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Unread 24-03-2013, 22:03
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runneals runneals is offline
FTC Mentor - The Robot Corps 7491
FRC #3928 (Team Neutrino)
Team Role: Alumni
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Rookie Year: 2006
Location: Nevada, Iowa
Posts: 397
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Re: What do your programmers do when programming has finished?

Quote:
Originally Posted by vhcook View Post
What is this "finished" of which you speak?

There are a lot of things to do even if your robot is out of the competition (and it appears you've qualified for Championships, so there's also anything you need to tweak for that).
  • If you aren't using a proper revision control system, this would be a good time to start.
  • Learn how to use new sensors (ultrasonics, encoders, vision, infrared, something else).
  • Develop niftier autonomous modes.
  • Improve your ability with more advanced programming techniques. (Look for papers in CDMedia by Chris Hibner for some good examples.)
  • Code an electronic scouting system.
  • Write an app to use in outreach.
  • Write an app to download information from the FMS twitter feed and do something useful (or just interesting) with it.
  • Develop an electronic inventory system for your team's workshop that you can use to keep track of when you're out of a part and automate your bill of materials for next year. (Possibly a bit of a stretch.)
  • Learn a little more about electrical or mechanical (as applicable). This can prove useful when you need to figure out how to control a mechanism they're making.

Use your imagination. There's an infinite amount of work available if you just look for something.
That's a great list. I planning on working on a lot of them hopefully during the off season for both my "old" team (3928) and my new team (2167). Also, there is always work to be done on building and maintaining team's web presences.
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David Runneals
FRC 3928 Team Neutrino 4-H: Mentor (2015 Off-Season - ?)
FTC North Super Regional Championship: Game Announcer (2015)
FTC 7491 The Robot Corps 4-H: Mentor (2013 - ?)
FRC 2167 Mentor (2014)
FRC 3928 Team Neutrino 4-H: Member, Co-Captain, & Media Coordinator (2013)
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