(From the Coach) These are all great tips. I like to put all my advice in the form of the question, so its less likely that I will give too much away. I also like to teach lessons as part of the class. (e.g. strength, proportional sensor use, attachment design, etc as part of the season. I see a lot of first year teams use the educational introductory design that comes with th eEd kit. I suggest you use the one from rebrickable linked below -- the only things not in the basic box are the wheels, and its much more functional than the intro kit. For those who want a summary, here's what I think you said, with a bit of editorializing: Follow “turtle design” with drop on attachments rebrickable.com/mocs/DavidLuders/fllying-turtle-ev3-robot Take photos of the Robot and attachments after each practice Carry the robot in a box to and from the table Keep the robot on the field as much as you can Have a button pushing program/sequencer/master program “Always use jigs”, I would say align the robot with the wall, lines, angles, distances etc. Programming: The difference between break and coast Difference between steer and coast. Usually coast, not break (this depends) Use the Gyro -- make sure the robot is completely still when starting (we do a reset/calibrate at the start). Use Bluetooth -- and check out the sensors/motors on the computer for debugging Put in sounds (I would add -- play them in parallel; sometimes playing in series wrecks the sequencing fo the mission) Motors (and gyro) run differntly depending on the battery level - run consistently at high battery levels. Bending the wires severely can cause connection problems There is always slop in the connections (Small wheels reduce slop, btw) 5-6 kids per team is optimal unless they are older Put kids in pairs, have them build/use the same base robot, and work on different mission sets (Sorties) via attachments. Then combine and practice a couple of weeks before the competition Look at the rubrics Judges rank each team on each scoring section, with low score wins (could differ by region however). For advanced teams, don’t use dead reckoning, use landmarks (lines, square up along the side of the board, distances, etc) Watch motor angles for stall detection, and correct and move on to next task.
(From the Coach)
These are all great tips. I like to put all my advice in the form of the question, so its less likely that I will give too much away.
I also like to teach lessons as part of the class. (e.g. strength, proportional sensor use, attachment design, etc as part of the season.
I see a lot of first year teams use the educational introductory design that comes with th eEd kit. I suggest you use the one from rebrickable linked below -- the only things not in the basic box are the wheels, and its much more functional than the intro kit.
For those who want a summary, here's what I think you said, with a bit of editorializing:
Follow “turtle design” with drop on attachments
rebrickable.com/mocs/DavidLuders/fllying-turtle-ev3-robot
Take photos of the Robot and attachments after each practice
Carry the robot in a box to and from the table
Keep the robot on the field as much as you can
Have a button pushing program/sequencer/master program
“Always use jigs”, I would say align the robot with the wall, lines, angles, distances etc.
Programming:
The difference between break and coast
Difference between steer and coast. Usually coast, not break (this depends)
Use the Gyro -- make sure the robot is completely still when starting (we do a reset/calibrate at the start).
Use Bluetooth -- and check out the sensors/motors on the computer for debugging
Put in sounds (I would add -- play them in parallel; sometimes playing in series wrecks the sequencing fo the mission)
Motors (and gyro) run differntly depending on the battery level - run consistently at high battery levels.
Bending the wires severely can cause connection problems
There is always slop in the connections
(Small wheels reduce slop, btw)
5-6 kids per team is optimal unless they are older
Put kids in pairs, have them build/use the same base robot, and work on different mission sets (Sorties) via attachments. Then combine and practice a couple of weeks before the competition
Look at the rubrics
Judges rank each team on each scoring section, with low score wins (could differ by region however).
For advanced teams, don’t use dead reckoning, use landmarks (lines, square up along the side of the board, distances, etc)
Watch motor angles for stall detection, and correct and move on to next task.