Resources
FIRST Team Manual
Administrative
Tips for Planning Events
- Start early
- Find out what needs to be brought on the day of the event
- Predetermine number of rides
Project Management
The use of a project management software and version control software is very important to ensure that a team meets deadlines. A project management software provides a very clear timeline of tasks and bugs, helping a team plan their build season effectively. Some project management software include PTC Windchill, Trac, and Redmine.
Version control makes it a lot easier for multiple members on a team to work together on one aspect of the robot. It also keeps a revision log in case a reversion is needed. There are many version control software available, including as Subversion (SVN), Git, Concurrent Versions System (CVS), and Mercurial.
Lynbrook Robotics uses Redmine, a project management software that supports SVN and Git. We use SVN for version controlling our robot design, C++ code, as well as miscellaneous documents.
To use a version control system, a team must use a host to serve the repositories or host it on their own web server. There are many free online private hosts, including Google Code, Bitbucket, ProjectLocker, and Codeplex. Lynbrook Robotics stores our repositories and hosts SVN on our own web server which also runs this website.
Build Season Scheduling
To make sure a team completes their robot on time before stop build day, a strict schedule must be maintained. Lynbrook Robotics uses this schedule:
- Week 1: Design Discussions
- Weeks 2 and 3: Computer Aided Designing
- Weeks 4 and 5: Machining and Assembly
- Week 4 to 1st Regional: Software Development
