How long does your team plan?

[Cory]

Originally Posted by 65_Xero_Huskie

We take the Whole first week discussing strategy.

I think you need to take a while to discuss this because you need to figure out what would be the best way to build your robot.

For example, in 2005 we had to figure out how we would get the tetras on the top of the goals (we figure out a telescope idea ), and how to carry the tetras on the arm ( we had a grabber, which didnt work, so we scrapped it to a skewer). then we had to figure out how we would put the tetras on to get the most points and the best strategy for getting rows. Everyone on the team had an idea and we needed to figure out how we would get the best one and incorporate the ones we could.

I think you cant spend only one day on strategy, maybe 2 if you really focus and get a simple game. but last year we spent 3 days on a giant fan idea....

Now I see the problem is I have a different definition of strategy than other people, it seems.

Lets look at 2006. I'd define strategy as deciding whether to shoot for the center goal, or roll balls in the lower goal. Shoot from ontop the ramp or on the bottom of the ramp. Stuff like that. What I want the robot to do, not how I want to do it.

[Donut]

Originally Posted by Cory

Im kind of surprised at how many people don't meet to brainstorm strategy/design after kickoff on sat and/or on sunday.

Some might and just don't mention it (like ours). We take the kit back after kickoff on Saturday, inventory it, and start discussing design. We never meet on Sundays, so that doesn't happen. This meeting is usually at someone's house though, not where we work.

[Bethany Mc.]

This year, off-season, we meet one night a week for 2 hours, build crew sometimes more depending on what our college mentor has in store for us
We also help out a Lego league team, we help when ever they have meetings.

In past years during build season, we met 2-3 times a week for 2 hours. As ship date got closer it became a little more. This year I think that we will be meeting a little more, only so we aren't drilling holes in our robot at 1 AM or later on ship date.

I can not wait until January 6th!! Good luck to everyone as you start imaging your robot.

[Doug G]

Getting back to the poll at hand.... Its a kinda of a vague question and the results will depend on the resources and experience of your team. For some rookie teams, I'd encourage getting something built within the first couple of weeks. Veteran teams and those with more resources can spend 3 weeks "planning" before they start building. In 2003, our third year, we spent the first 2 weeks planning and designing and CAD the entire bot - it was cool and our robot came out looking cool, but just didn't perform that well. It's also the only year we never made it to the championship rounds at any of the three regionals we attended.

So now we focus heavily on prototyping our ideas and possible designs in weeks 1 and 2. By week 3 we shift into the actual robot design and some CAD where needed. Depending on the CAD ability of my students, only some of the robot is done in CAD. Last year we had an overall inventor model, with detailed modeling done of the transmissions and such. By Week 4 the robot frame is will get finished and fabricate any manipulators. Week 5, finish manipulators and assemble it together. By Thursday of Week 6, the robot should be complete and wired. The next four days are spent practicing and programming.

I can't stress the importance that building actual working prototypes during the design process has had on our robots the past few years. Use wood and pvc to mock up a shooter or arm. We have FP motors and their plastic transmissions ready with sprockets already bolted on to their output hubs, ready for testing out ideas and designs. We also have a protobot that is a kit bot drive base with extra speed controllers, relays, soleniods and air tanks already in place so that if we want to see how an arm may behave we can quickly clamp it or bolt it on the protobot and test in just one day.

[Cuog]

Thanks again for the input everyone,

Doug G, I don't think its a vague question, I was curious and wondered how much time teams spend planning, I'm not asking for a recommendation on how long my team should plan, just how long your team spends planning.

[Doug G]

Coug, it's just my opinion that "planning" refers to a lot of specific benchmarks by many teams, which probably helps explain the results of the poll. Planning could be brainstorming, pencil and paper sketches, strategy, CAD/Inventor/3DS modeling, purchasing, prototyping, etc... I interpretted the question to involve all of this. I think some interpretted the question as just first few items on my list which is why there is much discussion on how much teams do during their "planning". Good question and has brought about a lot of dialogue

[Astronouth7303]

One day at a time, one day at a time...

We're just a little disorganized.

[Cuog]

Originally Posted by Doug G

Coug, it's just my opinion that "planning" refers to a lot of specific benchmarks by many teams, which probably helps explain the results of the poll. Planning could be brainstorming, pencil and paper sketches, strategy, CAD/Inventor/3DS modeling, purchasing, prototyping, etc... I interpretted the question to involve all of this. I think some interpretted the question as just first few items on my list which is why there is much discussion on how much teams do during their "planning". Good question and has brought about a lot of dialogue

Ah, so it was a case of me misunderstanding you misunderstanding me.

What i was trying to ask was what planning(whatever method your team uses) and how long you spend, before starting to build the final robot.

Sorry for the confusion.