2015 Lessons Learned: The Positive

[Koko Ed]

What did you particularly enjoy about FIRST this year?

[Aaron.Graeve]

I enjoyed not having to watch gamepieces during a match to prevent field faults (compare this year with last year if field reset got confused). Also, I liked the change from the standard shooting game type. Finally, I liked not having to build and wire something above the alliance stations.

[Kevin Leonard]

If you loosen the rules, and give teams more leeway to build, they often build incredible, creative robots that expand and connect to other pieces and are absolute marvels of engineering.

The 8 Alliance Einstein was incredible, and it allowed so many more teams to be on Einstein and, in my opinion, made them even more exciting and intense.

Lastly, ranking by average score made for more accurate rankings than ever before, which is generally good for the game.

[Anupam Goli]

In a game with no defense, you saw some unexpected teams and team numbers that made you say "who?" rise to the top. You also have teams spending more design resources on making more flexible and creative components instead of beefing up their drivetrain and bumpers.

[mrnoble]

The referees generally don't need services for PTSD as a result of their volunteer work this year, unlike 2014.

[EricLeifermann]

Loved the ranking system, also liked the elimination structure, made elims go quickly.

Though I would have to say the best improvement this year was the change to the polycarb guards on the gates to the field. They didn't come off and fall into the field once this year(that I saw). That was always a pain in the past.

[protoserge]

The students on the team enjoyed this game and seem to have had a fun season.

So that kind of overrules any negatives I had about this.

[Fanny Z]

I quite liked seeing Kiwi drive and Mecanum on Einstein.

[SoftwareBug2.0]

The championship venue was able to accommodate all 600 teams well. With how busy some of the hallways had been with 400 I was worried there would be places with total gridlock.

[George Nishimura]

I think no bumpers helped a lot of the inexperienced teams, and it seemed like there was much less of a need to constantly repair/maintain the robot throughout a competition.

It also mostly avoided bringing out a lot of the unpleasantness of last year, including questionable referees calls and large amounts of disagreements over what constitutes the "spirit of the game".

Ranking in qualifications did a better job of reflecting robot performance, although as usual it was not perfect.

[Boltman]

The game required actual engineering. Kit bots rightfully struggled to do anything.

[Shrub]

I posted this a while ago, and its pretty much what learned this year.

Also: getting hit with pool noodles is a lot less painful that the AA ball. Or a tote... Or a field reset crew member by accident. The ranking system was also my favorite.

[Ginger Power]

Originally Posted by EricLeifermann

Though I would have to say the best improvement this year was the change to the polycarb guards on the gates to the field. They didn't come off and fall into the field once this year(that I saw). That was always a pain in the past.

This. 1000 times this.

[Michael Hill]

Our team had a lot of firsts this year.

• We were able to successfully implement a slide drive with only 1 wheel in the back.
• We developed a strong drivebase with 0.050 Aluminum (2024-T3)
• We drove with belts for the first time
• We used live axle for the first time
• Used built an elevator for the first time (Thanks Adam Heard and the guys from 971 for posting CAD and providing some inspiration for our elevator. R3 bearings were great [until the broke after a couple competitions])
• First scissor mechanism on the robot (still not sure I was a fan of it)
• Designed and built our first (and second) gearboxes.
• Successfully implemented some 3D printed parts (Camera mount, pneumatic tank mount, constant force sprint spindle)
• Were able to not have a single inch of chain on the robot for the first time. (only belt, pneumatic and lead screw)
• Were able to build an extremely low profile drivebase (everything within 2.75 inches from the carpet).

On the other hand, there are some things we need to do better.

• Build faster and better prototypes
• Not overload machines as much as we are (rely more on COTS parts)
• Finish design faster
• Get back to using PDM (No PDM this year was a disaster)
• Finish mechanical build quicker so software team can get more time to do things like control loop tuning and autonomous
• Build certain parts to a tighter tolerance. We had to rebuild some axles because they were too short.
• Too much reliance on snap rings to stop axial movement. We designed the drive so the bearings so their flanges were on the outside and retained by a snap ring. Unfortunately, snap rings came off and we had to resort to drilling/tapping and putting a bolt with a washer on to keep the bearing retained. Ideally we would have swapped the way the bearings were inserted into the drive, but we were too far along in our build and didn't have enough room in the wheel channel to allow for the extra 1/8 from the flanges of 2 bearings.

[ThePaulitician]

For the past two years, my team had some rough times. We lost our main mentor and faculty adviser along with some big sponsorships all in one summer. Since, we have been recovering. This year was my third year but I never took such an active role. I was in a frustrated position for the past two years as a rookie and 1-year veteran; I was stuck in spirit and scouting at competitions whereas I wanted to be working on the robot or just helping in some way with our pits and build crew. This year, my sports experience showed how good of a human player I was, loading totes so fast and throwing litter like Tom Brady. At the heart of it all, I really stepped up my game. I think previously in my first two years, I sort of was not so much there for my team. I went to all our meetings in and out of build season but I never understood the amount of work my main mentors and lead teammates put in. Thus, I put in as much effort and realized how fun it was. Apart from learning to just get involved, I realized that our team should have spent so much more time planning on strategy and tether design and other ways to exploit the game methods. In the past, we have been worrying so much about getting parts on time when in fact we want our design to do best. Thank you to 1114 (Simbotics), 2826 (Wave Robotics), and 148 (RoboWranglers) for being inspirations to me!!!