Building tips

[Liz C]

I am working on a tip sheet with the aid of my mentors for a team we are helping out. I actually started the document and then realized a similar one was already posted here and discussed here ; however, I had a few tips that were additional to the information already present. Most of them are pertaining to the mechanical aspect of the build season; they are pretty basic, but I think they are still helpful for both new and old teams.

They are as follows:

-Be conscience of safety. Do not have any sharp protrusions or ends and remember to sand down sharp edges anywhere on the robot

-Be conscience of measurements. This is something that will be very difficult to fix at a competition, so be sure that the base and the arm of the robot fit within the standard measurements. At the competition, your robot will be placed in a “box” that has the maximum measurements. If your robot protrudes anywhere, then it fails inspection.

-Be aware of time do not get caught up on details. After the first four days or so, you should have a plan of what the robot will do, and building should be underway

-Be flexible. It’s good to have a design, but it is OK to be flexible with it too; every team ends up changing a few things by the time their robot is complete.

-Drill holes in tactful areas to help with weight. It adds up! Always remember to avoid drilling holes in areas that will be under a lot of stress, though

-Label everything. For example, label your speed controls as to what motor they are controlling; label the wiring if possible

-Mount the motors in a secure/safe position. Do not let your motors be “out in the open”

-Remember to have the proper display of your team numbers

-Cover your motors, wiring, etc. with lexan, plexiglass, omega paneling to prevent damage done to the robot

-Use sturdy materials while being aware of weight. Try not to use materials like Velcro in your actual robot

-Make sure all breakable parts (e.g. motors, relays, etc) can be replaced without tearing the entire robot apart.

-Be aware of vulnerability to damage. Do not have hanging wiring, strings, or any other attachment that could easily fall off your robot or get caught on something else; make sure everything is tightened and nothing is loose; use loctite where necessary and solder/tape electrical wirings.

-Monitor the FIRST Website every few days for updates on rule changes, answers to common questions and general information

-KEEP IT SIMPLE! Many veteran teams, including ourselves, live by this saying. Do not try to accomplish too much - it ends up being more trouble and teams who are successful are always good at doing one thing really well, versus a lot of things with inconsistencies. (It’s best to design and build 10 things that work 100% of the time on your robot than it is to design and build 100 things that work only 10% of the time.)

I would appreciate any other tips, advice, changes or any other form of feedback on this list as I hope to make it as effective as possible.

Thanks!

[greencactus3]

nice.

measure 890172340982743098 times. cut once. measure again..

triangles are good. other polygons will not be as steady.

[Lisa Perez]

Also, remember to be aware of the limitations FIRST has set - it always stinks to build something with certain materials, only to learn that said materials were not legal to begin with.

[Andrew Blair]

Heres one. Engineer first, then build. It's pretty frustrating to build something, only to have to completely revise the design because it can't do what it's supposed to.

Triple check the van door motor that it's running at the speed it's supposed to be, and that the Fisher Price motors are 12 volt before running 12 volts through them.....

[sanddrag]

This isn't really as much of a tip as it is a plea but I urge teams to look beyond what you are given in the kit of parts and strive for more, especially in the areas of drivetrain and chassis innovation.

Also, standardizing hardware anywhere you can is a good tip. 10-24 SHCS is my favorite.

Another word of advice is to take your time with wiring. Plan to spend a full two or three days on it. It isn't hard to do right as long as you think logically about your routing. Labeling is good too.

Last, I've always thought that if you had the weight for it, onboard tools would be cool. Nothing too serious but maybe all the allen wrenches you need.

[Veselin Kolev]

A very good practice my team has: CAD EVERYTHING!
We seriously CAD everything, down to screws and rivets. We also apply proper weights to all the electronics, and make the electronics layout entirely in CAD. That way, we make all the parts as they are in CAD, put them together, and know they will work. Also using the weight tools in Inventor, you know the weight fairly accurately. Thus, cheeseholing is already built into the parts. So far it has worked very efficiently, we have never gotten tight on time, and the robot has always worked. This, however, requires all members of the team to be very proficient in CAD. We send some of our kids to take the Autodesk Inventor class at a local community college... but boy do they get the hang of it fast. It's a good investment.

[Ian Curtis]

If you're going to Cheesehole, do it early- It's much easier and looks much better to cut your holes with a drill press when your chassis is still in pieces (just be sure to leave places to screw/weld.

Always keep wires short, and don't leave uncessary weight in the wiring/controls- It adds up. Just trust me if you don't know from experience

If CAD is taking too long and holding up neccessary people, or is getting in the way of gittin 'er done, draw it on paper, hand it to someone, machine it, and build it. In our team's rookie year we spent far too much time CADing. CAD takes time and while things like a drivetrain and chassis should be CADded, not everything needs to be. (Our claw was built in the hours leading to shipping, and it was probably the best thing on the robot.