Sorry if this stuff seems very “common sense”, our team has never quite advanced as much as it has this year (This is the first year we are deciding to make our robot based off of Open Alliance and not Vex Robotics kit).
For the process of building a robot based off of an open alliance model. But how do we actually go along with this process? We are used to having the kit ready for us with given instructions, so ehen are we expected to start building the robot based off of these models? We want to expand our capabilities as a team but realize that kits are simply not the way to go if we want to succeed, so what has been your guys’ team process utilizing open alliance?
As a team, do a lot of research into the Open Alliance robots. If you don’t already, make a list of needs, wants, and nice-to-haves. Then, write down a few contenders that seem reasonable for your team (i.e. don’t get yourself too deep in complex designs if that’s one of your team’s limits). Once you and your team members do research, collaborate as a team and decide on a design(s) that are best for your needs. If you find a few different ideas you like such as one team’s arm idea but another teams intake idea, you can see if they go together nicely or not. Most open alliance teams post CAD files or at least videos and if you watch them closely, they will sometimes mention measurements/angles. Make sure you have all the needed information such as how it all goes together, hardware, a cut list, etc. Also, I recommend checking the thread consistently to see any updates to the design that may be important for you. Once you have how it’s going to work, the designs, and the measurements, it’s like a kitbot - act like the CAD is your instructions. I don’t know what week competition your team is going to, but I recommend research and prototype for two weeks and then build a rough draft (this can be very rough, just something that works aka clamps holding it together instead of fasteners until you lock in angles), test, then tune ups for a final draft. Make a calendar and lay it out for yourself and make sure the team communicates with each other to integrate it all together. Testing and making a rough draft will likely take the longest. There’s not necessarily an expectation, but within the first few weeks would be idea. At the end of the day, find a timeline that works for your team and follow that. For example, if you need time for driver practice, don’t forget to factor that in. Also look at how much time your team spends building on build days. If it’s smaller, then it might require a few extra weeks to get it done. If you need any more help, feel free to reach out. Good luck! 
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Thank you so much! This was so helpful
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A good option for a team in a transitional phase is to take the KoP or other drive base you are using and modify an OA mechanism to fit. You won’t need to design something from scratch, but you will have to use CAD and understand the design a little bit to modify it appropriately.
Start by getting a chassis driving and some basic mechanisms slapped on to see what happens.
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