DEWBOT X Design Philosophy
From DEW Robotics
More so than in any past year, the team pursued perfection in executing DEWBOT X's design and construction. This can be best seen in the attention to detail, the modularity and serviceability of the robot. It is also visible in the repeated renditions of some parts, which we made over until just right.
Contents
Our inspiration
- During 2013's Einstein Semifinal 2-2, alliance captain 303's (Test Team) battery cable failed, leaving us one robot down for the match. 3476 (Code Orange) and ourselves put up a determined fight, but lost this match 200-225. While it is impossible to say that we would have won (and moved on to finals) had this not happened, it made it absolutely clear to me that if we had the ambition to continue to play at this level of competition, then any failure could become (competitively) fatal and that there was no detail too small for attention.
- This further reminded me of a 2012 visit the team made to sponsor UTC Sikorsky's Coatesville plant. I was very impressed by the attention to the processes which assured quality to the helicopters produced there. Of course, with any aircraft, quality is literally a matter of life and death. So impressed as I was, I did not immediately see how this focus on quality applied to us. After all, we just make and compete with robots! No-one dies if our robot breaks.
- Our 2013 Einstein experience, together with the team's hard goal to Go back to Einstein in 2014 and do it right crystalized the acute need for quality in our "product". Now that we finally get this, I hope we don't forget it.
