I'm the guy building with IFI

[math311]

So I have the components I need, for the electrical system, but now i need to figure out one thing. If i have those black CIMple boxes from last years kit, can I just run them on one motor, or are they only meant for two CIM's?

Also, if the kid in charge of build comes into the room and demands that you turn over your blueprints for the electrical and says your not building it just because you are marketing(head of marketing), even though you are on build as well, and your the only one that has built with this system before, how would you respond? (This kid is one of my best friends)

[EricH]

Most CIM-based boxes will run just fine with one CIM. As a matter of fact, every CIM-based KOP gearbox has been able to run with one quite easily.

Now, your other question:

Tell him that [joke] marketing was unable to sell the product, so the whole build is canceled. [/joke]

You can remind him that you're the only one with experience in this. If he doesn't want you to build it, then he takes FULL responsibility for any screwups, because you, the experience, won't get involved by his request. In short, give him exactly what he wants. If he gets in over his head, then he has to ask you to come back onto build (oh, and you should accept that invitation when it comes).

Oh, and talk to a team mentor--you may want an arbitrator if this comes up in future, and I think that might be better than posting to an open forum.

[P. Fuller]

1. Adding in a second motor is not necessary by any means, it will increase the overall torque output but thats about it. You might need that, or you might not; depends on what it will be used for exactly.

2. Here are my 2 cents on your problem with your friend. This kinda seems like a "battle of the egos" type of thing. I would explain to him that you have the experience the team needs, but if he still has a problem, just let him have his way. You should go and talk to a mentor in charge, they will be able to resolve this.

Hoped that helped a bit, good luck good luck with all this.

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by P. Fuller

1. Adding in a second motor is not necessary by any means, it will increase the overall torque output but thats about it. You might need that, or you might not; depends on what it will be used for exactly.

No, with the CIMple Boxes it is very hard to come up with a gear ratio that will only need 2 CIMs...

[math311]

Originally Posted by EricH

Now, your other question:

Tell him that [joke] marketing was unable to sell the product, so the whole build is canceled. [/joke]

You can remind him that you're the only one with experience in this. If he doesn't want you to build it, then he takes FULL responsibility for any screwups, because you, the experience, won't get involved by his request. In short, give him exactly what he wants. If he gets in over his head, then he has to ask you to come back onto build (oh, and you should accept that invitation when it comes).

Oh, and talk to a team mentor--you may want an arbitrator if this comes up in future, and I think that might be better than posting to an open forum.

The reason I am posting in open forum is to try and seek outside help, mainly because of the god worship status he has with many of the team members (reasons unknown to me), so they can be impossible to talk to about it.
I would automatically get blamed for screw-ups if he did, so its a Catch-22.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by math311

The reason I am posting in open forum is to try and seek outside help, mainly because of the god worship status he has with many of the team members (reasons unknown to me), so they can be impossible to talk to about it.
I would automatically get blamed for screw-ups if he did, so its a Catch-22.

When you hand over the plans, you need to make it clear to everybody within hearing range that you are washing your hands of any responsibility (especially if the plans are standard IFI or FIRST diagrams). Preferably in writing--just a statement that says "I am no longer responsible for any mistakes, mishaps, 'Oh, ----' moments, or other screwups as of [date]" should do it. And I do mean everybody--parents, mentors, students, janitors... well, maybe not random bystanders. Anyway, if they blame you later, you point out that you washed your hands of all responsibility, at their request. They then have a choice: blame you, when you've removed yourself from the equation at their request, or blame themselves (either for screwing up or for asking you to not be involved, their choice) and fix the problem.

As I said, talk to a team mentor. You may want to warn him that you're about to disclaim all responsibility for that; that way, you have some backup when they try to blame you; someone to say "he already warned you he wasn't responsible, get back to fixing the problem" could go a long way towards covering you.

The other alternative is to not go with the request. There are a number of ways to do this diplomatically, but even a tactful one like "we are a team, we need to work as a team, so we'll do the wiring together and I'll share my experience as we go" could cause a fractured team, especially with the situation you're starting to describe, and that's the last thing you want going into a build.