Procedure

Step 1:

1. Form a team of exactly 4 students using piazza. Log on to piazza and use thread titled “Search for Teammates” to meet with students virtually. Try to form a balance between programming, electronics, and mechanical prototyping capabilities among the members. Once you have four members, join a group on BS -- click on Groups tab on your Course Page to join a group. Go in the increasing order of the group numbers. Next, fill in the team members’ information in the “Team Information Sheet” and send this sheet by email to all the TAs by the due date.

Make the subject of your email as “Team <#> - Team Information Sheet, MEC101”. Replace <#> with the actual number of your team.

Upload it under Team Information Sheet assignment on BS. Only one team member needs to submit it. Please make sure that the right members are part of your team.

It is your responsibility to get together with your classmates and form a team. If you do not have a team by the above date, you cannot start the project. Anyone not part of a team by the posted deadline will not get any credit for this project.

Team members are required to share parts among themselves to build their robot as there will be only one robot per team.

Step 2:

As soon as your team is decided, meet with your teammates and decide one project that you would like to work on as a team. The key to choosing a good project is to understand that you have finite time and limited resources to do it. Also, choose something that truly excites you and you feel passionate about. Decide one robot that you would like to design, program, and build. In addition, include a backup proposal. Make your preferences absolutely clear. Submit a single project proposal on BS using the template provided. You will submit it digitally on BS under assignment Project Proposal. This is a team assignment so only one member will need to submit it under your team number.

Step 3:

After your submission of the project proposal, I will inform you if your main or backup proposal has been approved or not by next day. If I approve it, you can start working on it right away. If not, I will ask you by email to submit another proposal. Delaying this process will leave you less time to work on your project.

Step 4:

After your project has been approved, each student must brainstorm and come up with at least two ideas (more the better) as to how your chosen robot would perform its main motion. These ideas should be sketched and documented in a design notebook that each student should have. Each student should sketch his/her own idea and then the team should meet to discuss the ideas within one week. Do not shoot down other’s ideas even if in your opinion it does not seem promising. There may be one good thing about that idea that perhaps yours or someone else’s design can adopt.

Select a design or make a new design by combining the best of everyone’s ideas. All the team members have to agree to just one design. Use your SnappyXO kit to create prototype to demonstrate the working of your idea. Be a smart salesperson – if you believe in your idea, sell it to your team-mates. This is part of effective communication. Conceptual designs have to be submitted on BS by the posted deadline.

Step 5:

Begin to prototype your design. If you need a specialized part that is not in the SnappyXO kit, you have to provide a justification for laser cutting it and submit the design to TAs by the posted deadline. It is strongly recommended that you make use of the parts that you already have instead of asking for a custom cut as this may delay your project. I will provide a template for this. All the parts drawing should fit in a single 12’’x12’’ sheet.

Step 6:

If you request a custom cut part, you will have to pick them up within a week. Assemble parts, complete the prototype with actuators, sensors, and microcontroller, program it, test it, and evaluate its performance. Testing is very important. Go back to the design or prototyping stage to rectify the problems seen during testing.

Step 7:

Demonstrate your machine in the class. You will not be allowed to fiddle or change anything at the time of demonstration. See the rules again. The machine has to be ready to be demonstrated at the touch of a switch and be removed within a few seconds after finishing its motion.

All team members have to be present while their prototype is being demonstrated, as judges may choose to ask technical questions from any member to ascertain their participation in the project. There are no exception to this. Anyone not present at the venue for demonstration of their project will not get any credit.

Once you are part of a team, you cannot change your team. You can’t complain if someone is not working on the team. If that happened, everyone’s grade in the team will suffer. Find a way to work together; that is how things are in real life. If someone did not pull their weight on the team, you will have a chance to provide a review of your teammates and that will figure in the final project grade. What this means is that it is quite possible that not all members of the same team will receive the same grade.

Step 8:

Complete Peer Evaluation. The google form link will be posted at a later date. The peer evaluation weight of the project amounts to 25%.