[J_Miles]

Well, a simple, effective way of making your robot look pretty is general neatness. Making sure that wiring is organized and as simple as possible, and that parts on the robot are uniform and have uniform holes and clean edges goes a really long way. Strategic placement of Lexan is also a fairly low-maintenance way to add something. Our robot from last season is an example of this. (See attached) Beyond sponsor logos, very little was added to the Lexan, with the exception with a couple of decals that said, "FIRST Team 2337" and "EngiNERDs" on the end of the gripper. The reason for such a lack of flourish was the sacrifice of visuals in favor of performance.

To achieve the sort of aesthetic appeal as many of the veteran teams requires a good number of things. First, the robot design need be complete fairly early in the build season. As a team whose robots are rarely completed until the last minute, we simply don't have time to go back after the fact and add visual flair. Second, for more involved processes, such as powder-coating or anodizing, design concessions must be made. This is especially true for powder-coating, which adds weight to parts, and even adds thickness that, if unaccounted for, can cause lots of problems with assembly in low tolerance areas. And then once parts are painted or powder-coated, adding holes detracts from the effect SIGNIFICANTLY. Plain aluminum often looks much better than chipped or scratched paint or powder-coat.

A nice middle ground, I think, is to get creative with Lexan. Smoked or otherwise tinted Lexan can be used not only for protection, but also for visual effect. And, in fact, a lot of teams use it to great use. But teams like 33, The Killer Bees, are notorious for excellent use of Lexan on their robots. Last year's was no exception. (See attached)

Remember, though, that looking nice is great, but the ability to both look nice and perform well is something that may or may not exceed your means as a team. In Karthik's very well respected strategy conferences at the Championship, recognizing limitations is a huge theme. A team that tries to exceed what its resources is capable of will often lead itself to heartbreak. While that lesson is usually applied to over-complex robots, it can also be applied here. Before committing to serious robot beautification, it may be good for a team to ask itself at what cost, if any, will lots of such modifications come. There are plenty of ways to make a robot look good, and they come at varying levels of difficulty. Our team usually takes a very spartan attitude when it comes to the visuals on the robot because we realize that going crazy with visual modifications is not really feasible for the resources we have. Teams like 148, 254, 1114, and 217 have resources via sponsors to add a significant amount to their robots visually, while other teams do not.

In short, processes like powdercoating, anodizing, painting, clever use of lexan, and pure cleanliness in design are all excellent ways of modifying a robot to look good, but come at varying costs, and should be seriously evaluated before committing to any.