We began on day one with a new way of analyzing the game. Sketches of complete robots and mechanism design were replaced with careful consideration of our strategy before anything else. We realized during the offseason that it’s much easier to design a robot to play a certain strategy than to design a strategy to be played by an already-envisioned robot. Focusing on the what and not so much the how of our robot allowed us to arrive at a complete strategy before we began to discuss mechanical topics like shooter position and intake methods.
Envisioning our ideal match strategy also allowed us to set benchmarks to match our prototypes to. Instead of just saying “we want to cross a defense and shoot in the high goal,” we began asking questions like “How long should it take us to cross a category B defense? How much time should each scoring cycle take?” This way, when we finish our prototypes, we’ll be able to determine if they’re fast enough, precise enough, etc.
With our strategy set in stone, the build team was able to move into prototyping more informed about what our goals were. And because our strategy discussion was already over, we were able to devote more manpower to prototyping. At the end of week one, our improved organization has put us in a rare position for Miss Daisy; we’re ahead of schedule! At the 7-day mark, all of our prototyping groups have met or exceeded their benchmarks!
Week two promises to be another good one for 341. This time next week, we’ll have completed prototyping, finished CAD for most of the robot, and have serious progress made on the vision system for our 2016 robot. For the first time in two seasons, we’ll also be driving around two sheet metal drive bases, thanks to our new fabrication sponsor, Computer Components Corporation!
Great work everyone.
