Your season plan
Plan the first six meetings, protect testing time, and leave the team ready for next year.
A plan sets out what the team needs to finish and when. Start from your first event date and work backward. Include schoolwork, holidays, room access, delivery times, and the adults available to supervise.
The first six meetings
This is a suggested sequence, not a requirement to finish a in six sessions. A new team may spend several meetings on one step. , , administration, and records can continue alongside the robot work.
| Meeting | Main work | A useful result to leave with |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meet the students and coaches, explain , and contact the organizer. | A shared goal, meeting time, and list of registration tasks. |
| 2 | Plan costs, check the room and equipment, and learn safety procedures. | A , tool list, and agreed supervision. |
| 3 | Learn the game, compare tasks, and sort the build kit. | A realistic robot goal and a started drive base. |
| 4 | Assemble and wire the base with checks. Try the while waiting for hardware. | A wiring table and a safely checked controller setup. |
| 5 | Run a simple drive program and make the practice plate in CAD. | A moving drive base and an editable first CAD part. |
| 6 | Test a simple scoring and record the results. | A design decision, photographs, and the next build tasks. |
If the kit has not arrived, use the simulator, CAD exercise, rules discussion, budget, and outreach planning. Do not let every student wait for one missing parcel.
Plan backward from the event
Use a milestone, a clear result you want by a particular date. Choose results people can check: “robot completes ten test ” is clearer than “robot nearly finished.”
Put these milestones on your calendar:
- Registration, permission forms, and event entry are complete.
- The drive base and basic controls work.
- The chosen scoring task works on the whole robot.
- A short routine has repeatable results.
- The portfolio is readable and ready for submission.
- Students have rehearsed the interview and complete practice matches.
- The robot, , packing, and transport are ready.
Leave a buffer, spare time for a delay or repair. Avoid scheduling the first complete robot test for the night before travelling.
Work in parallel, then test together
Parallel work means different jobs happen at the same time. While builders assemble the base, programmers can learn the tools and document the configuration. Other students can practise CAD, plan a workshop, or contact supporters with adult approval.
Schedule regular time. When a is mounted, test it with the drive base, wiring, and real controls. Update the CAD and portfolio record when the physical robot changes.
Keep a visible list of current tasks rather than a huge list of ideas nobody has agreed to build. At each meeting, choose the few jobs that most help the next milestone.
Protect practice time
As the event approaches, focus on fixing failures and practising the robot you have. A design freeze is a team decision to stop major new design work for a period so the current robot can be tested. It is not a ban on necessary repairs.
Keep a reliable code version and record exactly what is installed on the robot. If you try a late change, leave time to repeat the affected tests and restore the previous version if needed.
Ask the and interview speakers what they need to practise. They should not meet the finished robot or portfolio for the first time at the event.
After the event
Hold a retrospective, a meeting about what happened and what to change. Let each person name something that worked, something that was difficult, and one change worth making. Use the match log and judging feedback instead of relying only on how the event felt.
Thank supporters, settle expenses, organize photographs, and back up the code and CAD. Check the equipment for damage before storing it. Give newer members time to learn tasks that only experienced students handled during competition.
Prepare a handover, the information someone needs to take over a responsibility. Include where files are stored, how to access team projects, the parts inventory, useful contacts, and the robot's known problems. Keep private information under the right adult control.
Choose what to learn next
Use Engineering to improve mechanisms and manufacturing, Programming for more capable robot code, and Portfolio to improve the way you explain your season. Choose the topic that solves your team's next real problem.