- All problems can be solved by drilling a bigger hole or using hot glue.
- If it works ten times in a row, it will work forever.
- Don't be too ambitious with the number of electronic components. Keep in mind how long soldering everything takes.
- Lock down your mechanical design early, before manufacturing if possible. Allowing your team more time to change elements on the physical project will be super helpful if you find out that one design is unfeasible.
- Purchase things super early! Purchase critical components as soon as possible!
- Modular mechanical and software design makes integration A LOT easier. Design so that, if something breaks within the machine, your team will have an easy time being able to replace it.
- Molex connectors are an excellent idea if you are trying to connect a subassembly which has a lot of wires. The extra time upfront with wire preparation helps a lot in terms of how manageable it is to move things around later.
- If your team is splitting up the software modules between multiple people, make sure to clarify which module is responsible for sending which events. If any changes are being made to the pre-determined state machines, make sure they are communicated.
- Buy plenty of tape (duct, electrical, masking, etc.)
- Having spare parts is always a good call. Buy slightly more than you think you’ll need. You might just save your project (or one of your classmates’ projects!) from certain disaster.
- Having two teammates with access to the PRL reduces bottlenecks.
- Be super deliberate with SourceTree! It’s a powerful tool when used correctly, so don’t hesitate to ask the TAs or your resident Git experts to help understand what’s going on early in the process.
- Sometimes, you’ve built everything correctly, you’ve put the circuit together correctly, you’ve written the code correctly, and one of the components is just broken. Stay strong and always double-check your assumptions.
- If a signal is ever being weird or stuttery or non-responsive, first check that the bypass capacitors are in the right place. It might just be as simple as adding a capacitor.
- Every line from the Tiva will meet with some resistance when passing through the protection board. If the wiring gets really long from the Tiva, then there may be some capacitance issues in the wire, which may cause digital signals to not fully reach their high/low values. Adding two hex inverters back to back will crisp it right up.
- Use lots of vinyl stickers! They’re cheap and can make the project look really good.
- If your project is a game, try to play test with lots of different people early with no instructions given. Some people might not know how to start the game or where to insert the TOT at first glance. Some people may think the game is way too easy or way too hard. Getting that feedback early can help make sure that the game is both enjoyable to play and shows off your knowledge.
- Meeting early in the quarter to map out the project is really important. Talk through every single thing that your group might want to do—put reach goals right beside the critical aspects. That way, when group members start finishing tasks, everyone will be able to see what needs to be done next.
- Try to preemptively plan out bread board management so that you can avoid any unfortunate circumstances in which you’ll have to move entire boards over.
- Buying useful things without knowing exactly how to use them is a great idea. For instance, having a stock of sandpaper, or of duron, or of zip ties is a great investment.
- Remember: it’s a team project. If you are running into an unstoppable error or if you are up against a non-218A issue, don’t be afraid to talk with your team.
- Save the complicated mechanical interactions for 218B. It’s totally sufficient (and, often times, a LOT) to just stick with what we’ve seen in this class.
- Check the Cabinet of Freedom early! You might find some stuff that will become integral to your project.
- Paint before you glue the frame together! It will be nigh impossible to disassemble the project just to paint and it’ll be hard to even get an even coat when everything is stuck in place.
- The project deadlines are real and they ARE coming.
- Ideate with your mentor—often times, they will be able to discourage you from bad ideas.
- If you stay late enough, Ed may provide cookies.