Next robotics season will be my third season. I am normally a programmer, but with so many seniors graduating and so few experienced people left, I decided it would be a good idea to learn how to build a little bit as well. Throughout the other two robotics seasons, my teams have had problems producing high quality designed and engineered robots. Is there any advice on what makes a robot design good quality (able to win design award) or bad quality?
The Purdue Sigbots Wiki helps a lot, here’s their document on the engineering design process, notebook, and interviews. All of which contribute to the Design Award. The Judging Process
These posts all have some great tips on how to build good robots, and how to make a strong and reliable drivetrain.
So this year, I’m taking a more major role in building the robot. In the past, I’ve built small parts of the robot and even an entire robot in tower takeover but I always had a “good” builder next to me telling me what I missed and what to do next or it was just absolute garbage (what I built in tower takeover). Anyways, I was hoping some experienced builders could share some basic tips to ensure what I build is not horrible and maybe even considered good build quality.
Creating a Basic Drive
The drive is the most important part of a robot, without a solid foundation to build on, everything else becomes useless. So for a brand new team, creating a drive which is solid is going to be one of the first hurdles needed to have a decent robot. A few years ago I made a few topics about making competitive, high quality drives (which debatably, neither were).
Quality Drive #1
Quality Drive #2
As outdated and lacking as these resources are, I do still think they have…
A topic I created almost a year ago, designing a quality drive , has been a relatively frequently used resource. While I believe it’s still relevant as a resource, I’ve learned much since then and I felt it could use an update. So here we go, designing another quality drive.
Quality Drive Version II:
[Quality Drive v2.1 Isometric White]
Design Process Here I’ll be detailing the process of designing this particular drive, and explain why it is how it is.
Size
I chose to make this particular dri…
Designing a Quality Drive
A drive is the foundation of any robot, and as such it is crucial to have a quality drive if you want to have a quality robot. Yet, many newer teams struggle significantly with making a solid drive, and I’ve realized that each time someone asks for help or feedback on their drive, we have to re-explain how to properly construct a drive each time. This makes me think that the vex forum would greatly benefit from a topic that details how to make a proper drive.
Using C…
Thanks to all of you. That helps a lot.