Quote:
Originally Posted by sanddrag
I would argue on the contrary to this point. I think many teams have plenty of members who have no business deciding what the robot should do. Getting the whole team involved seems like a good way to throw your efficiency out the window, and end up with a result that doesn't please anyone.
I'm reminded of two things here
1. In a thread about a year ago, JVN said something to the effect of "We will never vote on a design. Voting is not an engineering decision making process."
2. The new Dodge Dart commercials - there's one line that says "Kick out the committees"
I do agree with the idea of "It doesn't get made without a CAD model first." That's how real engineering is done. The machinist doesn't just make it up on the fly.
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When I said the whole team should decide, I never said it is by voting. I am talking about at the stage discussing strategy, what the robot should do. This is the time where we do not talk about design. Everyone on the team can contribute to this. You don't need to know CAD or pneumatics or electrical or how to use power tools to discuss what kind of things you want your robot to do well and how to play the game.
The problem with only involving the build team or CAD team to decide what the robot should do is you will usually end up with something they have done or seen which is familiar to them. I see so many teams end up with designs that is not optimal for the game because it was "borrowed" from some previous years' games. If you want a chance to have out of the box ideas, involve other people on the team.
I think we are talking about the same thing. It is probably just because of the words I use, so I am not disagreeing with you. I am just clarifying.