parking mechanisms, box grabbing actuators - if these things fail or dont work effectively, its not the end of the world - as long as your bot can navigate the field you can still interact with it - so from a design standpoint these secondary functions should get less attention as the others, and make sure they dont comprimise the two things listed first - if so, leave them off. A robot with a great stacker (for example) is going to loose if the stacker makes the machine top heavy, and you frequently get knocked over because of it.

you GOT TO keep your priorities straight :c)

a robot that cant navigate the playfield is nothing but a fancy statue!

[Andrew]

1) Ability to analyze the game rules and determine early on what it will take to win consistently. This usually entails coming up with a unique robot capability that if implemented correctly will give that robot an advantage over most others.
2) Ability to develop an overall robot concept that implements one or more winning capabilities very well.
3) Ability to design and fabricate almost any part and ability to design and fabricate unique parts better than most teams. This is especially true if these capabilities are within the team and they do not need to outsource the work.
4) Dedication to details, quality and reliability such that the robot rarely breaks down during a match and performs the functions it was meant to perform.
5) Ability to recognize yours and your opponent’s robot strengths and weaknesses. This mostly comes form scouting (in the case of your opponents) and practice (in the case of your robot).
6) Ability to determine multiple strategies that take advantage of your robot’s strengths and your opponent’s weaknesses. And strategies that minimize your robot’s weaknesses and your opponent’s strengths.
7) Lots of practice with the robot doing the moves needed to execute many different strategic moves. It helps to have drivers that are cool under pressure and learn quickly. And of course, the more competitive experience, the better.
8) Good Luck – well, we do not really control this one; so it is not a skill.

Did I miss any?

Raul

9. A robust team psychology
The on-field players especially need to be mentally prepared to execute sharply during matches. When things go wrong, the on-field crew must be prepared to keep soldiering on.

The build crew needs to be able to solve difficult problems and keep the team in the game despite mechanical set backs. Good decisions in the pits can be the difference between winning and losing.

[RoboCoder]

Hmmm.....all VERY good points. However, I believe there is one that will become
increasingly important over the next few years: autonomous mode.

A robot with a good autonomous program (assuming that the autonomous is at the beginning of the match like last year, bear with me, I'm not trying to start speculation, just make some basic assumptions based on past events) will be able to take an early advantage in each match they are in. If their programmers are good, then they should have no problem "fixing" the autonomous between matches as well: creating and implementing new strategies for autonomous mode, modifying the drive code to compensate for adjustments or setbacks mechanically, keeping the code reusable, encapsulated, and good version control.

If the controls/programming team can do this, it will greatly complement the team's mechanical side, and if both are up to par, as by the qualities listed above, then the robot has a darn good chance of doing very well at competition. Just my $0.02.

[Andy Baker]

Raul, good thread. Here are a couple more things:

- PIT CREW - Your team must be able to handle repairs and changes in the pit very efficiently. Robots break down and things happen which make you work quickly. If your team is not ready for this, other teams will pass you by.

- ATTITUDE - A positive attitude is HUGE. When it is the 6th week and everyone is sick of seeing each other's faces, the robot won't work, your spouse/teacher/boss/parent is frustrated with you... you gotta keep a positive attitude. If you turn negative and persist with pushing "issues" instead of sticking to the task at hand, you are doing your team more harm than good. Keep a optimistic, positive attidude and things will work out well.

- TACTICAL CHANGES - While picking the optimal robot strategy is very key, few teams get it exactly right during the first week of kickoff. Many teams go into the first week of the regionals and are suprised by how the game is played. They either curl up and become non-competitive, or they adjust their strategy, make tactical changes, and become a contender. Be ready to make these tactical changes.

Good luck,
Andy B.

[sanddrag]

Monster Garage MantraWhen engineering fails, brute force prevails I love that quote. I believe brute force is what it takes to be competitive.

[JVN]

Monster Garage Mantra I love that quote. I believe brute force is what it takes to be competitive.
Speak softly, and carry a big stick...

I don't think anyone should TRY to base their play on brute force alone, but it's always nice to have it when you need it.

It is NOT the solution to every problem (stang 2003 proved that).

[Matt Adams]

Though it's been alluded to... I would say that consistancy is among the biggest factors that makes or breaks a robot.

Early Consistancy
Let's face it: Scouting by some teams only happens during the first few rounds... first impressions are huges.

Consistantly Competing
If you show up to play early on, but break down 3/4's through a regional and need to miss a match, it's terrible PR for both your team and your robot, regardless of anything else. Being able to swap in and out components is huge. Everyone breaks down, but not everyone can be quick to repair in the pit.

Consistantly Impressing
Every robot will have a few "five star" shining moments... but the robots that have four star moments every single round are the sort that are picked in the finals.


* plink plink *

Matt

[Ryan Albright]

The ability to change your strategy in the middle of a match if need be.

I think the scouting is what brings the edge to some teams. You have to have reliable scouts not only to scout yoru opponets but also your alliance. you have to know there weakness or there strengths

We had to learn from our mistakes, our rookie year we bypassed the thought that stuff might break so everytign was so hard to get to. Now everythign can snap in and snap out

[Ricky Q.]

All of these are important qualities in being competitive, others to add would be that teams have to be able to get along with you and communication skills.

If your a team with a stuck up attitude that won't adapt to working with other teams, you aren't going to get far. You have to be able to work with just about anybody if you are on an on-field crew, strategy discussions can get heated when teams don't agree with what you want to do.

Mentors/team drivers just shouldn't be people who know the game well / can do their thing, they need to be people that can communicate well. If you are hearing nothing from every person in that alliance station during a match, something is wrong. When I hear everyone yelling instructions at me, I know they are paying attention and trying to get things done. Most of the time I'm in a zone and just doing my thing, but in those crucial moments everyone needs advice.

If your team members are easy to get along with, chances of your success can improve, because you won't be so stressed on the field, and people are more likely to choose alliances with people they can get along with.

[Joe Ross]

I guess I have a different definition of being competitive. I consider it a competitive robot if the robot makes it into the top 8, or is one of the first 8 picked (at a smaller regional) or is picked at all (at a larger regional).

For that, all you need is a robot that reliably (90% +) does what it was designed to do. I can only think of 1 case in the last couple years where there was a task (other then driving) that if you did it reliably that you weren't one of the best teams there.

[vernn]

Come on guys how 'bout Gracious Proffessionalism. it gets you EVERYTHING: help when you need it from other teams, higher possibility of being picked from another team to compete, and good carma :D

[Lil Lisa]

Come on guys how 'bout Gracious Proffessionalism. it gets you EVERYTHING: help when you need it from other teams, higher possibility of being picked from another team to compete, and good carma :D
Completely agree. With that, just being able to acknowledge the fact that you need help demonstrates what it takes to be competitive, not only in FIRST competitions, but also in life.