Re: Have not started building
 

We have a pretty different approach; we are not heavy users of CAD. We do use 2D CAD to establish key dimensions and relationships, and to document the "current thinking." We also have Solidworks, but our skill level is pretty low.

I should say that we are a good team but not a top team. We are a regional team drawing from 6 to 8 schools every year. We do not have ability to move from an organized CAD class to the lab. Still we have had pretty good success at the district and regional level in recent years.

We work mostly through cardboard or wood mock-ups to semi-functional metal mockups to final design. We concentrate on making it work at the mock-up level. We also insist that each subsystem be modular so it can be taken out and worked on off the robot.

The advantage of this system is that we make the development of the design very "real" to the designers; we can feel and touch what works and what doesn't. We seldom experience a final design that fails to work. Also, the design responsibility can be spread throughout the team, even to those who have little CAD skill or fabrication experience.

Today, after the 4th work weekend all the basic assemblies are working under manual control and fit together on the bot. The next two weeks will be spent fine tuning and practicing.

I realize we are going against the grain here, but I thought another point of view might be interesting.

Re: Have not started building
 

We started build about two weeks in. We are building "twin" robots, but they aren't following a necessarily lead/trail pattern. During weeks 3 and 4, Chassis 1 received a solid drive train (rather complex, with four ranks of wheels), while chassis 2 was been used for pickup and launch prototypes. Saturday morning, we switched so that the drive train team is using chassis 2 and manipulators chassis 1. Chassis 2 will receive the "wedge" upgrade before chassis 1. By the end of six weeks, we should have twins, and have the decision of which one to bag and which one to use for drive practice and further development. Last year, we changed that decision on our bag day.