Design Tips Navigational Aids for the Journey of Creation

Designing Robust Robots Requires: Logic Process Productive Originality Defining why ideas do or do not make sense Thinking, visualizing, building and testing. Trading on the currency of being focused and working hard. Creative success comes from making a commitment and making It work! Desire Passion gets you through the hard parts of journey

The Great 8 Select the Best IdeasVisualize the Ideas Understand the Problem Develop IdeasEvaluate Build and Test Create Drawings Integrate Mix and Match the Steps, but Understand the Problem

Reduce Risk Factors

The 5 Budgets Rule the Design Process Time Budgets Weight Budgets There is never enough so use it wisely. Make GANNT CHARTS You can’t do everything. Make smart choices about what your robot will do and how it will do it. Money Budgets Nuff said.

Knowledge Budgets At the start of the project cycle, trade some Time for Knowledge. Work within your knowledge budget.What you don’t know can and will hurt you! Power Budgets Big motors, high speed and torturous torque curves need big batteries. Big batteries impinge on weight budgets. Honor the run time constraints! Analyze your battery and motor combinations The 5 Budgets Rule the Design Process

Understand the Problem It’s the game…..smarty! KNOW THE RULES!

Know the GAME Talk about the game….a lot. BotBall FIRST Trinity Fire Fighting BattleBots IQ Texas Best And the Rules that Govern the Play

Ask Essential Questions About the Game. How can the game be won? How can the game be lost? These are good starter questions. There are thousands more How long is a game ? How fast do I have to move to score?

Brainstorming is About Developing Ideas Develop and Share Ideas Lots of Ideas

Write Statements About the ‘Bot Write 100 things about the robot, write them, write them on a plane, write them, write them on a train, write them, write them until you go insane! Copy them in your design notebook

Create Specifications Maneuverable Fast 4 Wheel Drive Use Pneumatics to Lift Opponents Differential Steering What does your machine have to do to play? Clearly describe what your robot will do and be

Know WHAT your Robot will do Know HOW your Robot will do it. Before You Build Recognize design trade-offs Time/Money/Knowledge/Power/Weight Anticipate problems Study Mechanisms and Materials Build and Test Assemblies

What comes first. What comes before How These are not questions

Ask Essential Questions About the Stuff You Need to Build a ‘Bot. How do I make wheels and axles move? How much power can the motors produce? Think of a few hundred more.

Visualize the Prize Use CAD Skills to Parallel the Prototyping Process Make Sketches of the Ideas Combine and Analyze the Ideas

Develop Multiple Solutions Play the solutions against each other using “What if” scenarios Search for the best solution, then make it better

Build Test and Evaluate Build a Drive Train and Test It Build things that work, and work and work Make a Controllable Platform Put 100 lbs on it Test and Evaluate the Sub-Assemblies Make modifications and changes

Compare Ideas Rationally 4 Wheel Drive2 Wheel Drive Make a Decision Matrix Time Money Knowledge Power Weight Two wheels have advantages with respect to the 5 Budgets

Do the Math W = WHAT you want the machine to do H = HOW you expect the machine to do it CD -10 = What the machine CAN DO given the available time and resources (W/H) x CD -10 = Your Machine

Simple is Often Elegant E = mc 2 Good designers understand the power of simple elegance

Combine Subassemblies Integrate the Parts

Test It, Evaluate It Refine the Design

Think Build TestEvaluate Modify

Refine the Design Deliver a Working Robot on Game Day “Win the Crowd Maximus…….”

Play With the ‘Bot and Learn to DRIVE You worked for this, enjoy the games