Robot Tips For Rookie Teams

[yash101]

Precision in building things is good. Build a little higher than required. However, don't overdo it. Overdoing it will not give much benefit, but waste tons of time.


^^That's something that I should remind myself about while doing homework ^^

[cadandcookies]

To the end of all the fundraising for the robot post in this thread, FIRST recently released a "fundraising toolkit" which may help you figure out where to start. There's a ton of good stuff in there if you're trying to figure out where the money for those gearboxes is going to come from.

[yash101]

Originally Posted by cadandcookies

To the end of all the fundraising for the robot post in this thread, FIRST recently released a "fundraising toolkit" which may help you figure out where to start. There's a ton of good stuff in there if you're trying to figure out where the money for those gearboxes is going to come from.

This thread isn't just about funding. We are talking a little about funding a little bit, though the sole purpose of this thread is to have a place for newbie teams to get advice from!

[Oblarg]

Originally Posted by yash101

This thread isn't just about funding. We are talking a little about funding a little bit, though the sole purpose of this thread is to have a place for newbie teams to get advice from!

Huh? Where did he say/imply the thread was just about fundraising?

Regardless, fundraising is a vital part of successful participation in FIRST, and that was useful advice.

[cadandcookies]

Originally Posted by yash101

This thread isn't just about funding. We are talking a little about funding a little bit, though the sole purpose of this thread is to have a place for newbie teams to get advice from!

Wasn't meaning to imply it was, just commenting on the previous posts focused on funding!

Having money is a necessary prerequisite to build a robot: ergo, making use of FIRST's resources for acquiring funding should be high on any-- rookie or veteran-- team's list.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

With the new perimeter rules the 1" under issues is much less severe.

Quite true. OTOH, it's always a pain to arrive and discover that you're out of compliance by -><-. I've seen that a few times... and it's never fun to tell a team that they are out of compliance by dimension.


As far as the rules-reading goes, I've got a couple of things...
-There is no unimportant rule. (And, for those wanting to get a head start, the Administrative Manual has been released already. Some of those "Can we use X at the event?" questions are already answered.)
-Read ALL the Updates issued. They change the rules, sometimes significantly.
-Read ALL the Q&A. Most of it won't necessarily apply to you--but the items that do can be pretty important.
-If it has a rule number, it is not a suggestion. If it's in a blue box, it's explanation for that requirement, or clarification of it.


Oh, and one more tip for all rookies: Bring a wheeled conveyance for your robot and driver's station, marked with your team number. Your arms and legs will thank you for the wheels; the queuing staff will thank you that they can return it to you easily.

[yash101]

I can think of a few:
-Show GP at the competition
-Don't drive behind success. Do your best and success will dive behind you!
-Show great sportsmanship. After all, FIRST is a "Sport," AKA, the "Sport of the Mind." We build robot athletes to participate in the sport, released on the Kickoff!

[wasayanwer97]

First off, to any rookies who may end up reading his, welcome to FIRST. It's going to be one of the best things you will experience in your time as a student. People on this forum are here to help, so don't be shy to ask for it. (Search for a previous thread on it first though.)

As for tips:

Keep it simple.
Many people have already stated it, and it can't be stated enough.

Other pieces of advice (for a rookie team):
1. Use the KOP. I've seen a fair share of team, even veteran ones, who try to build their own drive train and end up with one less competent than the KOP. The KOP may not necessarily be the best, but it's reliable and allows you to focus on your mechanisms .
2. Read the manual. Take it seriously, the last thing you want is to find out you come in conflict with the rules at competition. Make sure you give yourself a practice inspection before bag.
3. Make components (relatively) easy to replace. Things break. Accidents happen. You'll save yourself a lot of headache if things like motors, motor controllers, and wires are easy to access. Access holes/points are key.
4. Design within your limits. Don't design a robot you can't build or afford. Know what your team can and can't pull off. It wouldn't be very wise for a rookie team to do a swerve drive, for instance... Also, do order parts you think you will need ahead of time. Things go out of stock pretty fast during build season.

I'll post more later if I think of some.

[D.Allred]

Originally Posted by wasayanwer97

...Other pieces of advice (for a rookie team):
1. Use the KOP. I've seen a fair share of team, even veteran ones, who try to build their own drive train and end up with one less competent than the KOP. The KOP may not necessarily be the best, but it's reliable and allows you to focus on your mechanisms .
...

With out a doubt, this is the best advice in my estimation. To add to that, build it and have it running within the first week before you worry about scoring mechanisms.

David

[themccannman]

Here's a presentation Mike Corsetto and I gave to our team just a couple months ago. Should give rookie teams a good place to start.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tp700bu4l9...0workshop.pptx

[Oblarg]

Last year was my first year mentoring a rookie team (4464), and it went much more smoothly than I think any of us had been anticipating. Here are some tips, based both on what worked for us, and what we realize we could have improved:

- Extensive preseason training, with FRC hardware. The importance of getting the students familiar with the control system, especially, prior to build season is hard to overstate. Mechanically, if the students do not have any experience with machining and/or construction, you really must get tools and parts in their hands. There is no substitute for experience and familiarity.

- Safety training! There are lots of good resources for this out there. Rookie teams should probably have a meeting or two prior to build season devoted entirely to making/reviewing safety rules and procedures, which should be written down and put in a visible place (on a poster or similar).

- Plan ahead of time, in detail, the first few meetings after kickoff. You want to have a brainstorming and discussion schedule that you can follow. Remember that you can't design a system without knowing your design constraints, which means that you must decide on a strategy before brainstorming a design. Hold practice brainstorming sessions based on past FRC games to get students used to the process. Make sure you encourage everyone to speak up and contribute ideas - I've seen far too many design discussions railroaded by a small number of very vocal team members (myself included) when other people had valuable input that simply never was put forward.

- Put a large build season calendar in a visible place, and set/mark important dates/deadlines as build season progresses. Organization is key to success.

- Specialize. After kickoff, pick one task, and build your robot to do it. Over-ambition is probably the single biggest cause of build-season disappointment I've seen, even on established teams. Keeping your sights within reason not only keeps the challenge more manageable, but enables crucial design iteration.

- Keep your designs simple. This means as few moving parts as possible. More complexity leads to more failure modes, and more failure modes leads to less success.

- When in doubt, overbuild rather than underbuild. The weight limit is a pain, but even more of a pain is having critical structural failure modes reveal themselves at competition. Exceptionally rigid/beefy mechanisms are usually not only more resistant to failure, but (especially in the case of shooters, like this past year) they often perform in a more repeatable, reliable fashion.

- Design and fabricate according to your machining capability. If you lack precision tools, match-drilling and cutting to templates are your best friends. Make sure that students know they need to keep tolerances in mind when designing.

- Make sure every structural bolt/nut assembly on the robot has some sort of locking hardware if it is feasible to do so - lock washers, nylock nuts, loctite, etc.

- Make sure your robot is serviceable. I've spent too much time at regionals than I care to recall taking apart half of a robot to replace one or two small parts. If it's not bulletproof, make every effort to ensure you can get to it and replace it in short order.

- Pick your drivers early, make a practice drive base, and practice driving. Driver ability is every bit as important as robot quality on the field.

- Make sure everyone on the team really gets gracious professionalism before attending a competition. FRC simply would not function if the atmosphere at competition were not as helpful and friendly as it is, and you need to make sure every single person on the team appreciates that, and makes it their job to uphold it.

I think this is enough for now. Most importantly, have fun.

[Pendulum^-1]

Originally Posted by Oblarg

- Extensive preseason training, with FRC hardware. The importance of getting the students familiar with the control system, especially, prior to build season is hard to overstate. Mechanically, if the students do not have any experience with machining and/or construction, you really must get tools and parts in their hands. There is no substitute for experience and familiarity.
[/i]

I say double down on what Eli said here. Do this NOW.

If possible, get with an existing team before the kickoff. Work with the hardware.

Read the basic technical manuals on FIRST's FRC site.
http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...ical-Resources
Don't necessarily memorize the manuals, but know the major components, what they do, and at least know where a point of information is when you need it.

You will have to learn and know how to use the control system before you can use it. Every hour you spend learning it before kickoff is an hour you do not have to spend doing it after kickoff. You will need all those hours, trust me.

Team 4464 did a lot of that work that Eli cites before the season started. They started in early November, as I recall. They qualified for St Louis.

[themccannman]

Originally Posted by themccannman

Here's a presentation Mike Corsetto and I gave to our team just a couple months ago. Should give rookie teams a good place to start.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tp700bu4l9...0workshop.pptx

Last post on the last page, I really think this will help rookie teams so I just wanted to make sure it wasn't missed by people looking.

[yash101]

I looked at that presentation. It was quite through and full of important information. Another good thing is that it is in Plain English!

[cmrnpizzo14]

1.) Have decent looking bumpers that match the FIRST color scheme, using the recommend material is best as well. Good bumpers do not make good robots but at competitions you can usually get a feel for a robot by looking at its bumpers.

2.) Watch Karthik's presentations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Apk_X-maRf8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smWy7FQ8jLE

Pay attention to his section on strategic design, especially in the 2012 one. He talks about many ways to make a competitive robot without many resources. The example that he uses is that in 2012 having a small robot that could balance well on the bridges was more valuable in most regional play than a less than mediocre shooter. Follow his priority list idea. It's simple, but it works.

3.)

Read the manual! Read the manual! Read the manual! Read the manual! Read the manual!

If you don't know the rules you aren't really playing. Think of that friend that wants to play Settlers of Catan, even though you don't know how, that says he will just explain the rules as he goes along. It's no fun and really hard for both of you. Learn the rules before you play.