Things Learned During Build Season

[moonlight]

Originally Posted by Leeebowitz

It sounds cliche, but the most important ingredient for a successful robot is devoted team members. Our team lost access the machine shop we had always used in years past, and all we were left with was a drill press, a band saw, and some hand tools. It took some serious stripping down of designs to work with these limitations. And yet, if anything, our robot came out better this year than in previous years because there was a small group of students and mentors who were willing to work hard and stay to all hours of the night to get the robot done.

i don't think it's cliche what you say it's actually true. If you have a great place with all the tools you need, but your team doesn't really function as a team, then things won't get done the way they should.A small team can accomplish big things as long as they are passionate about what they do and work hard towards the same goal. I honestly believe that the problems we face and the challenges we overcome together makes us stronger as a team, and i think it's amazing that you guys kept on going no matter the circumstances. That's what FIRST is about and i have no doubt your team will do great at competition! good luck!

Karina Adame
Team Captain
Chairman's award Lead

"Scientist study the world as it is; Engineers create the world that's never been"

[flippy147852]

Stock up on colored hair spray NOW. You'll forget the day before your first event.

[andreboos]

An 8" ball has no traction in an 8" wide chute.

Sometimes, science must defer to progress.

Any tests performed with damaged equipment can and should be ignored retrospectively when damage is discovered. Particularly, multimeter continuity checks.
Corollary 1: Case shorts in motors (BaneBots, in particular) aren't revealed by damaged multimeters.
Corollary 2: Re-test said motors after replacing the multimeter.

Bumpers can, and in some cases, should, be made and painted as soon as the frame is available and interferences can be tested.

Victors and Spikes are very picky about PWM cable insertion angle.

Wiring takes twice as long as you expect, especially when you plan around this fact.

Hands are not reliable encoder mounts.

Our statistics would indicate that one of our flathead screwdrivers is more dangerous than the entire machine shop.

Laryngitis improves communication quality by raising the "vocalization threshold". This is supported by multiple cases in our leadership this season.

Success tends to occur when or where cameras are off or pointed elsewhere.

6-conductor modular terminals do not crimp correctly in a 4-pin crimper.

5 volts means 5 volts, not 12 volts.

The cRIO can read from a controller after being disabled, and act accordingly when it is re-enabled.

Digital inputs read "true" unless pulled low, by a limit switch, for example. Input values should be verified in hardware and software before being used as limits.
Corollary: Hard stops are advisable.

[Anupam Goli]

Originally Posted by MathMaven

A better one: Finish the robot early so that the programmers have time to PROGRAM. Seriously, we need time to write and, more importantly, to test our code. My two years so far were awful because of this, and year three likely will be stressful again.

We withheld our cRIO and are building a practice bot to test code.... i'd much rather be practicing driving and building those relationships with the rest of the drive team.

Also: bad PWM cables exist. And DIO modules are weird. I'm getting a timeloop error even though this is the same setup i have used for the past 3 years.

Also: Take advantage of practice fields and scrimmages.

[CalTran]

Originally Posted by Wing

Also: bad PWM cables exist.

1. Yes, bad PWM cables exist. Also, bad digital sidecar modules exist. Um, wait, what? We found this one out after our programmers spent a week trying to debug code that wasn't broken, but wouldn't work.

2. LabVIEW really sucks if you don't KNOW LabVIEW. As heard from our mentor "There's no way to easily debug LabVIEW. Switch to Java soon or I'm leaving!"

3. Just because Inventor tells you it's not going to flip, does not mean it ain't going to flip.

4. Please look at your design constraints before you actually design something. Our shooter team spent the first four weeks designing a turret shooter, only to mount it and find out they forgot that they have limited space and in it's initial position, it sticks a good bit outside the frame perimeter, and it'd have to be retracted everytime we would like to cross the bridge.

5. (Personal one) Missing Presidents Day because you're sick really does suck. You miss out on a whole bunch of last minute decisions while you're gone too.

6. Just for fun, MMR2410 has had 3 years of Sweetheart Dance royalty Wohoo!

Happy Competition Season everyone!

[DominickC]

Originally Posted by MathMaven

A better one: Finish the robot early so that the programmers have time to PROGRAM. Seriously, we need time to write and, more importantly, to test our code. My two years so far were awful because of this, and year three likely will be stressful again.

+1,000,000!

[Tom Line]

Originally Posted by tsakshaug

As a mentor, I learned that getting changed to second shift at work makes it nearly impossible to work with the team

I completely symphathize - I'm in the same boat. However, I've worked closely with my management and my peers and gotten concensus that as long as my work performance doesn't degrade, I can do both. It makes for long nights though

[daltonmead]

When problems within your team arise (ie drama, rivalry, jealousy, etc) address it immediately. Pull in a nuetral person to mediate. A team in discord cannot accomplish the mission no matter how hard you try. So step up and be a leader where no else will.

[Chris86]

As a former FIRST student, freshman in college, and new lead mentor for a rookie team... I learned that as much as I thought my mentors did for my team and I, they actually did 10x more. I never would have believed the amount of time and effort mentors have to spend doing things for the team beyond what the students even see.

As far as technical things go: I also taught myself wiring, serial programming, motor curves, and a couple other things to be able to be the best mentor I could be for my new team.

[hurtzmyhead]

Summary, Trust but verify. This goes for:

1. Motors (Rs-775s)
2. Models (Downloaded a model a motor and the mounting holes were off)
3. Welded Parts (Squareness, Measurements, etc...)
4. Window Motor movement (This can screw up attempts at precision movement)
5. and is a generally good idea

[Gary Dillard]

Set screws don't.

You can never own too many power tools. For graduation you might want a car or some furniture. Ask for a nail gun and a miter saw instead - you'll thank me later.

If your wife is an RN, she can accurately tell what your blood pressure is just by looking at the swelling around your eyes when you get home.

[Grim Tuesday]

Originally Posted by Gary Dillard

Set screws don't.

Quoted for truth.

We used set screws on our RS550's in double doozy's, and after a bit of mild use, they both broke within seconds of each other, chewing up the gears in the process.