With one more week of build we could...

[ehochstein]

We could certainly use another week to improve our ability to pick up balls with our conveyor!

[nathanww]

...get the steering corrector to work(we bought a 70$ gyro so that our robot could correct for the effect of the trailer and carpet strips, but we never got it working satisfactorily with the steering system) I'm still holding out hope that we can figure out the problem before the regional and then update the software the day before we compete.

[ZakuAce]

How about actually get some driving in, and swap in our new conveyor design here instead of at the regional. So much to do, so little time...

[NorviewsVeteran]

Maybe be able to convince the two students on the controls team to stay back longer than 4, to learn something from the 3 mentors that don't show up until 5 (after work). That would be nice.

[EricH]

Many years ago, a standard question at the Kickoff was, "Why do we only get 6 weeks?" The answer was, "We're being nice to the rookies." Looking at this thread, replace "the rookies" with "everyone".

The explanation is that with a lot of time (7-8 weeks, say), there is a greater tendency to add features, improve, redesign if one little thing doesn't work. This can actually add to the headache.

Plus, there's this little rule that "Work expands to fill the time allotted." I rest my case.

[Ian Curtis]

Yup. We cut back our official meeting times by 1/3 this year, and put our most complete robot in six years in the crate.

Originally Posted by EricH

Many years ago, a standard question at the Kickoff was, "Why do we only get 6 weeks?" The answer was, "We're being nice to the rookies." Looking at this thread, replace "the rookies" with "everyone".

The explanation is that with a lot of time (7-8 weeks, say), there is a greater tendency to add features, improve, redesign if one little thing doesn't work. This can actually add to the headache.

Plus, there's this little rule that "Work expands to fill the time allotted." I rest my case.