Robot Tips For Rookie Teams

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by EricH

Whatever the size FIRST gives for the robot, build 1" under. Not design, build. Somehow, the robot will gain that inch back.


Ditto for weight: build 10# under (accomplished by designing 15# under). That way, you'll come out right at maximum--though having to grab a block of steel might be necessary.


Aim for the simpler tasks. Particularly if you don't have a lot of expertise. Sometimes, a lockdown robot that can score lots of 1-pointers can be worth more than a high-point robot that only works half the time.

With the new perimeter rules the 1" under issues is much less severe.

[chmorroni]

Pick one thing, and do it well.

Last year, our failing point was trying to design a robot that could do everything. We wanted it to have a 50-point climb and a full-court shooter. We didn't have our final climber built until the day of bag-and-tag. 3 hours before the deadline, in our first test of the mechanism, the cables broke, and we realized that the design wouldn't work. Our shooter, designed to be on top of a robot with a low CoG, did not work as a FCS because we had to turn the robot around after loading 3 disks, to fire the shooter.

Also, know the rules by heart before the second day. The night of kickoff, the game rules are your only companion until you know them backwards and forwards. This goes for every member of the team. That said, always have a copy of the rule book handy for rule checks and other references, especially during the design process. Before you even start designing and prototyping an idea, make sure it is within the rules.

It is also best if you make diagrams and drawings of some of the rules for the robot (size, weight, wire gauges, etc.) for quick reference during the designing and building of the robot.

Also, leaders and older members, delegate, delegate, delegate. You should never have idle hands/minds at meetings. There is always something that needs to be done, so, if there is someone standing around, either you need to take a step back and let someone else do what you are doing, or you need to find something for them to do. Have a list of random jobs going into a meeting, so you can assign them to idle people.

Teach new and young members, and have them work on the robot a lot! If you have a lot of seniors that do everything, there will be no one next year that know what they are doing. On top of that, what is the point of joining a robotics team if you don't get to do anything. It is a learning experience for everyone, so let it be just that.

[IndySam]

#1 Read the manual, cover to cover.

#2 Read the manual, cover to cover.

#3 Read the manual, cover to cover.

[chmorroni]

Originally Posted by IndySam

#1 Read the manual, cover to cover.

#2 Read the manual, cover to cover.

#3 Read the manual, cover to cover.

#4 Repeat steps 1-3

[efoote868]

Originally Posted by chmorroni

Pick one thing, and do it well.

I'd like to emphasize this, and expand/rephrase it slightly.

There are usually several elements to a FIRST Robotics Competition game. There are three* robots on an alliance. If you can identify one thing in the game that is value added to the alliance, and you can do that one thing better than anybody else, you will be selected and you will make the elimination rounds.

Understanding the rules and ways to score, as well as predicting what other teams will do is hugely important. There will be many teams that try to accomplish every objective in the game. There will be several teams that accomplish every objective in the game. There will be few teams that accomplish every objective in the game well. To do well in the FRC game, you don't need to accomplish every objective in it!

If the value added game objectives are XYZ, and you are the absolute best at X, you will be the perfect match for robots that are exceptional at Y and Z but weak in X.


*as far as I can tell at this point


Also, FIRST as an organization is more than a robotics competition, and while we put forth tons of time, effort, and money towards the game, the most important award a team can win has nothing to do with the game at all. So have fun competing, but always remember that FIRST is For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.

[AZDevilRobot]

Hey Everyone! AZDevilRobot here from team 4111 Peace Love Robots.

My team is only 3 years old and while we may not be technically rookies, our team just received a new advisor (our old one left our school) and thus are making several changes based off experience.

Here are the changes we are making and ones we (and most teams) should have been doing since our inagural year:

1. Inventory!
We could not find anything in a crowded closet and even if we did find something, we couldn't find it again. We also bought several items multiple times because we thought we did not have it. Teams need to keep track of what they have and use.

2. Sponsors!
Our first year we had lots of money from a NASA rookie grant which covered us for our first two years. However, that and JCPenney were are only sponsors for the first two years. This year, we barely covered registration with remaining money. Luckily, we are still looking for sponsors. Teams need money or can't compete.

3. Structure!
Teams can't function with everyone doing whatever they want. Our past two years we had no agenda, deadlines or game plan. Everyone came in and either did too much work or not enough. This year, we have teams assigned to sections of the robot and leaders of the teams that meet to make sure the various parts connect. Everybody will be doing something at all times.

In closing, if you do these three things and the other tips in this forum from day one, you will be successful. Good luck and to anybody from Arizona in this forum, we'll see you at the regionals!

[yash101]

Precision in building things is good. Build a little higher than required. However, don't overdo it. Overdoing it will not give much benefit, but waste tons of time.


^^That's something that I should remind myself about while doing homework ^^

[cadandcookies]

To the end of all the fundraising for the robot post in this thread, FIRST recently released a "fundraising toolkit" which may help you figure out where to start. There's a ton of good stuff in there if you're trying to figure out where the money for those gearboxes is going to come from.

[yash101]

Originally Posted by cadandcookies

To the end of all the fundraising for the robot post in this thread, FIRST recently released a "fundraising toolkit" which may help you figure out where to start. There's a ton of good stuff in there if you're trying to figure out where the money for those gearboxes is going to come from.

This thread isn't just about funding. We are talking a little about funding a little bit, though the sole purpose of this thread is to have a place for newbie teams to get advice from!

[Oblarg]

Originally Posted by yash101

This thread isn't just about funding. We are talking a little about funding a little bit, though the sole purpose of this thread is to have a place for newbie teams to get advice from!

Huh? Where did he say/imply the thread was just about fundraising?

Regardless, fundraising is a vital part of successful participation in FIRST, and that was useful advice.

[SoftwareBug2.0]

One of the most important pieces of advice is to try to build within your capabilities. It sounds like a tautology and is therefore easy to overlook. To make it concrete, here's my team capability checklist:

Basics:

• Do you at least have these basic tools you will almost surely need?
  • Wrenches
  • Pliers
  • Crimpers
  • Screw drivers
  • Drill
  • Drill bits
  • Taps
  • Hack saw

Materials:

• Which materials do you know how to get?
  • Aluminum bar/plate/tubing/angle/rod
  • Steel bar/plate/tubing/angle/rod
  • Titanium
  • 80/20
  • Wood
  • Plastics (Lexan, HDPE, Delrin, etc.)
  • Composites (fiberglass, carbon fiber, etc.)
  • Other?
• How quickly can you get them?
• Which materials fit in your budget?
• Which materials do your members have experience working with?

Drafting:

• Does anyone know CAD?
  • What kind?
• How about drafting by hand?

Machine shop:

• For each of mill/lathe/waterjet/laser:
  • Can you do this in house?
  • Do you have someplace you could send it?
  • How long will it take?
  • What sort of accuracy can you get?
• For 3d printing: All of the above, plus:
  • What are your material options?
  • How strong is it?
• Do you have access to welding? What type? Which materials can you work with? Turn around times?
• Do you have access to anodizing or powder coating? What kind? How long is the turn around?
• Can you work with sheet metal?
  • Do you know how to design it?
  • Do you have access to a shear and a break? What size?

Electrical:

• How long would it take your team to wire a doorbell?
• Could your team build a basic low-pass filter?
• Do you know how to make a custom PCB?

Programming:

• How many students know your chosen programming language? And how well?
• How many mentors? And how well?

I recomend actually writing down estimates for each of these questions. Every team's resources have limitations. You should know what your team's are.

A teams that understands what they can do well will do better than a team with more resources that doesn't know how to use them. Most of the wooden robots that I've seen have been above average.

[cadandcookies]

Originally Posted by yash101

This thread isn't just about funding. We are talking a little about funding a little bit, though the sole purpose of this thread is to have a place for newbie teams to get advice from!

Wasn't meaning to imply it was, just commenting on the previous posts focused on funding!

Having money is a necessary prerequisite to build a robot: ergo, making use of FIRST's resources for acquiring funding should be high on any-- rookie or veteran-- team's list.

[yash101]

Oh. no. I wasn't trying to be mean or anything. Sorry about the misunderstanding!

[EricH]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

With the new perimeter rules the 1" under issues is much less severe.

Quite true. OTOH, it's always a pain to arrive and discover that you're out of compliance by -><-. I've seen that a few times... and it's never fun to tell a team that they are out of compliance by dimension.


As far as the rules-reading goes, I've got a couple of things...
-There is no unimportant rule. (And, for those wanting to get a head start, the Administrative Manual has been released already. Some of those "Can we use X at the event?" questions are already answered.)
-Read ALL the Updates issued. They change the rules, sometimes significantly.
-Read ALL the Q&A. Most of it won't necessarily apply to you--but the items that do can be pretty important.
-If it has a rule number, it is not a suggestion. If it's in a blue box, it's explanation for that requirement, or clarification of it.


Oh, and one more tip for all rookies: Bring a wheeled conveyance for your robot and driver's station, marked with your team number. Your arms and legs will thank you for the wheels; the queuing staff will thank you that they can return it to you easily.

[yash101]

I can think of a few:
-Show GP at the competition
-Don't drive behind success. Do your best and success will dive behind you!
-Show great sportsmanship. After all, FIRST is a "Sport," AKA, the "Sport of the Mind." We build robot athletes to participate in the sport, released on the Kickoff!