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2019 Season Review

Sep 24, 20246 min read

2019 FRC Season Review

Pre-season

Repeat

  • Scouting workshops
  • Training/specialized workshops
  • Use kanban board
  • Have pit set up

Start

  • More workshops (September-December)
    • Scouting workshop—watch old matches, comments
    • Strategy workshop—understanding what’s important in games
    • Multiple CAD workshops!
    • Software workshops!
    • Electrical workshops!
  • Ambassador training
  • Off season project—climber
  • Attempt the CAD-a-thon
  • Increase attendance for off season meetings
  • Official recruiting program earlier in the year (open houses in spring, repeat and have in September
  • School demos at the start of school year
  • Add people to Slack at demos
  • Demos at 7&8s schools at the end of school year
  • Connect with teachers at demos
  • Have a part order in the summer to have materials on hand for build (lexan, plates, tubing, bearings, shaft, SPACERS, etc.)
  • Also wood and stuff
  • Inspect and repair pit walls
  • Better support chassis and elevator
  • Simplify as much as possible
  • Design so robot cannot go outside size limits
  • Have ¼” clearance for size on each side (height, width, length)

Stop

  • Avoid designs with subsystems that can collide if possible

Kickoff

Repeat

  • Attempt to have local kickoff event again
  • See if we can find a free space
  • Daily recaps
  • Have meetings go through lunch and dinner

Start

  • VR field view to help visualize
  • More communication between sub groups (more of a focus on it)
  • Have prototype materials ready
  • Tape markings for field elements and layout
  • Do priority list on morning of day #2

Stop

  • One group reads dimensions/visuals of game manual (and does mock-up)

Build Season

Design Stage

Repeat

  • Laser cut prototypes (but do better job of teaching drawings and checking parts over)
  • Do a better job of integrating electrical into design
  • Periodic design reviews to check things over :)
  • Every time a subsystem concept is completed, something big is integrated into a subsystem, or a draft is completed?
  • Aim high for design and cut down as needed
  • Liked Sport gearboxes
  • 3d print encoder connections
  • Keep using that IR sensor (buy some)

Start

  • Make sure we have Prototyping materials on hand before kickoff
  • Have Design leads the same throughout season
  • Better protect Sensors and Electrical components with designated guards
  • Look into better solutions for sensors (see what other teams do, reduce # of potential failure points)
  • Sensor redundancy?

Electrical

  • Don’t splice wires together at the crimp
  • Any removable part planned with connections that are done well
  • Possibly better wire? Larger Gage?
  • Remove strain
  • Confirm manufacturing capabilities and time estimates before build season (in-house and sponsors)
  • Design with those capabilities in mind, reduce delays

Elevator improvements

  • Power Elevator from both sides
  • Look into powering it down
  • Look into constant force springs (increase speed)
  • Define procedure for design decisions
  • Design Strategy, overall design, and design leads meet to discuss and decide (if consensus won’t work)
  • Have a way to decide how many spares we should order (ranking system) for each part order
  • Design with weight in mind from start

Purchasing

  • Have a Purchasing Officer to organize who orders what, keep track of reimbursements, etc.
  • Have google form for individual part orders
  • Make sure to update spreadsheet with status
  • GrabCAD/CAD
  • Have “qualified CAD people”, and anyone who works on CAD has to work with them
  • Admins vs members
  • Use grabcad locking feature and communicate about what you’re working on
  • Maybe lock full robot assembly
  • Make sure people use their own users
  • Use upload comments!
  • Create parts library
  • Educate people on folders in grabcad
  • Design with maintenance in mind (even more so)
  • Look into online CAD software maybe

Stop

  • Avoid spotting holes if not necessary
  • Avoid using beefy bolts
  • Don’t have so many people doing CAD

Manufacturing/Assembly Stage

Repeat

  • Subsystem boxes (buy nice boxes for them)
  • Good job of squaring things

Start

  • Communicate when parts come in and organize them right away to avoid losing them
  • Use part drawings for manufacturing to avoid computer hassle and keep laptops out of shop
    • Maybe have a designated person to make those
    • Print them off
  • Do more training with tools (off-season)
  • Do visual checks of everything after assembly
  • Work 1-1 or small groups with an experienced person
  • Bring better workbenches
  • Try to make the time to make cad reflect manufacturing changes

Crescent Trip & Testing

Repeat

  • Asking questions and asking for help
  • Team break
  • Air B&B staying together
  • Have a Slack channel for communication
  • Bring second robot to do defense practice

Start

  • Try to plan who and when will be there earlier on
  • Be clear on expectations for who should be there—pit crew and drive team attends unless extenuating circumstances, and anyone else is welcome to come
  • Shifts to give people breaks and avoid burnouts
  • Plan food in advance
  • Look at doing 2 weekends again?
  • Make a plan for people who are not in Toronto to keep productivity up
  • Get better at debugging
    • Have a checklist or procedure for debugging (avoid simple errors like neglecting to plug something in)
    • Maybe flow chart for failure mode analysis?
  • End update with what you tried, what ended up fixing it so that people have a better idea of what might work for future issue
  • Work on crisis management — take breaks, recentre, and discuss ideas
  • Bring in fresh minds

No Bag

  • Stick to 6-week timeline and use extra time for iteration and testing

Competitions (Logistics, Organization, Decisions, Dynamics, etc.)

Repeat

  • Keep district event food about the same
  • Team dinner in hotel at Ontario District Championship
  • Have someone organize meals for the team
  • Have someone organize hotels for the team

Start

  • Negotiate earlier breakfast time on first day (check in)
  • Book World Championship hotel block (everyone at same hotel) right as soon as they open
  • Everyone goes to World Championship Welcome Night together :)
  • Team photo on first day at Worlds (set time before event)
  • Have parent meeting in December to discuss food and hotel options
  • Game while waiting in line for doors to open
  • QFRC at same hotel as team
  • Get trailer in line 1 hour before load in starts
  • Have same people do pit setup every time (robot capable people so they can work on robot right away)
  • Have more things on wheels and combine containers (fewer units, fewer trips)
  • EVERYONE COME LINE UP EARLY FOR DOORS OPENING
  • Assign a designated group to take down pit right after being eliminated
  • Have 2 people doing data entry
  • Consider more efficient option for scouting (scantron, app, or something else)
  • At least 2 specialists for each area (code, mechanical, electrical)

Competitions (Pit and Performance)

Robot Design

  • Good past understanding of linear slide helped with this year’s ball pickup
  • Rigidity improvements for all aspects of the robot
  • Sliding hatch mechanism
  • Aluminum Baseplate
  • Consider trying welding non-critical parts
  • Bumper mounting improvements

General

  • Give people notice if you can’t attend a meeting
  • Incentive for showing up and on time
  • TAKE BETTER CARE OF TOOLS AND THINGS
  • Get more clamps
    • Maybe c clamps
  • Get drills
  • Look into better riveters (pneumatic or electric maybe)
  • Canifier

Tags:Preseasondesign

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