6.270 Autonomous Robotic

Competition

IAP 2003

Advice

Start Early I know this theme is repeated over and over again but surely there is a reason for this. It takes forever to first come up with the design that satisfies you and the requirements of the game. Then it takes just about the same long to test and debug your robot. And yet at the end (if there is ever any end to this) you are never perfecty happy with the design. In order to get as close to full happiness as possible start early and work agressively.

Experiment Provided you started early and you have lots of time to do it. You need to incorporate sensors as early as possible into your structure and of course code and test them (early!). You will run across a bunch of bugs but that's ok, because you gave your self time to fix them. So, try different designs, test them, improve, explore, develop and then again try, test, improve.... Don't be afraid of moving slowly, be afraid of standing still.

Keep consistent Whenever you have a choice between a simple idea that works 90% of the time and a really unusual one that seems to beat all the possible opponents and score maximum points for you but works only 40% of the time, go for the first one. Not that we had any of these, but consistency is all what matters. Your robot should be predictable at all times (unlike ours). Usually it is a simple, well implemented, consistent strategy that allows you win 6.270.

Have fun No matter what you can think during IAP it is all for fun. Don't freak out and take it on you team mates if your robot can't line navigate or start. When you are getting frustrated just take a break. After all, what matters is what you learn in the course and how much you are enjoying it. Nobody will remember these defects with turning. Like Linux says: "all for fun".