Stage 6 — Integration, Testing & Driver Practice¶

Window: Week 4 through Week 6. Gate: Field Readiness. Precondition: Subsystem CAD Locks passed, subsystem code passes sim autonomy.

Integration is where subsystems become one robot and the driver becomes ready. Small teams underinvest here — this doc pushes back.

The Two-Robot Question¶

Elite teams (254, 1678, 971, 118) build two identical robots: a practice bot and a competition bot. Small teams often can only afford one.

Non-negotiable minimum: a drive base (drivetrain + electronics + basic frame) built and drivable by end of Week 3. This is what the driver practices on and what software validates against — even if the scoring mechanism only exists on the comp bot.

If budget permits: a full practice bot pays for itself in reliability and driver hours.

Assembly Order¶

Drivetrain first — everything mounts to it. Then in Priority-List order:

Drivetrain and electrical panel — Week 3–4.
Priority-1 scoring mechanism — mid Week 4.
Priority-2 mechanism / endgame — end of Week 4 to mid Week 5.
Bumpers — as early as possible; bumpers reveal fit issues.

Endurance Runs¶

After first assembly:

Cycle test: run the priority-1 action in a loop, 20 cycles. Count failures. Log everything.
Full-match cycle: simulate a real 2:30 match — auto + teleop + endgame — 5 back-to-back matches. Robot must not require intervention between them.
Overnight test (optional but valuable): compressor + drivetrain + subsystem cycling for 4–8 hours. Finds thermal and connector failures.

Every failure gets logged in the Failure Log — root cause, fix, prevention. See templates/failure_log.md.

Driver Practice¶

Target: 20+ hours on the robot (or drive base) before Event 1. Elite teams target 40+.

Drivers to identify by end of Week 2:

Primary driver — chassis.
Operator — subsystem controls.
Human player (if role exists this year).
Coach — usually a student, sometimes a mentor.

Practice sessions:

Scheduled — put on the team calendar. Practice does not happen by accident.
Structured — every session has drills (cycle time, defense drill, endgame under time pressure).
Logged — record match logs and video. Review as a team.
Progressive — start with drivetrain, add subsystems as they come online.

Field Readiness Gate¶

Robot passes when:

Robot performs its priority-1 action reliably (>=80% success across 20 attempts).
Robot performs its priority-2 action.
At least one autonomous routine consistently scores.
Full match cycle completes without robot intervention.
20+ hours of driver practice logged (documented dates + durations).
Endurance test passed.
Failure log addressed — every high-frequency failure has a fix or documented workaround + spare part.
Bumpers legal, weight legal, inspection checklist walked.

Pre-Event Checklist¶

Add to templates/event_checklist.md. Highlights:

Pit toolbox stocked (spare belts, chain, wheels, common bolts, extra motor, spare motor controller).
Laptop with code + Driver Station + AdvantageScope.
All batteries tagged and charged.
Bumpers, spare bumpers, mounting hardware.
Robot legal weight measured.
Printed subsystem diagrams for pit reference.
Failure log printed — top 5 known failures + fixes.

Common Failure Modes¶

No drive base until Week 4. Driver practices 5 hours total. Team stalls at events.
No endurance testing. First long-duration test happens at competition. Something breaks.
No practice schedule. Practice happens "when we have time" — meaning never.
Driver identified in Week 5. Insufficient time to build muscle memory.
Failure log ignored. Same failure recurs at each event.
Weight discovered at inspection. Weigh weekly from Week 4.

Roles¶

Integration Lead (student, senior): owns full-robot assembly and endurance testing.
Drivers + Coach: own practice-hour accumulation.
Reliability Owner (student or mentor): maintains failure log, drives fixes.
Pit Lead (student): owns event pit setup and repair readiness.

Handoff to Stage 7 (Competition)¶

Field Readiness Gate passed = robot goes to event. Post-event notes feed the retrospective (10_retrospective.md).