How many days do your programmers get with a fully built robot before stop build day?

[sraque]

We typically have 3-5 days before bag day where the robot is essentially complete. We have an open house the Sunday before bag day for sponsors, parents, and community so it needs to be working. Those days are used for overall system testing, not just software. Some things we do starting from the first week of build to be prepared are:

1. We develop and configuration manage an Interface Control Document (ICD) covering all I/O ports and operator controls during the design.
2. We develop and configuration manage a set of use cases with the drive team and system designers so everyone is clear on how the robot is intended to function and what the operator controls do.
3. We have a spare control system that is used as a test rig. It is equipped with sensors and motor controllers to aid in verifying the software. Some sensors are replaced by potentiometers and limit switches so we can simulate certain parts of the behavior. Sometimes we have spare motors on there too if that helps debug certain behaviors. This test rig is also mountable on several old drive systems (common bolt pattern with wing nuts) so we can do some drive testing
4. Our first code release is "test code" that is used to test each individual actuator as the robot is being built. The controls for test code are usually different than the operational controls because they are focused on moving only one actuator at a time and under risky conditions (like checking motor polarity, seeing there is no mechanical binding, etc.). This verifies ICD compliance and helps debug mechanical issues in a controlled fashion.
5. We have a practice robot we call "Beta".

We still have huge challenges getting time for closed-loop control tuning. The practice robot never behaves quite the same way.