Quote:
|
Originally Posted by mightywombat
Is there any way to avoid making strategical mistakes like this?
|
The first thing that I would tell you is that typically in the games that FIRST creates, there are multiple ways strategically to play. Our team was also a stacker bot last year, and we were very proud that we designed a robot to play the game. In every game, there are 2 different kinds of robots that can be designed. Your team can either select to be an offensive or defensive machine. Our team can pretty much always be counted on as one that will be there to be offensive.
The best way that I can give you to help decide what type of a machine to make, is look at the game. Try to have each team member write down on a piece of paper, how in their mind they imagine a typical match being played. Then, go around in a circle and have everyone share their ideas. Once you see how each person imagines a match, then you can see what types of features each thinks are neccessary.
One of the most important things to remember is that no matter how hard you try, you aren't always going to succeed. It is not a surprise to have an extremely high amount of confidence in your robot before competing then get to the competition and realize that, oops, guess we should have done it a little different.
My best advice, find a design you like and do it, but don't be afraid to make adjustments if you find that something you designed didn't work. Last year, we had a box flipper. After 1 or 2 regionals, it turned into a device to pull ourselves up. Good luck!
