Quote:
Originally Posted by frasnow
I have a question for all the people talking about the 30 pounds and how great it is. How can a robot truly be competitive if the electrical team doesn’t have time to test their wiring, the software team doesn’t have time to test autonomous routines, and the drivers don’t have time to practice? I’ve seen this type of thing occur many times at work, and it always delays projects. Mechanical engineers sometimes think the deadline for the project is their deadline and don’t leave any time for integration and debug.
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This is my first FIRST build season, but from what I have seen your description is right on the mark. Here is how the build season seemed to run for our team from my perspective as a NUBE.
1. The mechanical team says they are "on track" to deliver the complete mechanical system on time even as they load a mill and three phase generator into the van to finish machining some key parts on the drive to our scrimmage.
2. The electrical team is allowed access to robot for final wiring and integration once the robot is placed on the field. At that point they wrap sensors and switches in freshly chewed gum and throw them at the robot from the sidelines hoping that some of them stick.
3. Using binoculars and what they can over hear from the crowd as to where the sensors landed, the programming team develops a strategy for how to code the software and deploys it over the wireless link just prior to the start of each match.
4. The drive team plays with the controls to see what the robot does when they move each control. This process is greatly aided in the team numbers were painted on the bumpers so that they can recognize our robot.
5. After each match the pit crew gathers up the parts from the field and finds a new and interesting way to assemble them.
This might be a slight exaggeration, but this was my first year, so their may have been slightly more order to the process than what I saw.