[Joe G.]

1. Early in the process, once you're beyond the whiteboard sketch stage, break the robot down into sections (gearbox, drivetrain, arm, endeffector, etc.), and assign people (or small groups of people) to each one. Do a ROUGH model of the robot first, with lumps of material representing the space each mechanism will take up. Agree not to intrude into the space of other parts. Even if you don't know all the details yet, you should have a basic idea of how each part will be constructed and structured. Then, quickly add detail where each subsystem intersects. This can be as involved as modeling the parts that connect them together, but often you can get away with simply specifying a bolt hole pattern. Once you've taken care of these intersection points, groups can branch off and independantly do detailed design for each subsystem. Inevitably, sometimes one or two of the connection systems you agreed on won't work out. But as long as the appropriate people are alerted when this happens, this method will save you a lot of time, and allow a lot more people to get involved.

Another approach, more appropriate for managing multiple people working on a single subsystem is a "feeder" system. One lead designer is in charge of the assembly, and gives out requests for parts to be modeled. The lead designer then integrates everything into the assembly file, and requests small changes as necessary.

2. It sounds like your build team sees CAD as an "extra thing to do." Make sure they understand the power of laying everything out on the computer, and making sure it'll fit. Implement a (somewhat bendable) rule that parts that do not get CADded should not get built (though inevitably exceptions will and should get made.) Getting access to better machining helps with this...once kids see CNC'd parts, they never look back to bandsaws and drill presses. Short of that, be more dilligent about creating dimensioned drawings...They will not only get the robot built according to the CAD, they'll get more people involved on the build team...it's easier to hand a dimensioned drawing to a freshman and say "build this" than to say "Can you make the arm bracket?" "I wasn't there for that, how's that go again" "Well, we have two holes supporting the arm, and a bend kind of like...nevermind I''ll do it."

As far as prototyping, prototyping needs to drive your CAD. There should be a constant back-and-forth, with the build team updating you on discoveries made by their prototypes. They should be able to figure out key dimensions, such as wheel placement, shooter compression, linkage geometry, etc, from their prototypes. These dimensions can be fed right into the CAD, and implemented into the final design. If you make it clear to them that prototyping must drive CAD, but that CAD must drive fabrication, you will go far.

If you have people in mechanical who are dedicated, have aptitude for designing, and ignore you because they think their way is better...don't fight them, get them to join CAD. It's better for them in the long run to learn to use CAD if they plan to go into engineering, and it'll give them a more effective way to channel their creativity.

3. You are not supposed to do any detailed design work intended for the robot pre-kickoff. However, that doesn't mean you can't use this time wisely. First and foremost, practice! Get faster and better at CAD, so you can keep pace with the demands of build season. Also, it's good to develop a library of parts. Agree on standardization of things like bearings and fasteners, and create a library of COTs parts. For example, if your team uses a lot of a particular aluminum extrusion, create a template file for this extrusion, which can be quickly modified for your needs when you need the file during build season.