AscendRobotics/AscendData · Datasets at Hugging Face

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Autonomous points reflect how many times your team earned the Autonomous bonus in your matches. If two teams have the same number of win points, the team with a higher AP will be higher in the rankings.
SP (Strength of schedule points)
Strength of schedule points reflect how good your opponents are, since it's the sum of the losing alliance's score for all of your matches. A higher SP means you've faced tougher opponents; for this reason, it's the second tiebreaker if WP and AP are the same.
Fun Stats
The usefulness of these stats can vary from year to year, but they're always fun to look at.
OPR (Offensive power rating)
A team's offensive power rating is their calculated contribution their alliance's scores, by a mathematical model. A high OPR means that team is good at scoring points in matches; higher is better.
DPR (Defensive power rating)
A team's defensive power rating is their calculated contribution the opposing alliance's scores, by a similar mathematical model. A low DPR means that team is good at keeping the opposing alliance's score low; a lower DPR is better.
CCWM (Calculated contribution to win margin)
A team's CCWM is simply their OPR - DPR. This gives a fairly good estimate to how much they contribute in matches. A team with a high CCWM is good; a team with a low CCWM may have won most of their matches, but perhaps they had good alliance partners. Thus, higher is better.


Management
Where business and Robotics collide
Team Management
In order to succeed, a good team is essential.
Delegation
Delegating team members is crucial to success, productivity, and optimal performance.
In a team there are a few roles you can designate to team members:
* Captain
* Driver
* Analyst
* Programmer
* Designer
* Builder
* Tester
* Notebooker
This isn't an exhaustive list of roles, and you can pretty much assign any role to any team member as long as it fits your team's goals and purposes. The roles listed above will exist in some shape or form in every team since every team needs people to perform these tasks.
Let's take a look at each of these roles and see what they do:
* Captain - The captain manages team operations, ensuring everyone contributes to success. They carry significant responsibility, so choose an experienced, committed member.
* Driver - Drives the robot, of course!
* Analyst - Analyzing test data and matching observations is vital for team improvement. It guides what to maintain and change.
* Programmer - Responsible for robot programming, making it functional and mobile.
* Designer - Designing the robot is vital; CAD skills are beneficial. A well-designed robot is crucial for competition success.
* Builder - Builders construct the robot based on the designer's plans.
* Tester - Conducts experiments, crucial for testing new robot parts. Data collected guides improvements, analyzed by the analyst.
* Notebooker - Creating an outstanding engineering notebook is critical, as it can lead to awards like the Design Award, a path to the World Championship in VEX Robotics.
How to delegate?
Generally, it will be the captain's job to delegate roles to teammates since it is the captain's job to manage team operations. Once again, make sure that your team's captain has the most time to devote to robotics since they will have the most commitment out of anybody else. Drivers should also be decided by a similar category to a captain in that they also need to have a lot of time to devote to the team and should ideally have a bit of prior controller experience. All the other roles should preferably be assigned based on team member preference to make sure teammates are happy with their roles. Otherwise, it will be up to the captain to decide which teammate will have the best performance in which role.




Optimal Team Size
The optimal team size is 4-5 members. This is the ideal size for team members who have time to commit to robotics. Anything more than 5 starts to result in problems; not every team member can contribute to the team.
But, this isn't a steadfast rule because there are times when smaller or larger teams can also work fine.
A team of 2-3 members can work if robotics is part of your free time and you are willing to spend numerous hours every single day in the week towards Robotics.
A team of 6+ can work if not all team members have enough time to commit to robotics, so more members allow the workload to be lighter on each teammate.
Regardless of the size of your team, you need to ask yourself the underlying question: can this team size fulfill the objectives of robotics that have been set aside?
If your answer is NO: then you probably need more members so you can complete whatever your objective is.
If your answer is YES: then you are good to go!
Time Management
Time, a clockwork conundrum!
Time is always moving and always limited. In Robotics, time management is a crucial part of success, since you always have less time than you think. Thus, it is important to allocate time effectively.
Firstly, it's important to create a plan so that your team knows what to expect and when to expect it. A good plan helps your team stay on task and lays out the foundations of what they will be doing for the foreseeable future.
One of the ways to establish a good plan is through making a timeline via a GANTT Chart.
A GANTT chart outlines the different phases of the design process and details how much time is devoted to each phase. For example, we allocated the first half of May for brainstorming and design, and the second half for prototyping.


Here is an example of a Gantt Chart which illustrates a team's timeline from when the competition is announced in May to when the first competition is in August
It is important to note that every team's GANTT Chart will be different since every team has their own unique goals that will likely vary from team to team.
Setting timely goals is the key to success.
Resource Management
Truly, your team and your time are your most important resources. But, in this section, we will go over resource management in a different sense--as it relates to physical resources like metal and motors.
Label your parts
Label all valuable electronic components, so they don't get lost, including:
* Batteries
* Battery chargers
* Brains
* Motors
Usually, if you lose a battery at a competition but have your team number on it, then some kind soul will return it to your team.


This label has saved our battery more than once!
Organize your parts
Of course! The benefits of organization are obvious; nobody wants to dig around in a box for a few minutes just to find the right screw. But seriously, organize your parts! There are many great, cheap plastic storage containers on Amazon. Many teams also use the Robosource box or heavy duty organizers with wheels.

Stuck?
That's okay, let's fix it
Along the journey of VEX robotics, it's easy to get stuck. Sometimes, your team is waiting on a part to come in, or can't figure out their design, or don't know how to build what they need. This is normal, but it's important to get out of these ruts as soon as possible, since they can stall progress for weeks or even months.
Ask yourself the most important question: what is holding your team back from moving on?
Based on your answer to the above question, here's some advice from our experience:
* Design? Watch robot reveals, matches, tournaments online. See what strategies work, and which ones don't. Ask other teams why they made their robot the way they did, and learn from them. Don't try to design it all yourself--no robot is completely original.
* Building? Again, watch robot reveals, pausing the video to see how teams built and supported their mechanisms. CAD helps a ton when building, so invest time into making one. Ask other teams for help, and don't be defensive when offered constructive criticism.
* Coding? Keep it simple--the way all good code is. Take a look at our coding tutorials, and if those don't help, ask more experienced teams. Test things one step at a time, and find where the code went wrong.
* Team dynamics? When team members disagree, it's nearly impossible to make progress. All disagreements come down to a difference in perspective--some people value good notebooks, some value original designs, some value what works in matches. Talk out your differences, find the root cause of the schism, and remember that you are all working towards the same ultimate goal. The best option is usually compromise between the two perspectives in question.

Physics
Physics works!
Physics is the study of the motion and nature of objects. Obviously, this plays a huge role in Robotics.
One of the primary concepts from physics is the idea of force. At a base level, a force is a push or pull that makes an object change direction.
* The wheels of the robot apply a force on the ground, which pushes the robot forward
* Rubber bands impart force on a catapult arm, causing it to slam upward
* An intake exerts a force on a game object, making it move in a different direction
The two most important applications of force are torque and stress forces. Torque is simply rotational force, and stress forces are internal to the robot.
Torque
What is Torque?
Torque is a vector which means its has a magnitude and a direction. At its most basic level is a measure of the force that can cause an object to rotate about an axis. Just like force causes an object to accelerate in linear kinematics torque causes an object to accelerate in angular kinematics
How do we calculate torque?

Autonomous points reflect how many times your team earned the Autonomous bonus in your matches. If two teams have the same number of win points, the team with a higher AP will be higher in the rankings.

SP (Strength of schedule points)

Strength of schedule points reflect how good your opponents are, since it's the sum of the losing alliance's score for all of your matches. A higher SP means you've faced tougher opponents; for this reason, it's the second tiebreaker if WP and AP are the same.

Fun Stats

The usefulness of these stats can vary from year to year, but they're always fun to look at.

OPR (Offensive power rating)

A team's offensive power rating is their calculated contribution their alliance's scores, by a mathematical model. A high OPR means that team is good at scoring points in matches; higher is better.

DPR (Defensive power rating)

A team's defensive power rating is their calculated contribution the opposing alliance's scores, by a similar mathematical model. A low DPR means that team is good at keeping the opposing alliance's score low; a lower DPR is better.

CCWM (Calculated contribution to win margin)

A team's CCWM is simply their OPR - DPR. This gives a fairly good estimate to how much they contribute in matches. A team with a high CCWM is good; a team with a low CCWM may have won most of their matches, but perhaps they had good alliance partners. Thus, higher is better.

Management

Where business and Robotics collide

Team Management

In order to succeed, a good team is essential.

Delegation

Delegating team members is crucial to success, productivity, and optimal performance.

In a team there are a few roles you can designate to team members:

* Captain

* Driver

* Analyst

* Programmer

* Designer

* Builder

* Tester

* Notebooker

This isn't an exhaustive list of roles, and you can pretty much assign any role to any team member as long as it fits your team's goals and purposes. The roles listed above will exist in some shape or form in every team since every team needs people to perform these tasks.

Let's take a look at each of these roles and see what they do:

* Captain - The captain manages team operations, ensuring everyone contributes to success. They carry significant responsibility, so choose an experienced, committed member.

* Driver - Drives the robot, of course!

* Analyst - Analyzing test data and matching observations is vital for team improvement. It guides what to maintain and change.

* Programmer - Responsible for robot programming, making it functional and mobile.

* Designer - Designing the robot is vital; CAD skills are beneficial. A well-designed robot is crucial for competition success.

* Builder - Builders construct the robot based on the designer's plans.

* Tester - Conducts experiments, crucial for testing new robot parts. Data collected guides improvements, analyzed by the analyst.

* Notebooker - Creating an outstanding engineering notebook is critical, as it can lead to awards like the Design Award, a path to the World Championship in VEX Robotics.

How to delegate?

Generally, it will be the captain's job to delegate roles to teammates since it is the captain's job to manage team operations. Once again, make sure that your team's captain has the most time to devote to robotics since they will have the most commitment out of anybody else. Drivers should also be decided by a similar category to a captain in that they also need to have a lot of time to devote to the team and should ideally have a bit of prior controller experience. All the other roles should preferably be assigned based on team member preference to make sure teammates are happy with their roles. Otherwise, it will be up to the captain to decide which teammate will have the best performance in which role.

Optimal Team Size

The optimal team size is 4-5 members. This is the ideal size for team members who have time to commit to robotics. Anything more than 5 starts to result in problems; not every team member can contribute to the team.

But, this isn't a steadfast rule because there are times when smaller or larger teams can also work fine.

A team of 2-3 members can work if robotics is part of your free time and you are willing to spend numerous hours every single day in the week towards Robotics.

A team of 6+ can work if not all team members have enough time to commit to robotics, so more members allow the workload to be lighter on each teammate.

Regardless of the size of your team, you need to ask yourself the underlying question: can this team size fulfill the objectives of robotics that have been set aside?

If your answer is NO: then you probably need more members so you can complete whatever your objective is.

If your answer is YES: then you are good to go!

Time Management

Time, a clockwork conundrum!

Time is always moving and always limited. In Robotics, time management is a crucial part of success, since you always have less time than you think. Thus, it is important to allocate time effectively.

Firstly, it's important to create a plan so that your team knows what to expect and when to expect it. A good plan helps your team stay on task and lays out the foundations of what they will be doing for the foreseeable future.

One of the ways to establish a good plan is through making a timeline via a GANTT Chart.

A GANTT chart outlines the different phases of the design process and details how much time is devoted to each phase. For example, we allocated the first half of May for brainstorming and design, and the second half for prototyping.

Here is an example of a Gantt Chart which illustrates a team's timeline from when the competition is announced in May to when the first competition is in August

It is important to note that every team's GANTT Chart will be different since every team has their own unique goals that will likely vary from team to team.

Setting timely goals is the key to success.

Resource Management

Truly, your team and your time are your most important resources. But, in this section, we will go over resource management in a different sense--as it relates to physical resources like metal and motors.

Label your parts

Label all valuable electronic components, so they don't get lost, including:

* Batteries

* Battery chargers

* Brains

* Motors

Usually, if you lose a battery at a competition but have your team number on it, then some kind soul will return it to your team.

This label has saved our battery more than once!

Organize your parts

Of course! The benefits of organization are obvious; nobody wants to dig around in a box for a few minutes just to find the right screw. But seriously, organize your parts! There are many great, cheap plastic storage containers on Amazon. Many teams also use the Robosource box or heavy duty organizers with wheels.

Stuck?

That's okay, let's fix it

Along the journey of VEX robotics, it's easy to get stuck. Sometimes, your team is waiting on a part to come in, or can't figure out their design, or don't know how to build what they need. This is normal, but it's important to get out of these ruts as soon as possible, since they can stall progress for weeks or even months.

Ask yourself the most important question: what is holding your team back from moving on?

Based on your answer to the above question, here's some advice from our experience:

* Design? Watch robot reveals, matches, tournaments online. See what strategies work, and which ones don't. Ask other teams why they made their robot the way they did, and learn from them. Don't try to design it all yourself--no robot is completely original.

* Building? Again, watch robot reveals, pausing the video to see how teams built and supported their mechanisms. CAD helps a ton when building, so invest time into making one. Ask other teams for help, and don't be defensive when offered constructive criticism.

* Coding? Keep it simple--the way all good code is. Take a look at our coding tutorials, and if those don't help, ask more experienced teams. Test things one step at a time, and find where the code went wrong.

* Team dynamics? When team members disagree, it's nearly impossible to make progress. All disagreements come down to a difference in perspective--some people value good notebooks, some value original designs, some value what works in matches. Talk out your differences, find the root cause of the schism, and remember that you are all working towards the same ultimate goal. The best option is usually compromise between the two perspectives in question.

Physics

Physics works!

Physics is the study of the motion and nature of objects. Obviously, this plays a huge role in Robotics.

One of the primary concepts from physics is the idea of force. At a base level, a force is a push or pull that makes an object change direction.

* The wheels of the robot apply a force on the ground, which pushes the robot forward

* Rubber bands impart force on a catapult arm, causing it to slam upward

* An intake exerts a force on a game object, making it move in a different direction

The two most important applications of force are torque and stress forces. Torque is simply rotational force, and stress forces are internal to the robot.

Torque

What is Torque?

Torque is a vector which means its has a magnitude and a direction. At its most basic level is a measure of the force that can cause an object to rotate about an axis. Just like force causes an object to accelerate in linear kinematics torque causes an object to accelerate in angular kinematics

How do we calculate torque?