Behind The Design 2012

[JVN]

This. Is. Fantastic.

I wish there was one of these for every robot. Scratch that... I wish that EVERY TEAM would take the time to do this for their robot.

Kudos to 1718 for facilitating this, but I wish they didn't need to.

-John

[Joe G.]

Originally Posted by JVN

I wish that EVERY TEAM would take the time to do this for their robot.

+1

It would be awesome if teams would pledge to create something like this during the build period. It really doesn't take much to create a goldmine of information.

[Ether]

Originally Posted by Joe G.

+1

It would be awesome if teams would pledge to create something like this during the build period. It really doesn't take much to create a goldmine of information.

I look forward to seeing 1687's next year.

[Joe G.]

Originally Posted by Ether

I look forward to seeing 1687's next year.

You definitely will -- If I can find enough supporting images and WIP diagrams, I may put one together from 2012 as well to help support this project.

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by JVN

This. Is. Fantastic.

I wish there was one of these for every robot. Scratch that... I wish that EVERY TEAM would take the time to do this for their robot.

Kudos to 1718 for facilitating this, but I wish they didn't need to.

-John

Maybe it's time you put out another JVN Challenge? I remember some of your previous ones, but I'm not sure how many teams followed through.

[JVN]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

Maybe it's time you put out another JVN Challenge? I remember some of your previous ones, but I'm not sure how many teams followed through.

Lots of teams were quick to say they would "of course do this!" Almost none actually did. Looks like 67 did.

-John

[Adam Freeman]

Originally Posted by JVN

Lots of teams were quick to say they would "of course do this!" Almost none actually did. Looks like 67 did.

-John

Following John's lead, I have tried for a couple of years to document our design "on the fly" during the build season. Every year starts out great, until we get actual parts that need to be put together. Then I spend most of my time with the parts and not with my computer....and nothing further gets documented.

We have had students take notes, mentors take notes, build journals, online design logs, etc.... it always ends up incomplete.

Most years we have created a Tech notes for our students to hand out when talking to judges for awards. These tech notes are usually pulled together at the end of teh build season and summarize the design and main aspects of the robot.

This year I decided to since our robot was so unique, it would be worth it to post it on CD. The response has been incredible.

I plan to continue on with it. Maybe one year the documentation will keep up with the build and I won't have to spend hours/days creating a new document.

[kylie.student.9]

Great idea! cant wait to see it!

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by JVN

This. Is. Fantastic.

I wish there was one of these for every robot. Scratch that... I wish that EVERY TEAM would take the time to do this for their robot.

Kudos to 1718 for facilitating this, but I wish they didn't need to.

-John

It seems ripe for FIRST to offer an award that surrounds a team's design process, or documenting of said process. Maybe it would fit into an existing award, but having teams submit a formal report documenting their season (limited to a couple pages, like 67s) would go a long way in encouraging teams to keep a record of their build.

It'd also likely produce some AWESOME reading for all of us.

For most teams, build season kind of starts and finishes and thats it. Almost all of us wonder where the time has gone and where we could have made improvements. We should all have a better record of how our build seasons progressed!

-Brando

[JVN]

Originally Posted by Brandon Holley

It seems ripe for FIRST to offer an award that surrounds a team's design process, or documenting of said process. Maybe it would fit into an existing award, but having teams submit a formal report documenting their season (limited to a couple pages, like 67s) would go a long way in encouraging teams to keep a record of their build.

Agreed.

The VEX Robotics Competition has several awards which require an engineering notebook, and description of the team's engineering process to be eligible. The "journey" is definitely part of the award.

I would love to see stronger emphasis on this from FIRST.

-John

[Nemo]

Originally Posted by JVN

Agreed.

The VEX Robotics Competition has several awards which require an engineering notebook, and description of the team's engineering process to be eligible. The "journey" is definitely part of the award.

I would love to see stronger emphasis on this from FIRST.

-John

FTC is on board with that. Teams need an engineer's notebook with the journey documented for at least three of the awards (Think Award, Rockwell Collins Innovate Award, PTC Design Award). There's no reason FRC couldn't move in that direction.