Get into the habit to ask these before CAD is “done”, before parts are cut, and again before competition.
This means using cheap and quick prototypes and CAD to answer overall spacing, movement, and placement questions, then moving into CAD and durable materials after the design has been decided.
Create clear goals and objectives. Study the game rules, choose a game strategy, and prioritize functions.
Document requirements and restrictions, including play dimensions, robot size, frame perimeter, bumper rules, and field/game piece needs.
Create proof-of-concept prototypes from easy-to-work materials such as foam board, cardboard, scrap wood, or spare tube.
Build the strongest candidate from medium-durable materials such as hardwood or better test parts, then test movable components.
Test against criteria, find flaws, identify new constraints, and redevelop the solution as needed.
Create the final version from durable materials such as metal or plastics, then collaborate with build members to place the subsystem on the robot.
CAD has a lot of uses. It can:
CAD stands for Computer-Aided Design. It is software used to create accurate digital models of parts, assemblies, and mechanisms before they are built in real life.
Team 5041 uses Onshape as its main CAD program. Onshape is browser-based, so students can work on robot designs from school computers, personal laptops, or Chromebooks without installing large software.
Because OnShape saves work online, multiple students and mentors can view, edit, and comment on the same robot design as it develops.
Logo: Conrado.arias, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
In REEFSCAPE, 5041 used CAD to study how high Ursula's elevator needed to lift and what angle the coral arm needed to reach so coral could be deposited onto the reef.
CAD is not just for final robot designs. It is a place to test ideas, compare versions, and improve parts before they are built.
When CAD is paired with advanced manufacturing, teams can design parts with exact hole spacing, gear placement, bearing locations, and material thickness in mind.
CAD also creates a record of what the team built and why. Drawings, dimensions, and saved assemblies help students explain the design and improve it later.
“When it gets hit, where does the force go?”
If the path includes “through a tiny bracket,” redesign it.
FRC robots take hits from many directions. A structure may handle one impact direction well but be weaker from another direction depending on how the frame members are arranged.
Strong parts do not always make an accurate robot. A part can survive and still flex enough to miss shots, bind an elevator, or throw off alignment.
Strength is whether a part can survive the load without permanently bending, cracking, or breaking.
Stiffness is how much a part resists flexing while it is being loaded. A part can be strong enough but still too bendy to work well.
Consistent angle and wheel spacing.
Parallel rails, stable pivots, hard stops.
No wobble, protected mounting.
Square frame and rigid module mounts.
Aligned shafts and tension control.
Loads travel into the frame, not thin side plates.
Each question is now on its own slide.
Answer all 20 questions, then grade the quiz. Score at least 18 out of 20 to unlock the completion slide.
You need at least 18 out of 20 to unlock completion.
Not submitted.
After passing, advance to the final completion slide.
5041 CyBear Robotics
Complete after passing the required quiz.