Resources for next year?

[N00bfirst]

Hello everyone.

I was wondering if there are any resources that we can utilize to prepare for next year.

What I mean by that is the mechanical aspects of First.
Building stuff, using pneumatics. Things like that.

How were you, the veterans of First, able to design such complex mechanisms?

What resources did you use? (Outside of courses).


Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Joel Glidden]

You're in the right place. Read, ponder, ask, do, and repeat. Start scanning the photos and white papers for ideas.

[AllenGregoryIV]

This hasn't been updated in a little while but it should give you a good place to start.

http://spectrum3847.org/recommendedreading

[Christopher149]

Our wasn't necessarily "complex", but it did get to St. Louis from Michigan

- YouTube videos can be very useful, especially of prototypes from others, to prove that something is possible (and thus worth your effort).

- For pneumatics, http://team358.org/files/pneumatic/ is fantastic.

- Which other teams are in your nearby area? Their experience can be invaluable.

- ChiefDelphi

One thing to keep in mind when seeking design resources is to take into account your material and manufacturing resources. Can you use/have access to a mill/lathe/laser cutter/jig saw/hand saw and can you make it out of titanium/aluminum/steel/wood.

[Kevin Leonard]

Originally Posted by N00bfirst

Hello everyone.

I was wondering if there are any resources that we can utilize to prepare for next year.

What I mean by that is the mechanical aspects of First.
Building stuff, using pneumatics. Things like that.

How were you, the veterans of First, able to design such complex mechanisms?

What resources did you use? (Outside of courses).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

There are tons of resources available both on ChiefDelphi and on the websites of many teams.
Team 1114 has one of the most comprehensive information databases I know of: http://www.simbotics.org/resources
Team 33: http://www.killerbees33.com/whitepapers/
Team 254: http://www.team254.com/resources/
Team 67 has documentation on the design decisions that went into many of their robots: http://www.hotteam67.org/engineering-design/
Team 1538's "CowTips": http://team1538.com/?page_id=468
Team 341: http://www.team341.com/resources/index.php

Essentially if you go to the website of any Recently inducted Hall of Fame team you can find resources on how to build robots, as well as teams.

Reach out to other teams in your area that have been around longer than you and get help from them.

There are a variety of mechanisms that CAN be useful in FRC, but they don't have to be complicated or extreme, nor do you have you use a specific type of mechanism in any given game.

Start simple and use these resources to get your team to a competitive level. Extremely simple robots can perform just as well if not better than many robots that are more complicated.