North Texas Regional Postmortem

By Ethan, Charlotte, Abhi, Janavi, Evan, Ben, Jose, Justin, Karina, Bhanaviya, and Arjun

Task: Analyze what went wrong at North Texas Regionals

We performed really well at Regionals; we actually won our first game of the season and ended 4-2 and were selected for an alliance. But, we still didn't do everything right. We were on the verge of not being chosen for Inspire, and we can't risk the same at Worlds.

Problems:

The Robot & Code

• Auto & Setup
To begin, we had issues with preparing our robot, particularly that we didn't have enough practice setting it up for autonomous. As well, we didn't have a way to verify that the setup was correct.

• Initial Code
We had high pings at the tournament, so we plan to reduce our telemetry to two lines. As well, our control scheme was too complicated, and we need to simplify it.

• TeleOp
The robot kept tipping because of the complicated management of three systems. When in motion, angular momentum is conserved, making it hard to manage the robot and keep it upright. As well, we couldn't see the minerals in the intake.

• Build
Again, we couldn't see the minerals in the intake. As well, the carbon fiber intake rod broke along with the battery and phone mount. These all necessitate redesigns. Finally, our wiring was out of hand.

Pit Interviews

• MXP was not set up for Motivate judges
• Missed groups of judges looking for our robot several times
• Didn't let judges leave when they wanted to - kept on talking

Pre-tournament Preparation

• Presentation
We hadn't practiced the robot demos; our IMU demo worked but the latch demo didn't. As well, we hadn't done a runthrough before handing out items from our presentation box. So, more thorough presentation practice is needed.

• Engineering Journal
The team as a whole needs to focus on getting their blog posts in on time. It's hard to prepare the journal when not all posts needed for it are present. As well, we forgot to print the cover sheet for the control award.

Pit Setup & Conduct

• Ugly Pit
Our signs were disorganized and not easy to view, and our pit in general was a mess. We didn't have handouts, and our activities were off-topic.

• MXP Setup
Even though the MXP is a centerpiece of our presentation, we left it wrecked after we unloaded all of our materials and making it too dirty for a tour.

• Team Members
A few team members were not actively participating at the tournament, giving a bad impression for the judges.