© KISS Institute for Practical Robotics 2003 Botball 2003 Project Management & Team Building for Botball

© KISS Institute for Practical Robotics 2003 A project is a problem scheduled for a solution. - Dr. J.M. Juran

© KISS Institute for Practical Robotics 2003 Project Management Process Build the Team Define the Problem & Generate Options Plan Implement Monitor and Control Progress Close & Evaluate

© KISS Institute for Practical Robotics 2003 Build the Team Group Development Forming  Create Ground Rules/ Key Result Statement  Gain Buy-in on Code of Conduct  Discuss Roles Storming  Establish Trust  Manage Conflict Norming  Solve Problems  Make Decisions Performing

© KISS Institute for Practical Robotics 2003 Team Building Synergy Exercise

© KISS Institute for Practical Robotics 2003 Team Building Process Oriented Roles  Leader/ Discussion Manager  Documentarian  Gatekeeper  Harmonizer / Motivator  Summarizer  Facts Relater  Initiator  Rat Hole Watcher Consider Rotating Roles among Team Members

© KISS Institute for Practical Robotics 2003 Team Building Task Oriented Roles for Botball  Programming  Building  Documentarian  Webmaster  Game board engineers  RCX Team  Handy Board Team  Integrator/Project Manager  Tester  Materials Manager

© KISS Institute for Practical Robotics 2003 Resources Personality Inventories  Kiersey-Bates (  Learning Styles Inventory  Whole Brain Learning Multi-Voting De Bono Hats Activities  Games Trainers Play 

© KISS Institute for Practical Robotics 2003 Define Problem/ Generate Options Define the Problem  Ensure the team understands the problem Consider quizzing them on the rules  Consider resources and constraints Generate Options  Brainstorming Record ALL ideas Establish evaluation criteria Evaluate

© KISS Institute for Practical Robotics 2003 Plan the Project WHAT will we accomplish? HOW will we accomplish it? WHO will complete the tasks? WHEN will tasks be completed? WHAT resources are needed?

© KISS Institute for Practical Robotics 2003 Plan the Project WHAT will we accomplish? Mission/ Key Result Statement  Write down what your robot will do (Important for documentation!)  Example  Our mission is to Win!  Our mission is to build a robot that will score points by moving all black ping pong balls into the gutter and placing the orange foam ball in the basket.

© KISS Institute for Practical Robotics 2003 Plan the Project HOW will we accomplish our mission? Strategy Statement  Write down how your robot will perform the task (Important for documentation!)  Example  Our strategy is to Win!  Our strategy is to use one robot that will scoop up the black ping pong balls and lower them into the gutter. Our other robot will use a arm to grab the orange ball then search for the basket’s post and place the orange ball in the basket.

© KISS Institute for Practical Robotics 2003 Plan the Project HOW will we accomplish it?  Strategy Statement  Task list WHO will complete the tasks?  Assign Responsibility WHEN will tasks be completed?  Establish Milestones

© KISS Institute for Practical Robotics 2003 Plan the Project Monday Tuesday Wednesday Saturday

© KISS Institute for Practical Robotics 2003 Plan the Project WHAT resources are needed?  Determine time, people, equipment needed  Consider all factors Plan for changes

© KISS Institute for Practical Robotics 2003 Implement the Plan

© KISS Institute for Practical Robotics 2003 Monitor/Control Progress Assign a Project Manager Communication Ideas  Regular team meetings Begin with Status Reports  Binder or post-it notes for changes  / Online Chat  Website

© KISS Institute for Practical Robotics 2003 Close/Evaluate Refer back to Key Result, Strategy and Plan. Schedule post-tournament de-brief Record Lessons Learned  Make back up copies! Update your Documentation Site

© KISS Institute for Practical Robotics 2003 Project Activity Key Result: Develop a complete network chart for the Botball project. Include tasks, responsible person and milestones.

© KISS Institute for Practical Robotics 2003 Suggested Milestones Week 2  Demonstrate robot’s capabilities,  Provide a game board  Provide a vehicle that moves in response to the starting light & turns off/stops after 30 seconds.

© KISS Institute for Practical Robotics 2003 Suggested Milestones Week 4  Provide full-featured robot(s) to debug and test (against other less complex bots if available) Week 6 -  Provide robot(s) tested against a simulated game (against other bots if available) Record progress on your Documentation Website throughout Botball

© KISS Institute for Practical Robotics 2003 Documentation Site Document your Botball robots’ 1.Game strategy Key Result/ Strategy 2.Mechanical DesignStrategy 3.Software CodeTasks 4.Testing proceduresTasks 5.Team assignments Assignments

© KISS Institute for Practical Robotics 2003 Documentation Site Document your Botball robots’ 6.ScheduleMilestones 7.Weekly status reportImplement/Monitor Process 8.Knowledge base for next yearEvaluation 9.Robot Names Easy to use links/site map

© KISS Institute for Practical Robotics 2003 References Donna Shirley, Managing Creativity (2001) James Lewis, Fundamentals of Project Management (1997) Performance Solutions, Team Dynamics Seminar (2000)