JVN: Engineering Design Process & Competition Robotics 2010

[JVN]

Hi Everyone,
Once again in Atlanta this year I'll be presenting at the FIRST Robotics Conferences. This year I am doing two seminars. In addition to facilitating the Panel Discussion on Decision Making and Compromise, I am also doing a presentation on Applying an Engineering Design Process to Competition Robotics.

This is an upgraded version of the presentation I gave last year. I will be presenting on Wednesday from 6:15PM to 7:00PM.

Abstract:

This presentation will outline a sample engineering design process and describe its individual steps. Examples of how it can be applied to the typical competition robot build season will be provided along with descriptions of several different tools which can be utilized during this process.

Key engineering principles & lessons will be described as well as methods to demonstrate and emphasize these principles to students on a competition robotics team.

The 2010 FRC148 build process will be discussed highlighting ways to integrate the engineering design process and emphasizing milestones where key engineering principles were applied. Details and examples from the Robowrangler’s season will be shown including concept sketches, pictures and video showcasing prototype evolution, as well as detailed designs. Demonstrating how the Robowrangler robot evolves over the course of a season will showcase the iterative design process.

Some key discussions will be: “Prototyping for Success”, “Design is an Iterative Process”, “Continuous Improvement”, and “Engineering Problem Solving”.

I really enjoy speaking (some would say rambling) on this subject. Last year's presentation seemed to be pretty well received, and I published a whitepaper further diving into the topic.

This year I am excited to be joined by two Greenville HS seniors, Charles Wensel and Parker Francis (designers of the "Nonadrive"). These two young men are in their third season with the Robowranglers and will be presenting more of the specifics of 148's process.

For more information on this and other conferences, look here:
http://usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/....aspx?id=11300

Hope to see some of you there!
-John

PS - I absolutely HATE following up Karthik and Raul. If you attend one of their incredible presentations please lower your expectations before attending mine...