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Unread 21-11-2011, 11:35
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EricH EricH is offline
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FRC #1197 (Torbots)
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Re: Simplicity Vs. Complexity

Quote:
Originally Posted by EricH View Post
You are done with designing something, not when there's nothing more to add, but when there's nothing left to remove.



I'll post back with a further explanation later.
OK, now I'm back.

The question you need to ask yourself, for a given set of requirements, is, what is the simplest design that will still meet all the requirements? This involves doing some analysis of the problem (do we go top row, middle row, bottom row, or all three, or some other combination? What about minibots? Do we need 5 speeds or just one?). For example, sometimes, a 6WD swerve is found to be necessary (1625 in 2010) and sometimes it's just a liability (they didn't use it in 2011).

There are a few quotes that apply here. In addition to KISS, there is the old "Make it as simple as possible, but not simpler". And one from Woodie Flowers at the 2007 Kickoff (I think it was Woodie) that was something about "finding the simplicity on the other side of complexity".

One other thing to note: A box on wheels is simple, but it can easily be beaten by a slightly more complex robot with a scoring device. A multi-degree-of-freedom arm is complex, but can be beaten by a slightly simpler design (say, a few fewer degrees of freedom). It's not all about how simple or complex it is, it's how you use it.
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Past teams:
2003-2007: FRC0330 BeachBots
2008: FRC1135 Shmoebotics
2012: FRC4046 Schroedinger's Dragons

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