Quote:
Originally Posted by amoshneupane
Hey there. Wasusp?
My school WC Bryant HS's robotics team is a rookie team in the FRC 2013. Since this is our first time. We are kinda in a dilemma. Is throwing a Frisbee okay for us or do we need to focus more on the defensive strategy than the offensive one?
We would like to know about your experiences in the FRC to understand about the competition from first person point of view because you guys have been a part of the FRC?
Do share your valuable suggestion and help us!
Amosh
|
What is OK depends on the resources/design capabilities you have available. Judging by the fact that you are asking this question, I would say that you probably do not have experienced FRC designers on your team.
The first piece of advice I have for being a successful rookie: Pick a few relatively simple tasks in the game, and do them well. This year, those tasks could be:
1) Scoring in the low goals
2) Shooting frisbees far, but not accurately so you can feed partners
3) Hanging on the level 1 bar
If you can do two of those things (you might even be able to do all three), and do them consistently, you will be off to a great start!
The second piece of advice is something that is followed by all of the top teams in FRC. The three most important systems on your robot are:
1) Drivetrain
2) Drivetrain
3) Drivetrain
A robot that drives well always has a leg up on the other robots. You can find some great resources for how to build a simple, effective drivetrain from 1114's
Kitbot on Steroids, or the
IFI VexPro folks. You have a base in your kit of parts that will work quite well right out of the box too! Your #1 priority should be to have a good drivetrain, no matter what you put on top of it!
The last piece of advice: Keep it simple. Don't worry about what all the great teams are doing, or cool complicated mechanisms and fancy designs you see here on CD. Prototype your designs if you can, keep things simple and robust. 6 weeks may seem like a long time now, but it's really not. If you can use the last week or two playing around with your assembled robot, practicing your driving and tweaking your mechanisms and code you will be far ahead of most veteran teams.
At competitions, consistency counts far more than potential. A robot that does a few simple tasks very well is far more likely to seed high or get selected for eliminations than a robot with great potential and lofty goals that can't be counted on to work when needed.