Since we’re not going to worlds, my team needs ideas for what to do from now until the game reveal in April.
What do y’all suggest?
- Henry 344E
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Study up, buttercup,
I would recommend learning and figuring out how to apply new ideas and concepts, both mechanical and coding-wise.
If there is anything you don’t know, this period would be a great time to learn it.
Or you could just relax after months of hard work.
(I like the first option better)
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Try maximizing your robot and focusing on building new mechs can be a great way to use the downtime between competitions. This will not only help your team to improve their building skills, but also provide an opportunity to experiment with new designs and techniques that could give you an edge in future competitions.
In addition, I would also suggest that your team take advantage of the opportunity to participate in virtual competitions or scrimmages with other teams. This can provide valuable practice and feedback, as well as help you stay connected with the VEX community during this period of social distancing.
Finally, I would encourage your team to stay positive and not lose hope. While not qualifying for worlds may be disappointing, there are still opportunities to qualify for Worlds through skills rankings or other avenues. By continuing to work hard and improve your robot, you can put yourself in a strong position to compete at the highest level when the time comes.
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What our coach is having us do is learn what every part in the room is used for and to build something with it. I am going to be honest and say that I only know how to use 20% of the parts.
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What I’m doing rn is making my coding into a more object-oriented one. I know its benefits are not that worth it, but I’m having fun while doing it and learning new things.
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We are planning on tearing down robots to the drivetrain and then experimenting with sensors each team hasn’t used before… moving some teams from block to text coding at the same time. We might also try to introduce some newer members to CAD so they have that option over summer.
Try and play around with something you are not comfortable with… yet.
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Build a drivetrain. Research build quality and make it the best you possibly can. You can use this drivetrain next season (maybe with a few tweaks) and have a nice head start. Also, start working with a PID if you aren’t already. This way, you should have a nice lead going into your first few competitions, and depending on your state, you may be able to snag a few free trophies early on.
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It’s worth mentioning that if additional spots open up, or teams can’t attend, invitations will be offered to the next team(s) in line. So don’t tear down your bot if you are close to making the cut but just below it.
I’ve go back over the past 5-7 years. See what the challenge was. Come up with bot ideas. Then watch youtube and see what the best designs actually were.
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This question is usually asked each year…here’s a thread from a prior year: Things to do off-season - #7 by kmmohn
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if your team intends on keeping its current drive train, it may be worth just practice driving it for the next season and improving code ability. Study/practice writing better journals. Get new members on the team trained (freshmen etc) and give them some experience so they can be easier to work with, and they can carry on the team in their junior/senior years.
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Idk about y’all, but we’re going to go through every single vex part we have and sort them all because whoever was using these parts before our team started existing didn’t do a good job organizing at all. It would also be helpful to know what we have before we place an order of parts for next season. After that, our robotics parts are in the same room where I have a programming class, and I need an idea for an independent project, so I’m going to try and build a non-competition truly autonomous auton that can scan the room for discs and targets and roam around shooting at them using sensors. Sort of a unofficial budget vaic.
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I’m gonna try and figure out how to use my inertial sensor with my x-drive for next year, and introduce some of my friends to vex to see if they will join next year for now. Thanks for all the answers! This definitely helped me get some ideas.
- Henry 344E
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I think this comment deserves more attention. ANYTHING you can do to increase your productivity would be at the TOP of my list… because TIME is the limiting factor 95% of the time.
Proper tools: nutdrivers, cordless screwdrivers, LONG torx driver tips, hemostat/fishing pliers save tons of time.
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Almost done organizing, but it’s been hard to convince my teammates bc they find it boring.
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James J. Hill, railroad builder…
You are doing #3 in the list.
He built railroads… some of the few to not go bankrupt.
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Making preparations for next season’s what I’m doing!
Id look into learning about different lifts and such, since it will probably be a lifting game next year.
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Try to learn different controllers or motion profilers. They’ll help you next year if you have everything set up.
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