Team Kickoff Meeting

[DonRotolo]

Our routine is similar to those above. This year we are trying something slightly different:

Watch kickoff and animations. Watch animations several times, and any supplemental videos. Have lunch.

1 person to inventory KoP
Several people to mock up some field elements (or at least start on it)
A few people to print out and read the manual

The rest play the game, with humans standing in as robots. This is the key part of the day, we do this for 2+ hours. By doing this, we get to understand:
> Capabilities a robot needs to succeed at the game
> Issues with the game that may not be obvious
> Best (and worst) scoring opportunities
> Field issues that may be strategic

Normally, we would quit at that point, read the rules on Sunday, and return Monday to brainstorm Strategies (and rank them), and once these are set we determine Capabilities to implement those Strategies (this may take 2 days). The next days proceed to Mechanisms to get the Capabilities, then prototypes, proofs of concept, and after a week, our design review (last step before committing to a design)

This year, after the Human Robot game, we decided to split into 6 groups, spend an hour 'designing' robots, then each group presents their idea in 10 minutes. Then we go home, and follow the outline above.

The purpose of the 'blitz' design exercise is to 'get it out of our system' (everyone wants to jump to design, right?) and maybe cross-seed the design with some good ideas. It's fun, too. And it helps folks understand the need to be succinct in presenting ideas (and (later) keeping our regular progress reviews to under an hour...)

Year 2 is often harder for teams, so be sure to really focus on simple robots, that are very durable, and easily repaired. Don't over-reach, and instead focus on letting your drivers practice a real lot. Excellent drivers can compensate mightily for a mid-level robot.