JVN Build tip: WHAT before HOW

[JVN]

Hi Everyone,
As FIRST teams around the world are all digging into their design processes, I thought I'd post a few tips from our team to yours...

Today's tip is: Figure out the "WHAT" before the "HOW."

As you're digging into your robot build you NEED to figure out WHAT you want the robot to do before you figure out HOW you're going to do it. This is easier said than done -- make sure during your brainstorming you don't let anyone get "hung up" on what design the robot will use, or what specific mechanism the robot will use; instead have them focus solely on the robot ACTIONS.

One good way of doing this is to list ALL the actions a robot can perform. On 148 we start by listing ALL the ways a robot can score a point, then we add defensive actions, then we add all other actions. Once we have the "big list" of all robot actions, we figure out what is most important: this is done through a combination of scoring analysis, strategic brainstorming, simulation, and good old-fashioned prototyping.

If you take the time to list out ALL the robot actions (using brainstorming, where there are NO bad ideas) you'll be much happier later on, trust me...

As always... good luck in 2011!

Originally posted here:
http://jvengineering.blogspot.com/20...efore-how.html