1. Applying the Engineering Design Process to Competition Robotics (Or, How I learned to stop worrying and love iterative design…) By: John V-Neun

2. Who am I? John V-Neun Mechanical Engineer BSME - Clarkson University 2005 Innovation First, Inc. Lead MechE, Robotic Product Development  (I play with VEX Robotics all day...) 10 th season in FRC HS Student Participant on Team 20 - (Shenendehowa HS) College Mentor on Team 229 - (Clarkson University) Enginerd on Team 148 Why is this important? Context… Credibility (?) A little help from my friends…

3. What is FIRST? For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology Inspiration being the key word. A Robotics Competition as a mechanism for Inspiration. Show engineering as a competitive sport. “Trick” students into realizing that engineering is fun. We are going to talk about one aspect of engineering, and how we can use it in the context of the FIRST Robotics Competition.

4. What is Engineering?

5. “Following a methodical process using available resources and experience to solve complex problems.” Key Words in this phrase? – problem solving… Engineering is PROBLEM SOLVING! * Major “take-away” concept…

6. What is the Engineering Design Process? A series of steps that engineers follow when trying to solve a problem and design a solution for something… A methodical approach to problem solving. Similar to “scientific method”.

7. What is the Engineering Design Process? There is no universally accepted design process. Seems as though almost every engineer has their own twist for how the process works. Think of a recipe for banana bread. You can make it a lot of different ways. Usually starts with bananas and ends with a loaf of something. We will talk about the recipe that I use… Where did it come from?

8. The Engineering Design Process What is the first step in the process? ? ? ?

9. The Engineering Design Process Step 1 – Define the problem! Single most important step. Without knowing the problem, how can we solve it? Define the “true” problem. Get to the “root of the issue”, don’t just fix symptoms. Avoid “perceived problems”… Remember the elevator riddle…

10. The Engineering Design Process Step 2 – Generate Specifications Specification – An explicit set of requirements to be satisfied by the final solution. Typically come from two places: Design Constraints Functional Requirements

11. The Engineering Design Process Step 3 – Specification Ranking / Weighting All specs are not created equal. These are often ranked in some way. What is most important? Why? One ranking system: W = Wish (not that important, but would be nice if possible) P = Preferred (important, but the project won’t fail without it) D = Demand (Critical to the project, MUST be included) Sometimes related specifications will be created with different rankings.

12. The Engineering Design Process Step 4 – Generate Design Concepts Almost everyone does the same this when faced with a problem, often subconsciously. – Think of alternative courses of action. Formally documenting this intuitive action helps to solve complex engineering problems. Brainstorm Solutions - (more on this) Figure out the “how” for the “what” of the specifications. Two Words – Napkin Sketches!

13. What is Brainstorming? Group creativity technique Generate a LARGE number of ideas. Focus on quantity not quality. Many ideas are generated in the hope that a few good ideas will develop. Critical part of solving any problem. Record EVERYTHING, no idea is too silly. You never know what will spark a GREAT idea.

14. The Engineering Design Process Step 5 – Prototyping Make your napkin sketches “real”… The goal here is to LEARN as much as you can about the concepts and how well each functions. Prototypes designed to be crude, but functional enough to be educational. See the concept interact with the real environment.

15. The Engineering Design Process Step 6 – Choose a Concept Take the lessons learned from prototyping and make a decision. Choose a concept to go forward with. Often the “right” solution just reveals itself. Find the elegant solution. “"When I am working on a problem I never think about beauty. I only think about how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong." - Buckminster Fuller There are more methodical ways to make a decision… “Vote” is a 4-letter word!

16. Group Decision Making Volumes of work on this topic… The JVN approach: “VOTE” is a 4-letter word. Try Consensus Building An unjustified opinion is worthless! Be quantitative whenever possible.

17. Weighted Objectives Tables A tool used to help designers choose between several concepts based on a number of weighted criteria. This tool is especially effective because it makes comparisons based on what is “most important” to the designer.

18. Weighted Objectives Tables

19. The Engineering Design Process Step 7 – Detailed Design Take the concept and make it into something more “real”. The goal at the end of this is to have a design or plan that can actually be implemented or constructed. CAD Models, Assembly Drawings, Manufacturing Plans, BoMs

20. The Engineering Design Process Step 8 – Manufacturing & Implementation Depending on the design the implementation could be a manufactured product, a report, a PowerPoint presentation. Build it! Step 9 – Analyze Results Review how the implementation went. Learn what worked, what didn’t, what can be improved. Document the results.

21. The Engineering Design Process Step 1 – Define the Problem Step 2 – Generate Specifications Step 3 – Specification Ranking / Weighting Step 4 – Brainstorm Design Concepts Step 5 – Prototyping Step 6 – Choose a Concept Step 7 – Detailed Design Step 8 – Manufacturing & Implementation Step 9 – Analyze Results So we follow the recipe… pretty straight forward right? No.

22. The Key to Successful Design What is the secret to successful design? ? ? ?

23. The Key to Successful Design Design is an Iterative Process… The secret is to repeat the process or parts of the process to improve the final result. Test, Tweak, Improve. Lather, Rinse, Repeat… Jump back and forth through the Design Process, repeat steps as necessary. * - This is another of those KEY principles…

24. A More Realistic Design Process Step 1 – Define the Problem Step 2 – Generate Specifications Step 3 – Specification Ranking / Weighting Step 2a – Add more Specifications Step 3a – Re-rank Specifications Step 4 – Brainstorm Design Concepts Step 5 – Prototyping Step 4a – Brainstorm more Design Concepts Step 5a – More Prototyping Step 6 – Choose a Concept Step 5b – More and More Prototyping Step 7 – Detailed Design Step 5c – More Prototyping Step 4b – Determine more Design Concepts Step 5d – More Prototyping Step 7a – More Detailed Design Step 8 – Manufacturing & Implementation Step 9 – Analyze Results Step 4c – Back to the Drawing Board… More Design Concepts Step 5e – More Prototyping Step 7b – More Detailed Design Step 8a – Build it again… Step 9a – Test it again…. Etc… etc….

25. Iterative Design Design is an Iterative Process… So… the more iterations, the better the final solution will be? Practice Continuous Improvement Process “DONE” is a 4-letter word Celebrate Failures as opportunities for learning. My students HATE this one.

26. Iterative Design Design is an Iterative Process, but… “At some point in every design process there comes a time when it is necessary to shoot the engineer and just build the thing…”

27. How is Design like an Onion? The Design Process can have layers… You may use a “mini” design process for a small part of the overall design. You may have several parallel processes occurring at the same time, each interconnected as part of an overall system. Different layers may call on designers of different backgrounds to work together.

28. How formal should we be? This process can be accomplished with a varying degree of formality… Determine what level of detail and documentation is needed. TOTALLY INTUITIVE “All in your head” FULL DOCUMENTATION “Use the new TPS Report Cover Sheet”

29. Robotics & The Design Process… How does this apply to competition robotics? How do we implement something like this for the types of designs we do? The easiest way to show this is to talk through it… Disclaimer… this is only one possible implementation… blah blah blah… your mileage may vary.

30. Competition Robot Design This “problem” can be broken down into smaller problems that must be solved. Determine a Game Strategy Determine an overall Robot Design to fulfill this game Strategy Complete Detailed Mechanism (subsystem) Designs

31. Determine a Game Strategy Step 1 – Define the Problem How do we win matches? How do we score as many points as possible? How do we score more points than our opponents? Step 2 – Generate Specifications “Score 50 points per match” Functional Requirements & Design Constraints

32. Determine a Game Strategy Step 3 – Rank Specifications Wish = 70, Preferred = 50, Demand = 30 Step 4 – Brainstorm Design Concepts Scoring “30 moon rocks is a quick 60 points!” Step 5 – Prototyping “Stubots”, Mathematical Simulations, etc Remember, the goal is to LEARN.

33. Determine a Game Strategy Step 6 – Choose a Concept Use a WOT? – “EC only = the way to go!” Step 7 – Detailed Design Detailed match strategies. Scenario play. Step 8 – Manufacturing & Implementation Implement the Strategy somehow Design a robot to play the strategy!

34. Determine a Game Strategy Step 9 – Analyze Result “0-10… hmm…” Remember to celebrate failure! Now what was Step 8 again… design a robot?

35. Overall Robot Design Step 1 – Define the Problem How do we fulfill the chosen strategy? Step 2 – Generate Specifications Functional Requirements: “The robot can score 50 balls a match.” Design Constraints: Robot must weigh less than 120 lbs…  See Robot Rules…

36. Overall Robot Design Step 3 – Specification Ranking At some level, determine what is important… Step 4 – Brainstorm Design Concepts Step 5 – Prototyping Step 4 & 5 are linked together… This is the fun part – Play Around! (C)AD & CCAD Sketch it, try it, tweak it... IMPROVE IT. Overall Systems AND Subsystems

37. Where do ideas come from? One question almost everyone asks… “How did you come up with that?” “Where do you get your ideas?” Inspiration can come from anywhere! Look for ideas from the world around you. “Steal from the best, then invent the rest…”

38. The Power of Prototyping Some teams just “draw it, build it, crate it.” You don’t need to prototype everything, just the things you want to work. Ok, if you’ve built the same drivetrain for the past 5 years you can probably get away without prototyping it. Test in “real world conditions”. See how things interact. Find improvements early

39. Overall Robot Design Step 6 – Choose a Concept What worked best? Define “best”? How do you decide?

40. Overall Robot Design Step 7 – Detailed Design CAD Everything! Think “it” through. Maintenance, Assembly… The devil is in the details. Probably one of the longest stages in the process…

41. Overall Robot Design

42. Step 8 – Manufacturing & Implementation Build the robot… Produce marketing packets Create a maintenance plan Etc… Lot of different ways to build a robot…

43. Overall Robot Design Step 9 - Analyze Result Go to competition, see how you do! Not ideal…

44. Overall Robot Design Step 9 - Analyze Result Finish early… test at home! Check against your specs. Check against expectations. Step 10 – Iterate… I thought there were 9 steps… Don’t be afraid to go backwards. This is where the magic happens…

45. More on Iterative Design Iterate your design multiple times. Each iteration will lead to improvements. Each iteration will have less “weaknesses” than the one before it. Make Cost-Benefit tradeoffs Cost does not always refer to $$$ Ask “Designer’s Questions…” “How can I make this…?”

46. Schedule? Shmedule! How do you have time for this? “In every design process… blah blah… shoot the engineer.” Find a schedule that works for your team, and stick to it. 148 is lucky to have rapid manufacturing support. This allows us to “play around” a lot more. Use the Off-Season!

47. Kings of the Fix-it Window… Design work doesn’t stop on ship date… Constant self-evaluation & Continuous Improvement FIRST provides a mechanism for this… Who carried something new in with their 40 lbs? Scary Stuff - Not for everyone! Need to have honest “self image” What needs improving? What can we handle doing? Extremely Fulfilling – Talk about magic for the students!

48. Other Notes Extremely powerful stuff… Spread the magic! Fulfills the mission of this program. Applies to other aspects of your team… Remember the takeaways! Design is everywhere… Engineering is problem solving… how often do you solve problems? You will run through this process in your head a thousand times a day.

49. Q & A Questions? Comments? Concerns? This presentation will DEFINITELY help your performance this weekend… I’ve found that being well rested is important.