Totally true Fredrik - thats what makes FLL so fun! The kids sometimes get too particular about everything - I tell them that variations effect everyone and trial and error is the name of teh engineering game - thats why we invented the safety factor (overengineer to be on the safe side). On Tue, Nov 25, 2014 at 8:14 AM, Fredrik Nyman <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > I think that you can generalize the lesson even more, into "variability is > built into the robot game, and the key to success is building robust > solutions that take that into account". > > Consider: from game to game (on the same table), battery power level might > change. Models might be put in slightly different positions, and the robot > might be in a slightly different starting position. > > Between tables, additional factors come into play: the illumination is > different, the mats aren't the same distance from the walls, and so on. > > Then there's the variability built into the equipment: traction will vary > from tire to tire, there's slack in the motor gearing, and so on. > > (Calibrated) sensors will help you build robust solutions, as will simple > things like starting jigs and bumpers so that the robot can drive into a > wall to square up itself. > > On Tue, Nov 25, 2014 at 5:44 AM, John Davison <[log in to unmask]> > wrote: > >> As part of our rookie lessons learned for next season, does anyone have >> thoughts about the pros and cons of using rechargeable vs. regular >> batteries? Early on, we found that our robot performance varied quite a >> bit based on how fresh the batteries were, and we seemed to be burning >> through lots of regular batteries. So we switched to rechargeable >> batteries soon before the competition, but then had to tweak our >> programming because the output of rechargeable batteries is different from >> regular batteries! If we stick with rechargeable batteries for our next >> robot design, are there any potential problems or downside that others have >> experienced? >> >> John Davison >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >> -- To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE your settings, please visit >> https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or >> leave the list". >> >> -- VADCFLL administrative announcements are sent via >> VADCFLL-ANNOUNCEMENTS-L. Visit >> https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-ANNOUNCEMENTS-l.html to >> subscribe. >> > > ------------------------------ > To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE your settings, please visit > https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or > leave the list". > VADCFLL administrative announcements are sent via VADCFLL-ANNOUNCEMENTS-L. > Visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-announcements-l.html to > subscribe. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE your settings, please visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or leave the list". -- VADCFLL administrative announcements are sent via VADCFLL-ANNOUNCEMENTS-L. Visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-ANNOUNCEMENTS-l.html to subscribe.