🧇 W.A.F.F.L.E.S. Wiki

Talking to Judges

Sep 24, 20247 min read

General Etiquette

  • Be friendly, smiley, and engaged
  • Speak clearly
  • Pay attention to the judges and engage unless your task is urgent
  • It’s okay to tell the judges to come back at another time if we are very busy
    • Ie. Just about to go to a match, getting inspected, the robot just had a massive thing go wrong, etc.
    • Eg. “We would love to tell you more about _____, but unfortunately we have to go to a match right now. Would you be able to come by our pit later at x time?”
  • If you don’t have the most expertise in an area, hold a basic conversation about it until others arrive
    • A mentor will be in the pit and will call the appropriate people to talk to the judges
  • Mentors don’t talk to the judges, just the students

Answering Questions

  • Put an emphasis on ITERATION, GROWTH in an area, and the PROCESS of things
    • We don’t need to present ourselves as having got it right from the start—talk about how we got to the successful point we are at now
    • Talk about Prototyping and other (relevant) things that we tried that didn’t work, and what we LEARNED from them
    • Talk about what we have changed (will differ from event to event)
    • Talk about the CHALLENGES we encountered and how we OVERCAME them
  • Have specific points you want to get in and GUIDE the conversation to hit as many of those as possible
  • Phrase things positively
  • Include the team member(s) with the most experience/knowledge in the area of discussion
    • Eg. “Logan was the lead designer for our climber, so he can talk to you more about his design process”

Sample Questions

Openers/General

  • How is your team doing so far?
  • Can you tell me a little bit about your team?
  • Can you tell me a little bit about your robot and what it does?
  • What was your biggest challenge this season (and how did you overcome it)?
  • What did you learn this season?
  • What was your favourite part about this season?
  • What does W.A.F.F.L.E.S. stand for?

Technical

  • What makes your robot unique?
  • Is there a particular part/mechanism on your robot that you like best? Why?
  • Tell about your Design process

Non-technical

  • What kind of initiatives and partnerships do you have in your community?
  • What makes your team special/stand out?
  • Tell me about your team structure/dynamic

Safety

  • What safety initiatives does your team have?
  • How do you train your members?
  • How do you ensure safe practices?

Awards and Main Points

Read over the descriptions of each of the awards so you know what our team will be judged on and what to emphasize based on the judges’ questions. Make sure you know the main points for each award so you can present our team as best as possible.

REWORK THIS PART TO BE MORE GENERIC (was stolen from 2020)

Technical

  • Autonomous Award sponsored by Ford: Celebrates the team that has demonstrated consistent, reliable, high-performance robot operation during autonomously managed actions. Evaluation is based on the robot’s ability to sense its surroundings, position itself or onboard mechanisms appropriately, and execute tasks.
    • Limelight
    • Different autonomous modes and starting positions
    • Have numbers (how many types) and statistics (success rate)
    • IR sensors for ball path/jamming prevention
    • WIP for motion profiling
  • Creativity Award sponsored by Xerox: Celebrates creativity in design, use of component, or strategy of play.
    • Virtual fourbar x2
    • Rope to save weight
    • Electrical box (expand on design)
    • 3D-printed parts
    • Blocking climbs
    • Shoot from opposite side of intake for faster cycles (especially in autonomous)
    • Modularity
    • Second light to address Limelight issue (seeing other robots as targets)
  • Excellence in Engineering Award sponsored by Delphi: Celebrates an elegant and advantageous machine feature.
    • Shooter
      • Reliability, prototyping, opposite side of intake
    • Most unique: climber
      • Virtual fourbar, delivery of detaching hooks and winch up
  • Industrial Design Award sponsored by General Motors: Celebrates form and function in an efficiently designed machine that effectively addresses the game challenge.
    • Talking about the WHOLE PACKAGE
    • Intake - wide to effectively pick up balls, robust and easy to maintain (material, design)
    • Ball pathing - smooth transition between mechanisms
    • Reliable shooter
    • Did overall geometry sketch for ball path to ensure that the separate mechanisms would fit together properly
    • Intake and climber interfere - considered packaging carefully
    • Designed a short robot to go through trench
      • We have more options
      • Don’t get stuck at choke points
      • More reliably get around obstacles to climb
      • Faster cycles
      • More autonomous options
    • Priority list - making decisions about how things would impact other parts, what was most important, ensure we EFFECTIVELY ADDRESS THE GAME
  • Innovation in Control Award sponsored by Rockwell Automation: Celebrates an innovative control system or application of control components – electrical, mechanical, or software – to provide unique machine functions.
    • Electrical box
      • Iterated, first version in 2018
      • Isolates, contains, and protects the electrical components
      • History of electrical failures that we wanted to address (metal shavings getting in components)
    • IR ball tracking
    • Motion profiling (if we get it working) - provides much more precise control over robot in auton, and simpler iteration of autonomous modes
  • Quality Award sponsored by Motorola Solutions Foundation: Celebrates machine robustness in concept and fabrication.
    • Intake
      • Robust (lexan, two pistons, lexan guide to prevent damage from side hits
      • Wall smashing test to identify and test failure before it is critical
    • Climber
      • Each side of the climb is strong enough to lift the robot (failsafe)
    • Priority list and geometry sketches between mechanisms - planning
    • Took into account manufacturing abilities before designing - planning

Non-technical

  • Engineering Inspiration Award: Celebrates outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering within a team’s school and community.
    • Big demos - Science Rendezvous, Princess St. Promenade
      • Target young children to increase appreciation at a young age
    • Run younger teams (target full range)
    • Summer camps
      • Demo FRC robot
    • Exposition events - spread FIRST as a tool to get people into engineering
    • YouTube channel to increase reach and appreciation on a global scale
  • Entrepreneurship Award sponsored by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers: Celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit by recognizing a team that has developed a comprehensive business plan in order to define, manage, and achieve the team’s ongoing objectives.
    • EVERYONE READ IT and come back later
  • Gracious Professionalism® Award sponsored by Johnson & Johnson: Celebrates outstanding demonstration of FIRST Core Values such as continuous Gracious Professionalism® working together both on and off the playing field.
    • Topping crew - designated group of experienced members who help teams in need to fix their robots and play at a competitive level, regardless of whether we are with or against them
    • Lending tools and parts to help teams in need
    • Sharing scouting database
    • Sharing knowledge through YouTube channel - eg. match reviews, scouting setup
    • Been on FUN and Ask the Expert webinars to share knowledge
    • Go above and beyond to mentor rookie teams
  • Imagery Award in honor of Jack Kamen: This award celebrates attractiveness in engineering and outstanding visual aesthetic integration of machine and team appearance.
    • Black and yellow parts (spray paint, 3D printed parts, pneumatic tubing, zipties)
    • Yellow pit
    • Yellow everything stands out
    • Waffle shoes, skirts, tights, ties
    • “Topping Crew” - thematically appropriate
    • Waffle pattern sponsor panels
    • Toaster pop intro
  • Judges’ Award: During the course of the competition, the judging panel may decide a team’s unique efforts, performance, or dynamics merit recognition.
    • OneMatch partnership
      • History
      • Name robot after a different person in need of a stem cell transplant each year
      • Spread awareness about the organization
      • Give back to communities
    • Scouting app and database, new this year
      • Streamline process, easier to organize, saves time and work
      • Fairly unique
      • Validate data by cross referencing with Blue Alliance - more accurate data
      • Better for environment
  • Safety Award sponsored by UL: Celebrates the team that progresses beyond safety fundamentals by using innovative ways to eliminate or protect against hazards for themselves and others.
    • Safety pets - cute way of encouraging people to wear safety glasses
    • Touchless hand sanitizer in pit to protect against corona virus
    • Personal hand sanitizer
    • Safety crosswords
    • Signs to remember to wash your hands and cough into elbow
    • Talking to other teams
    • Safety quiz
    • Training for tools, spreadsheet to track
  • Team Spirit Award sponsored by Fiat Chrysler: Celebrates extraordinary enthusiasm and spirit through exceptional partnership and teamwork furthering the objectives of FIRST.
    • KCHC -
    • Museum - exhibit
    • One on ones and debriefs - encourage open and effective communication
    • Updates channel to communicate well and increase teamwork

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