Meeting October 2

 Agenda

Overall schedule: 5 weeks before the match

Week 0: "Day 1 "

Quick update on current progress:

    1. Robot building

      - Base robot is done. However, it needs more improvement.

        - Front attachment docker is not stable. Can't attach the heavy attachment (entire robot leans forward due to the weight of attachment)

           - Need to attach to firmer base 

           - Weight brick is needed or make the robot base wider and heavier?

      - Need to see if back attachment docker is useful.

      - Need to check if we need to consider another robot design.

    2. Attachments 

       - First attachment for the step counter is built. (share with the team)

       - First prototype for the basket ball is built but has problems

            - Used the chain to lift the arm (too bulky and heavy)

            - Still need the way to carry the cube to drop into the basket.

           - Attachment part is too easy to fall due to the weight of the attachment. (Needs an improvement)

    3. Programming

     - first program for the step counter was written by Andrew and tested.

       - This program make the robot come back to the base after the mission. We might need to modularize the program for step counter and remove the return code.

        - We found that the program is very sensitive to the starting position of the robot. We might need to build a launch pad positioning the robot in the same position. (should have 2-3 directions)

   4. Additional parts and robot are on the way

    - decided to purchase additional parts and a robot to make the distributed building and programming over the week.

   - Robot will be shipped to Bryan by Saturday.

   - Decided to buy individual parts from bricklink instead of buying the EV3 Expansion kits since we can buy much more parts economically.

          - Bought parts from three sellers. 

          - Two sellers shipped the parts. Expecting to receive them over the weekend.

          - One seller did not ship the parts yet. Tried to contact the seller but no response. File the complain. If that seller does not ship the parts by Saturday, will cancel the order and find another seller.

          - This will cause the delay of the attachment construction. We might need to consider building digitally until parts are available.

Team scheduling & communication alignment

    1. Overall schedule proposal

      - We missed the last week's meeting due to Covid-19 incident at Olivia's school. Entire family had to get the COVID tests and wait for the result until the weekend.

     - Expected first match will be around early November (November 7- 15)

     - Working backward from that date, here are our schedules

     Week 1 (Oct 3 - Oct 9) D-4: 

          - set up gitHub, Discord, trello for each members (a lot of works... ping me when you are blocked).

          - First stand up ( Monday, Wednesday)

          - building of first batch of attachments (digitally or physically)

               - Basketball

               - Step counter

               - TBD

        - Improvement of the robot base with 1 line follow, 1-2 medium motors. Two attachment docker.

        - build the launch pad.

        - Add tasks to Trello.

      Week 2 (Oct 10 - Oct 16) D-3:

         - building the second batch of attachments (digitally or physically)

         - Test the improved robot design and calibrate the first batch of attachments 

         - Create the first master programs and test them (2 runs in a row)

         - Test Launch pads

     Week 3 (Oct 17 -  Oct 23) D-2:

         - start optimizing the physically finished attachments

        - finish building the attachments physically.

         - start optimizing the software for real competition

         - first dry run for the competition (2-3 times)

         - Choose extra missions and begin building the attachment

         - Decide what to do for innovation project

     Week 4 (Oct 24 -  Oct 30) D-1:

         - Test improved attachments

         - Test improved program

         - 2nd dry run for the competition ( 3-5 times)

         - Test extra mission attachments

         - Write the alternative master program

         - Find out additional improvements

    Week 5 (Oct 31 -  Nov 6) D-0: FINAL Preparation

        - Finalize the best two routines for the best scores

           - Final running program

           - Final competition attachment

           - Improve attachment for easiness of change and durability

        - 3rd dry run for the competition (5-6 times)

        - Finish building extra mission attachments

        - Finalize the innovation project

        - Set up the competition board

          - build addition attachment for cross-team mission

    Week 5 (Nov 7 - Nov 15) Game days

        Let' begin the competition and WIN !!!

  2. Team collaboration changes

   - Let's use Github for code sharing and attachment design sharing

•      - Create a github account and let Peter know the account id so that he can send the invitation.
•      - Accept the invitation to the repository
•      - Download and install the GitHub Desktop (https://desktop.github.com).
•      - Clone the repository (https://github.com/PeterStayPool/ltcreators.git).
•      - Fetch from the master.
•      - Create your own branch (with your name all in lowercase)

 - Let's use Brinklink studio to digitally build the attachment and share via Github.

    Bricklink studio: https://www.bricklink.com/r3/studio/download.page

    - Need mouse to use the tool. 

    - There will be little bit of learning curve but will pay off over time in terms of productivity and efficiency.

     - Just like Lego Digital Designer but connected to Bricklink (largest lego parts website)

     - Can share the build design with the team

     - Can collaboratively design the attachment via Studio

     - Easy part search and can order the missing parts over Bricklink

     - Use the part numbers listed in this page for building the attachment.

                    https://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/4140302292695435703

 - Let's use Discord for instant messaging for Q & A and discussion

   - Free message app.

   - Need to download the app from https://discord.com/download

   - Let me know the user id so that I can invite you to the LTCreator channel.    

- Let's use LTCreator blog(https://ltcreators.blogspot.com/) to record important information (building tutorial, guide and meeting logs)

- Assign the building & programming tasks for each week

- decide which missions to tackle

- Let's use Trello(https://trello.com/en-US/platforms) to organize the tasks and keep track of the progress

  - Free project management tools for team collaboration

  - Please, create an account here and let Peter know your account so that he can add you to the task board.

  - Send you the invitation, please accept the invitation and create the account if necessary. 

  - Going forward we will use Trello to keep track of the tasks we need to prepare for the competition 

Mission tackle plan and assignment of attachment development

TBD: mission tackle plan discussion

- Need to prioritize each mission in order of easiness to implement and potential score to we can get.

- Need to discuss which mission we will tried to tackle for next week.

Due to the limited time and resource we have in the team, I came to the realization that traditional horizontal task assignment strategy (coding, building, driver by separate person) will not work.

To mitigate the risk, I propose we go end-to-end vertical approach so that one person take the full responsibility of designing & building the attachment and coding for the mission.

Under this strategy, I propose we operate this way.

• Both sub teams: (Brian & Isabella and Peter & Olivia-Andrew) take the mission to build the attachment and program for to home and work on it during the weekdays (from Sat to Thursday).

•  We purchased additional robot and addition parts to make the parallel construction possible.

• Each Friday, we will do one of two things:

• Check if we have any attachment or program to test on the competition field and share with  the team. If so we will get together for face-to-face demo and feedback session.

•  If we don't have needs to test our program or attachment to test on the competition field, we will use that meeting as a virtual demo (presenting the digital model or program to the team and get the feedback or advices) and talk about the task progress and assignment.

We have a virtual standup every other day to share the status and discuss the blocking issue for 10 mins.

•     Given the weekly cadence of the team meeting every Friday, I propose we meet on Monday and Wednesday. (TBD: decide the stand up time)
•     During the stand up, each team member will answer to the following three questions:
• What I have been worked on so far
• What I will work on until next standup
• What is blocking me right now