Quote:
Originally Posted by DUCKIE
From there we are able to finalize a robot concept or at least strongly narrow down what will be built with everyone before the first week is up... although some items [like last year's kicker or the bin lifter in '04] need mock-ups and testing by relevant sub-teams to finalize.
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The #1 thing that "throws a wrench" in achieving concept lock in Week 1 is rules clarification and the slow turn around time of the Q&A. It take a significant "leap of faith" to lock a concept (primary strategy) when there is a significant chance that that strategy will be declared illegal in the following weeks.
For example, last year by Day 2, we were dropping soccer balls onto the bumps and noticing we could score them into or get close to the corner goal. In the next few days we built prototype plywood ramps to demonstrate this concept (crude but a similar concept to 469's amazing machine). Our strategy was to drive onto the platform using the bump in auto. We built a prototype 4wd drivebase with a pop-down turntable in the middle to execute a 90 degree turn on top of the bump. By climbing onto the platform it was hanging and had a neat idea to suspend partners. We waited longer than usual to lock in a concept (giving more time to demonstrate the redirector concept), but when it finally came time to vote between this redirector and a variable power kicker we still didn't know if the redirector would be legal (it looked illegal by the kickoff rules). The variable kicker won in a land slide and I was the only person to vote for the redirector gamble. The 4wd on the competition bot is an artifact of the prototype for the redirector bot and time not spent prototyping an 8wd. the Kudos to 469 for rolling the dice on their strategy that was later clarified t be legal. We have hit snake eyes on those rolls in the past so we are averse to those big risk, big reward gambles on unclear rules.
It is important to get everyone on the same page and move forward as a cohesive group once the concept is locked. If you have a dissenting opinion make your case before the concept lock. If your concept isn't the choice of the group let it go and focus on making the locked concept the best you can in the few remaining weeks. It may not be what you consider the "best concept", but all concept have pros and cons like all engineering decisions.
If you can't tell by now I have significant experience being the dissenting opinion to at least one aspect of our eventual locked concept. This year I made the case for a mecanum drive instead of 6wd and argued that "pushing power is of little to no use for a tube scoring bot in this game. In fact, pushing a defender into your zone is one of the worst things you can do since they would be in your zone blocking your rack without a penalty under G61". I didn't win this argument, and I ended up being very wrong in Wk4 of build after TU6. TU6 added G61 exceptions, dramatically changing the game and undermining my argument (pushing power was now quite valuable).
In summary, my advice is
-Lock a concept early, usually around week 1
-Even if you don't fully agree with the concept, work together to make that concept the best it can be.
-Anticipate potential rules changes in Team Updates and appropriate changes to your concept (particularly if your concept is "risky"). However, don't waste resources developing these changes until they are necessary.
-Sometimes your concept will work well and sometimes not. Sometimes after weeks of work, you find out you can't build a mechanism to implement part of the concept satisfactorily within the many constraints. Even though you may fail, it is still better to focus on one concept the best you can. The rules may be a bit of a moving target with all the Updates, but there is no tougher moving target than multiple ever-changing concepts.
Our robot this year is very much like the concept we put forward in Week 1. The big change is the PVC surgical tubing slingshot minibot had to be completely scraped due to rule changes. We already had a great prototype for that minibot, but at least that rule change was early (TU1 in 3 days).