Hopper?

[Kim Masi]

I think being versatile is key. however, efficiency and versatility isn't necessarily easy.

[PARhodes]

thats what i said. they just now feel it is essential to add a hopper.

[Nuttyman54]

Originally Posted by PARhodes

thats what i said. they just now feel it is essential to add a hopper.

It may be time to remind them of what FIRST is attempting to accomplish: it's not whether you win or lose, it's getting a robot on the field.
If possible, nicely tell them that the students in charge of the design will make a FINAL decision and that they will stick to it. If it works, great, you designed it well. If not, well, you learned something, and you didn't risk showing up to comps with an incomplete robot.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by PARhodes

thats what i said. they just now feel it is essential to add a hopper.

Tell them "it's designed how it's designed, if you can improve the design by adding on to what's there without going over size or weight limits, go right ahead, but no subtraction." By the way, if you have a hopper in the design already (or even a lot of empty space) you shouldn't need to add more space. Hoppers that expand out are not necessary this year. (I just hope I don't eat that last sentence.)

[PARhodes]

Originally Posted by Nuttyman54

It may be time to remind them of what FIRST is attempting to accomplish: it's not whether you win or lose, it's getting a robot on the field.
If possible, nicely tell them that the students in charge of the design will make a FINAL decision and that they will stick to it. If it works, great, you designed it well. If not, well, you learned something, and you didn't risk showing up to comps with an incomplete robot.

oh we have told them that. and not all that nicely. lot of bad words. but nonetheless its time for a student takebackover. REVOLT.

[Ian Curtis]

Originally Posted by EricH

NO. No. Nonononono. Build guidelines: 1) Always decide what you want your robot to do before you design it. 2) Always design before you build. 3) NEVER EVER change your design in a big way after you start building it.

I'd like to disagree. If our robot had looked the way we designed it our rookie year, we would probably not have moved, as it was very complex. One of the best (albeit rarest) traits of an engineer is to actually be able to grasp the thought that "The robot has to be in a crate in x number of days" and to be able to react accordingly. IMHO it is best to, by the time you have walked out of your first meeting of season, acknowledge what you want your robot to do. Pick say 2 or 3 very important things, and say "we WILL do these well!". For example this year, you could have said, our robot will shoot balls, make it up the ramp, and collect from the floor. Three achievable, quantifiable goals. If you walk out saying we will be incredibly good at everything, you'll probably end up not getting as far as team who picks a few things and excels at them.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by iCurtis

IMHO it is best to, by the time you have walked out of your first meeting of season, acknowledge what you want your robot to do. Pick say 2 or 3 very important things, and say "we WILL do these well!". For example this year, you could have said, our robot will shoot balls, make it up the ramp, and collect from the floor. Three achievable, quantifiable goals. If you walk out saying we will be incredibly good at everything, you'll probably end up not getting as far as team who picks a few things and excels at them.

I said they were guidelines. They are not hard and fast. And you do not normally want to decide on Day 1 exactly what you want your robot to do. Play the game for a day or two. Try all aspects. Then come up with requirements and a design, following the KISS principle. Don't try to do everything, particularly if you are new. And remember, there is always room for improvement, as long as it is small. (330's 2004 and 2005 'bots are prime examples.) In this case, a full hopper is a bit much (complete redesign), but a backstop or net (added) would probably be fine.

[AndyB]

Well we calculated that our hopper will hold around 70-75 balls so i dont think we need to worry.

[PARhodes]

thats a huge robot. what is your hopper made out of?