Day 2 thru 4: Robot Architecture Phase

This occurs the Monday following kickoff

Schedule

Part 1 (Winter Break)

Monday (9am to 9pm)

Time Duration
9:00 am 30 min Review weekend insights
9:30 am 30 min Re-watch game animation/field tours
10:00 am 30 min Add to feature importance
10:30 am 2 hr Rank feature importance list
12:30 pm 30 min Lunch
1:00 pm 15 min Break (Mentors create Architecture Groups)
1:15 pm 1.75 hr General Robot Architecture Creation - Round 1
3:00 pm 30 min Dinner
3:30 pm 2 hr General Round 1 Robot Architecture Presentation
Consolidation/Feature Importance Checkoff
5:30 pm 30 min Clean up
6:00 pm - Meeting ends

Part 2 (Winter Break)

Tuesday (1st Day Back, 3:45 to 9pm)

Time Duration
2:30 pm 15 min Review Team Updates (Manual Updates)
Re-watch game animation
2:45 pm 15 min Review feature importance list
3:00 pm 50 min Re-present concept ideas
3:50 pm 1 hr Break into two groups
4:50 pm 40 min Present ideas
15 min per group
Last 5 min,cover feature importance list
5:30 pm 15 min Break
5:45 pm 15 min Find similarities and differences
Similarities are locked in
6:00 pm 30 min Comparative analysis spreadsheet of differences (features vs complexity)
Define ACTIONS of contention
Break down by mutually exclusive mechanisms
6:30 pm 15 min Design Decided, Split Architecture into Mechanisms
6:45 pm 15 min Break
Mentors Make Mechanism groups
7:00 pm 30 min Work on base structures/variable prototypes in groups
Software creates base robot/structures code
7:30 pm 15 min Clean up
7:45 pm - Meeting ends

Part 1 (Non-Winter Break)

Tuesday (3:45pm to 9pm)

Time Duration
3:45 am 15 min Regroup Weekend Insights
4:00 am 15 min Re-watch game animation/field tours
4:15 am 30 min Review/Add to feature importance items
4:45 pm 1.5 hr Feature Importance List ranking/answer design consideration questions
6:15 pm 30 min Dinner (Mentors create Architecture Groups)
6:45 pm 1.5 hr Round 1 - General Robot Architecture Creation
8:15 pm 15 min Presentation Retrobot Example
8:30 pm 30 min Go back into groups and finalize presentations
9:00 pm - Meeting Ends

Part 2 (Non-Winter Break)

Wednesday (3:45 to 9pm)

Time Duration
3:45 pm 15 min Review Team Updates (Manual Updates)
Re-watch game animation
4:00 pm 15 min Review feature importance list
4:15 pm 30 min Group 1 Archetype Presentation, Feature Importance Satisfaction/Complexity Ratings
4:45 pm 30 min Group 2 Archetype Presentation, Feature Importance Satisfaction/Complexity Ratings
5:15 pm 30 min Group 3 Archetype Presentation, Feature Importance Satisfaction/Complexity Ratings
5:45 pm 30 min Identify design driving mechanism for each archetype
6:15 pm 15 min Narrow down to 2 Archetypes, Complexity vs Feature importance list vs similarity
6:30 pm 30 min Dinner (Mentors make round 2 Groups)
7:00 pm 15 min List all minor mechanisms from all archetypes/provide sample round 2 slides
7:15 pm 1.5 hr Begin round 2 archetypes creation (make best full robot with design driving mechanisms)
8:45 pm 15 min Clean up/Have Slides ready to present on friday
9:00 pm - Meeting ends

Part 3 (Non-Winter Break)

Friday (3:45 to 9pm)

Time Duration
3:45 pm 15 min Review Team Updates (Manual Updates)
Re-watch game animation
4:00 pm 15 min Review feature importance list
4:15 pm 30 min Group 1 Archetype Presentation, Feature Importance Satisfaction/Complexity Ratings
4:45 pm 30 min Group 2 Archetype Presentation, Feature Importance Satisfaction/Complexity Ratings
5:15 pm 30 min Narrow down to 1 Archetype, Complexity vs Feature Importance List
5:45 pm 45 min Minor Mechanism Analysis/Complexity Ratings, Choose which minor mechanism to start with
6:30 pm 30 min Dinner (Mentors make mechanism groups)
7:00 pm 2 hr Mechanical splits into variable prototyping/protobot groups
Software lists out states, guess motor counts, define motor categories, assign motors to states, create issues by clustered categories, protobot skeleton code, assign buttons
9:00 pm - Meeting ends

Philosophy

  • Say, this scoring element is similar to a past game
  • Say this climb is similar to this past game
  • Come up with a robot that does all of these
  • Each mechanism has video behind it, ex 2020 bot with, a 2019 climber
  • When they present the robots structure, “we are doing a 2020 style robot, with and under the bumper intake, elevator climber, and shooter in center with turret”

What is an architecture?

  • General 2D view
  • Bounding boxes
  • Types of motion (ex pivots/degrees of freedom)
  • Example: This is where the intake will be, this is where shooter will be. Intake is arm intake is elevator etc...
  • Base structures - things like arms, elevator, drivetrain

General Robot architecture rankings

  • Present them, give descriptor name, 2-3 people present
  • Go in depth about each mechanism

Whole group discussion

To decide on designs, look at feature importance list, and see which easily accomplish the highest features are - add complexity (Quantified via fundamentals list), failure modes

  1. Which architectures are super similar? Which to combine?
  2. Ask about mechanism mergers/ideas, “ie this is a better version of what I found”
  3. Does it meet all requirements? (offseason only)
  4. How many 5 features, how many 4 features, how many 3 Features, 2 Features, 1 Features does it satisfy
  5. Add them up (Test)
  6. Add complexity rating to architecture, (test)
    • Define complexity, Ex # of pivots/motion
  7. Compare features vs complexity ratings
  8. Reduce down to two architectures,
  9. Make new groups
  10. Tailor this architecture to this game even more
    • Think additional functionality, pass throughs, etc to save cycle time
    • complexity reductions, combine mechanisms
    • Steal ideas combine mechanisms
  11. Present again
  12. Total up the complexity and feature totals
  13. Narrow down

Fundamentals List

  • What’s quickest
  • What’s most reliable
  • What are failure modes
  • Invalid geometry
  • Collisions
  • Out of frame
  • What is simple
  • What are failure points
  • Motors
  • Chains
  • Pneumatics
  • Sensors
  • Durability
  • Size/packing/weight/volume (extension limit/bumper rule)
  • Does it meet feature importance list criteria
  • Susceptibility to defense

Research Recommendations

How to research robot designs (suggested order)

  1. Find similar old games (FRC, FTC, VEX)
  2. Find successful robots from that game (TBA, champs)
  3. Match footage
  4. Watch robot reveals
  5. Behind the bumpers
  6. Look at Ri3D

Variable prototypes designs

  • Compression values, rough geometry
  • On slots, 8020, hole patterns etc.
  • Mounts to frame, for electronics
  • Made out of HDPE