STRATEGY and DESIGN
Developing game strategy and robot design go hand in hand. This section covers how strategy is developed after kickoff and the concepts and philosophies of robot design.
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Training
Training
Robot Design Process
Robot Design Process
Develop game strategy
What's the expected strategy teams will use from Event 1, to State, and to World?
What's the expected competitive Cycles Per Match (CPM)?
What part of the game are must-do's and must-avoid's?
Develop Robot Design Specs
Identify design requirements and constraints based on game strategy analysis
Conduct tradeoff analysis when selecting robot specifications
Research past games for inspiration -- Steal from the Best, then Invent the Rest
Seek simple designs then simplify further
Optimize AFTER simplifying
Brainstorm Archetype and design Metas
Create list of concepts
Create hand sketches or Krayon CAD as needed
Develop concepts
Create Master Sketches to show geometry and game piece/field interaction
Create Krayon CAD to quickly show in 3D how the concept will work
Show as much proof of feasiblity as possible to avoid surprises in full CAD process
Prototype
Develop list of questions to be answered by prototyping
Prototype rapidly that allows quick adjustments
Hype Blocks allow quick adjustments: HYPE Blocks - Copy | HYPE Block Documentation.pdf
Proof of Concept: Avoid never before tried designs if possible, otherwise build proof of concept
Game Piece Behavior: Test how game piece behaves and how best to manipulate it
Robot Specs Exploration: Find optimal robot specs to be incorporated in design such as roller wheel spacing, game piece compression, game piece handoff geometry, etc
Choose concept: Use objective tools to analyze options to guide decision
Never VOTE on a design: voting is a popularity contest -- use analytical tools instead
Must meet Critical Path Concept
Decision Tools:
Pro/Cons List
Weighted Matrix
Risk vs Reward
Achieve CONSENSUS: solutions that you can live with even though you don't 100% agree with
Acquire concept approval
Develop Krayon CAD, or even better, a High-Fidelity block CAD
Communicates Design Intent to CAD team
Shows space allocation and intended components to be used
Develop full CAD
Assign subteams
Communicate Design Intent
Conduct frequent design reviews
Acquire design approval
Develop fabrication and assembly drawings
Nothing should be fabricated without drawings
CAD should not be referenced directly for fabrication instructions due to potential for version control mistakes
Critical Path Concept (CPC)
Critical Path Concept (CPC)
Karthik Strategic Principles (video) (slides)
Follow Elite/Good 10-5-2-1 Cycles Per Match (CPM) rule of thumb:
Elite - Good - Average - Low: 10-5-2-1...adjust to the game
Build within your means (AKA build within the timeline)
Skip the Dip: First event EPA nearly as good as the last
Follow KISS principle
Least Degrees of Freedom the better
Simplify first, then optimize
100% Mobile
Never immobilized on the field
Ex: Tipped over, CAN wire connection failure, RoboRIO error, inverted controls, broken swerve module build
Touch it, Own it
Able to acquire gamepiece within 1 sec after stopping
Stop, Shoot, Score (a.k.a. 100 in 1)
Able to score gamepiece within 1 sec after stopping
100% consistent shot
Game Strategy Development
Game Strategy Development
Determine how to play the game and develop phased strategies from Event 1 to World Championship
Robot Design Strategy Development
Robot Design Strategy Development
Develop robot specifications that outline design requirements and constraints
Design Concept Development
Design Concept Development
Utilize the entire team to brainstorm design concepts/archetypes that will meet the desired robot specs
Use KrayonCAD to visualize concepts
Prove general geometry against game and field element sketches/CAD
Choose concepts based on evaluation against desired robot specs
Use tradeoff list, pro/con analysis or weighted matrix
Never VOTE on design....develop CONSENSUS instead using objective, data-driven analysis
Designing Shooters
Designing Shooters
Determine needed velocity based on desired trajectory using AMBCalc or Desmos
Balance need for straight versus parabolic shots
Straight shots with no drop require high velocity and could cause bounce out
High velocity require high RPM
High RPM require more motor power and more spin up time
Determine shooter characteristics to get achieve needed velocity with acceptable spin up and recovery times using ReCalc
Additional resources: FRCDesign.org
Prototyping
Prototyping
Use prototyping to determine game object behavior and answer questions needed for robot design considerations
Types of prototyping: Choose as needed based on timeline and amount of unknowns
Proof of concept: Rapidly create full mechanism to test a concept never tried before
Behavior analysis: Find answers to variables needed for the design sketch such as type of wheels, compression amount, how to acquire/route game piece, etc
Alpha Bot: Full prototyping where a complete robot for testing before making final competition bot
Steps
Avoid random testing that has no defined purpose
Build list of questions needing answers
Plan and design prototype that includes timeline and objectives
Document results using videos and pictures
Use engineering notebook
Show proof of results that answers the questions
Popular Suppliers
Popular Suppliers
Analog Devices: https://www.analog.com/en/index.html
AndyMark: http://www.andymark.com/
Armabot: https://www.armabot.com/
Copperforge: https://copperforge.cc/
CTR Electronics: http://www.ctr-electronics.com/
Limelight: https://limelightvision.io/
McMaster-Carr: https://www.mcmaster.com/
REV Robotics: https://www.revrobotics.com/
Swerve Drive Specialties: https://www.swervedrivespecialties.com/
Swyft Robotics: https://swyftrobotics.com/
Thrifty Bot: https://www.thethriftybot.com/
West Coast Products: http://www.wcproducts.net/
Additional Resources
Additional Resources
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