Got A Plan?

Working as a team is different than working by yourself.  When you work as a team communication is important.  Planning is also important. 

This year I've asked my team to draw up their ideas for the robot and its attachments.   I wanted a plan before they started to build.  It seems most would rather skip this step and get right to building.   For beginners that is probably fine.  (Sometime I think you need a little experience before you can plan).   But my team this year is an older team.  This is the 5th year of FLL for two of my team members.  

It is better to discuss the ideas for the robot before beginning to build.  With the same plan in everyone's head  all can work to make it a reality.  A sketch will do or if desired you could use Lego Digital Designer, a free CAD program for making LEGO creations.  If that is too much, even a list of things the robot should have, a requirements list, would be a good start. 

For planning the programming steps, an image of the field is helpful.  We layout the route of the robot on this image.  You can get one on the FLL site (see our FLL Resource Page for a direct link).  You can print these out and draw on them.  We've laminated them in the past so that we could draw on them with a wet erase marker.   But lately we've been loading them into OneNote or Paint and drawing on them that way. 

Can you imagine what a house might look like if we didn't use a plan?  It probably wouldn't turn out very good.   Without a plan at the beginning, the parts probably wouldn't fit together very well.  It's just not the way it's done!  Working without a plan takes more time and money. 

Sometimes our designs and programs are modified and changed and then modified again on the fly.  Too much of this adding on to something makes for a bad design.  You've probably been in a building that has been added on to time after time.  It doesn't look good and the flow isn't good.  When you need to make a change to your design, go back to the drawing board.  Plan it out.  Do you still have an even weight distribution?  Can you still access the battery?  Don't loose sight of the big picture.

Planning happens all the time by many.  A writer starts with an outline.  A programmer starts with a flowchart.  The traveler plans their route.  Builders use blueprints.  Gamers have a strategy.  A money manager has a budget.  Busy people have a schedule.  Can you think of more examples?

A plan lets everyone know where the team is headed.  It's an important step to having a successful outcome.  Even though it takes time to plan, you'll save time in the long run.