Review the Rules and Brainstorm

At Kick Off, we are given a set of generic and game specific rules. During the week after Kick Off, we read the rules to find out the requirements for this year’s game. The whole team meets to review the rules and watch the game theme animation video to get an even greater understanding. Next, we move into our brainstorming phase. During brainstorming, every idea is analyzed for pros and cons. The pros and cons are listed on the board and we then pick our top two designs.

Manufacturing

The team is now ready to begin building prototypes of the top two design ideas. Our manufacturing team is then divided into groups to build specific parts of the robot. While work begins on the robot, members of our BEST team begin working on marketing, engineering notebook, website, and spirit ideas.

Testing Begins

Testing begins on week three. We test both prototypes to learn what works and what doesn’t. Then, we discuss design changes for making improvements. The manufacturing and programming continue making adjustments. Meanwhile the marketing team continues working on the marketing booth and making props. Work continues on the engineering notebook, website, and spirit.

Testing Continues

After implementing design changes from week three, we continue prototyping and testing until we have a robot that can perform all required tasks. As the manufacturing team focuses on building the final competition robot design, work continues on the marketing booth, engineering notebook, website, and spirit.

Driving Practice and Interview Prep

By now, we have our final competition robot ready for our drivers. Anyone interested in being a driver or spotter practices driving. The top five students with the highest scores will be our drivers at competition. The driver chooses his/her spotter. On the BEST side of things, interview prep begins for team exhibit and interviews. The engineering notebook is finalized. Work continues on the website and spirit.

Game Day!

Game Day is finally here! Every student has a job: drivers and spotters in the pits and on the playing field, spirit team and fans cheering them on, and interview team in the marketing booth. This is what we’ve worked so hard for! We’ve had a great time over the past 6 weeks learning and applying the mission of BEST Robotics. Now it’s time to watch the hard work pay off!