Whole Team, Impact, Strategy, Build, and Programming.
Whole Team
1. Bond with your team. Bonding is one of the most important things you can do with your team, as it sets boundaries and allows for easier communication.
2. Establish a team structure. Delegating specific roles (leadership, project manager, etc.) helps majorly with the process of getting work done. Having students in leadership roles also allows for team members to have a sense of responsibility, and allow for them to have their ideas front and center.
3. Don't be afraid to ask coaches, other teams, or businesses, for help, information, or sponsorships. Asking questions is something that can be hard to do, but it's necessary in getting your team's name out there, and learning how to do new things.
4. Communication is key! Whether it's between you and your alliance partner or your teammate, communication is crucial in the world of robotics. Coaches, mentors, friends, family, and everyone else in your life, greatly appreciate when you tell them what your working on, when you need to work on something, and whether or not you require assistance. 5. Embrace changes! Things are always changing, and your team is NOT excluded from that. People graduate, the rules change, and you grow up. Excepting that a year from now everything about the game, the essay, your video, and you outreach, can and will change is crucial to your team's success. Not only should this be done on a large scale, but on a smaller one as well. Simply excepting and embracing the solutions and ideas of your teammates, coaches, and mentors, can go a long way in the long run.
6. Don't be afraid to voice your out-of-the-box ideas. Whether it seems incredibly out of reach or it doesn't sound like it'll work, making sure that your ideas, big and small, are heard is always helpful. Your ideas can be built on, they can strike up new inspiration, and they can solve problems. This is also extremely important for people who aren't necessarily in the build side of the team. People who contribute more to impact work can sometimes feel a disconnect between them and their build counterparts, and contributing to the conversation is one of the many ways to get rid of that disconnect.
7. When in need of advice, look to Woodie Flowers! Dr. Woodie Flowers was an incredible human, providing solid advice and plentiful inspiration to everyone who would listen. In times of need, think: What Would Woodie Say/Do?
Impact Specific
1. Start Planning your essays, videos, and social media posts, before kickoff. Planning out your content can be incredibly helpful when the season starts. Instead of rushing to plan, create, and market, your work, your team can get the planning out of the way so you can focus on creating and marketing it.
2. Make a calendar for events and due dates. Having a calendar for your team's events helps so much! Furthermore, having a way to map out your sub-team's due dates is super helpful.
3. Document EVERYTHING. Taking photos and videos of the projects that you and your teammates are working on is extremely helpful when you go to make a social media post, or are trying to share what your doing with others.
4. Social Media. Having an account on multiple or all social media platforms allows for public documentation, more readily available public documentation, and can help other teams and judges see what your team is doing.
5. Continue outreach throughout build season (even though it's busy). Sustaining your outreach is important in order to continue nurturing your relationship with companies/businesses for the upcoming robotics season.
6. Mention the purpose and mission of FIRST in your submissions (essay, video, etc.) This is a very important part of what we do as FIRST Robotics students, so mentioning it is equally as important. Making it known that you know, support, and spread, FIRST ideals is crucial in everything you create as a part of the Impact sub-team.
7. Mention your team's goals, improvements, partnerships, inspirations, etc. This is also an important part of what YOUR team does. It's what sets your team apart from the rest, as it showcases your creativity, charity, and outreach, within your community and others.
Strategy Specific
1. Scouting first, then strategy! Scouting is a necessary part of the strategy process, as it provides you with the information required to make a game plan.
2. Don't get stuck using the same 1 or 2 strategies. It can be hard to come up with new strategies, and it can be even harder to not stick two those 1 or 2 that work great, but its important to remember that no two teams are the same, and they definitely aren't the same as they were in the last season!
3. Use qualification matches to find the strengths and weaknesses of teams you will be working with and against on the field. Watch carefully as other teams move along the field, and take notes. The information that you gather can be used when strategizing.
4. Communicate with your alliance partner(s) between each and every match. Communication is always #1. Remember that. It goes hand in hand with planning and strategizing.
5. Embrace loss. Losing is part of the game, so be prepared for it. Obviously you want to win, but losing allows for you to see your own team's weaknesses.
Build Specific
1. Minimize shock load. When something hits another thing, small or big, it can cause major issues within the stability and structural integrity of your robot.
2. Put the center of gravity in a good spot. Putting your center of gravity in a good spot on your robot limits the possibility of flipping over during a match. 3. Design everything for peak efficiency. Don't design something that will obviously not work, make sure to consult others and create solutions.
4. When dealing with problems, write down all the issues and cross out things you can't control. This always helps find a solution for your problem, and allows for you to take a beat, and breathe.
5. Have someone else check your work. Having someone else look over your work can allow for solid constructive criticism to be made, and other people are probably going to be able to see things that you couldn't.
6. Dead axel things that see a lot of torque Remember that objects holding a part but not transmitting the power can hold onto a lot of torque.
7. Tooth engagement is important for chains and belts. Having more teeth engaged with the chains and belts allows for less error.
9. Iterate constantly. Making sure that everything is thoroughly explained allows for the code to work better and for yourself and others to more easily understand it.
10. Make sure your pocketing is withstanding the forces that are placed upon it. While pocketing can drastically reduce the weight of your robot parts, it also greatly weakens the strength of that part.
11. Modular design matters. If and when one of your parts breaks or needs to be replaced, having an easy and planned out way to remove the part and replace it is incredibly helpful, and makes the task much less taxing.
12. Redundancy = Reliability The more you test a part, the more reliable it will be in a match.
13. Minimize backlash in mechanisms. Make sure to get rid of as much looseness in your chains as possible.
14. Wires should NOT be exposed, but still accessible. Make sure that you have an easy way to access your wires when you will need to have them.
15. Prototype all systems. Prototyping is a crucial step in the design process, allowing you to have a visual idea of how your robot mechanisms should work, look, and fit, in with your other mechanisms.
16. Mechanisms should be light and compact. When your mechanisms are light-weight it allows more room for improvement, changes, and new editions, to your robot.
17. Don't cantilever anything. Cantilevering is a common mistake that can create huge issues during matches, so its best to avoid it.
18. Encode everything. Encoding can help your robot do keep better track of position of mechanisms and the robot.
19. Always adapt! Learning and improving is so incredibly important in the world of building and machining. Having an issue? Find a solution. Listen to your peers, coaches, mentors, and don't be afraid to ask people on other teams for advice, too!
Programming Specific
1. Don't reinvent the wheel. No matter what your doing, remember that you most likely aren't the first to do it, and especially not the first to struggle in doing it. Ask for help, and take inspiration from and borrow code from others.
2. ALWAYS plan before coding. Coding is something that requires a level of preparedness, so, make a plan beforehand.
3. Organize and label your code. Making your code as easy to look at is incredibly helpful to both yourself and others. Making sure that the code is user friendly helps future programmers know how to replicate and learn from it.
4. Version control Saving previous versions of everything you do allows for you to easily go back and look at what worked in the past, so you can build on that and improve.
5. Use POSI-Locks rather than crimps. Crimps are easily broken and NOT reusable, so, instead, use POSI-Locks - the next best thing. POSI-Locks are not easily broken and are completely reusable.
6. If you are using crimps, remember to check them! Crimps can be easily broken or loosened, so check them frequently to make sure they are withstanding movement.
7. Collaborate on code. Coding doesn't HAVE to be a one person job, remember that collaboration is ALWAYS recommended.
8. Keep it simple. Complexity does not necessarily mean you have a good code.
9. Always test your code before implementation. Testing your code before your team permanently implements it is an amazing idea, as it can allow for you to debug it and fix any and all issues that arise.