Task: At the conclusion of the 2011-2012 Vex Competition Season, the
members of C.O.R.E. conducted an after action review in order to pass down
lessons learned from this season to future club members. This process is used
in order to analyze what happened, why it happened, and how it can be done
better, by the participants and those responsible for the project. The results
of this AAR will be critical in the preparation for the 2012/2013 VEX Competition
Season.
In Attendance
Members of the Mt.SAC C.O.R.E:
Kevin Chavez, Stephen Espinoza, James Lam, Hamed Nichi, Patrix
Stanley, Vincent Vendiola,
Aaron Victoria, Alejandro Weiner, Kyle Yu, and Michelle Zazueta
Location: Mount San Antonio College VEX Room, Building 61, Room
3361*
Date: 21 April 2012
Primary Task Reviewed: VEX Competition Season
Sustain: What did we do well?
§ Scouting the event to be
comfortable with the surroundings
§ Cooperation with
OCC/CSUN, when our cortex malfunctioned, we borrowed their cortexes in order to
compete. We showed gratitude and support for their teams in order to keep
connections
§ Assigning tasks during
the competition
§ Getting ideas from other
schools and networking
§ Budget Management and
working with the parts we already have
§ Made practice field from
spare parts
§ Proving our design was
plausible
§ Cross-check each other.
Wake up calls in the morning and make sure everyone is on schedule
Improve: What can we do better?
§ Time management
§ Start the engineering
notebook early
§ Do not make major last
minute changes to the robot or programming. There is not enough time between
competitions to test.
§ Finish the mechanical
work early so programmers have time to develop a full program
§ Communication: Agree as a team, don’t
take things personal, be respectful, “freshmen effect” – poor cooperation and
communication inherent in rookie teams, don’t put down people’s ideas or
opinions without research
§ Provide strict deadlines
§ At competition, track
personnel: make sure you let people know where you are going if you leave the
pit so we don’t have to scramble to find you
§ Leave the pit early
enough to avoid running, VEX competitions usually run AHEAD of schedule. Be
mindful of surroundings: when moving from the pit to the field, have people
designated to hold on to the robot(s)
§ Top teams did designs we
originally thought were unfeasible, test every idea!
§ Finish one robot before
jumping to another
§ Do not split into two
groups for each robot, we are one team.
§ Define leadership roles
Lessons Learned: Programming/Mechanical/Leadership
§ Test sensors separately
prior to mounting
§ Limit motors used on the
power expander, 4 at a time is a was a difficult load
§ Faraday Cage: Metal surrounding
the VEXnet key limits reception at a distance. Use a USB A to B cable to mount
the key high and away from metal.
§ Design Note: Ability to
strafe without purchasing mecanum wheels
§ Have a low center of
gravity to avoid tipping
§ Consider the ease of
repair when designing, especially replacing clutches
§ Spread out the load on
the brain to avoid frying it. Do not put heavy motors on ports 1-4 only.
§ Be comfortable with
competition rules. Do not risk being out of spec; a few top teams in the finals
round was disqualified for this.
§ Stay away from line
sensors; they are too slow. Prefer quadratic encoders
Future Plans to Sustain the Club
§ Success book
§ Camera
§ Inventory, Clean, and
Organize VEX Room
§ Collaborate with other
local colleges for scrimmages
§ Build a low-cost
practice field
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