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Gate Reviews

Gate reviews are the checkpoints between stages. A gate is a pass/fail decision, not a status meeting. Failing a gate is fine and expected — proceeding to the next stage anyway is what causes disasters.

Every gate has: a fixed agenda, required artifacts, a rubric, and named signers.

Universal Rules

  1. Artifacts required in advance. Deliverables listed for each gate must be filed at least 24 hours before the review. No artifact = no review.
  2. Signers. Every gate requires two signers: one student lead (the person accountable for the artifacts) and one mentor (technical or process). Both sign, or the gate fails.
  3. Result. One of: Pass, Conditional Pass (with named blockers + deadline), Fail (redo work, reschedule).
  4. Time-boxed. Each gate meeting is ≤ 60 minutes. If it runs over, the artifacts were incomplete.
  5. Recorded. Decisions + conditions written in the gate log (doc-templates/gate_review.md). Kept in the repo.

Gate Catalog

# Name Stage Owner Typical Week
G1 Strategy Approval 1 Strategy Lead end of Week 1
G2 Prototype Down-Select 2 Prototype leads end of Week 2
G3 CAD Lock (per subsystem) 3 Subsystem CAD Owner Week 2–4 rolling
G4 Bill-of-Materials Complete 4 Purchasing Lead end of Week 3
G5 Sim Autonomy Passing 5 Software Lead end of Week 3
G6 Field Readiness 6 Integration Lead end of Week 5
G7 Event Departure 6 Team Lead before each event

G1 — Strategy Approval

Purpose: confirm the team is building the right robot for this year's game.

Agenda (60 min):

  1. Priority List walk-through (15 min).
  2. Archetype statement (5 min).
  3. Scoring simulation review (15 min).
  4. Rejected-actions review (5 min).
  5. Numeric performance targets (10 min).
  6. Q&A + sign-off (10 min).

Required artifacts:

  • Priority List (scored, ranked).
  • Archetype one-sentence statement.
  • Scoring-sim spreadsheet.
  • Rejected-actions list with reasons.

Rubric — pass requires all:

  • Priority List has ≤ 2 priority-1 items for small team.
  • Every priority-1 has cycle time + accuracy targets.
  • Simulation shows expected score at or above competitive average for our region.
  • Rejected-actions list is not empty.

Signers: Strategy Lead + Lead Mentor.

G2 — Prototype Down-Select

Purpose: choose one mechanism per priority action based on data.

Agenda (60 min):

  1. Each prototype presents (5 min): charter, kill criterion, result.
  2. Data comparison per priority action (10 min).
  3. Decision vote (10 min).
  4. Kill-notes recorded (5 min).

Required artifacts:

  • Every prototype charter.
  • Data sheet + video per prototype.
  • Numeric result vs kill criterion.

Rubric — pass requires:

  • One approach selected per priority action.
  • Selected approach met its kill criterion.
  • All rejected prototypes have documented reason.

Signers: Mechanical Lead (student) + Mechanical Mentor.

G3 — CAD Lock (per subsystem)

Run once per subsystem — drivetrain, primary mechanism, secondary, etc.

Agenda (30–45 min):

  1. Master-model interface check (5 min).
  2. Part list walk-through (10 min).
  3. Weight + COG (5 min).
  4. Motor/gear calculations (5 min).
  5. Manufacturability review (5 min).
  6. Second-reviewer confirmation + sign-off (10 min).

Required artifacts:

  • Subsystem assembly in master model.
  • All parts numbered + drawings.
  • BOM entries.
  • Weight sheet.
  • Motor calc notes.

Rubric — pass requires:

  • No interferences in master model.
  • Weight within budget.
  • Every machined part has a drawing + second reviewer.
  • Long-lead parts identified for ordering.

Signers: Subsystem CAD Owner + CAD Lead (student) + Mechanical Mentor.

After pass: subsystem is frozen. Changes require ECR.

G4 — Bill-of-Materials Complete

Purpose: confirm the team has ordered everything it needs, in time.

Required artifacts:

  • Full BOM (practice + comp + spares).
  • Order log (what ordered, when, vendor, ETA).
  • Machining queue with drawings.

Rubric:

  • No long-lead item pending order.
  • Kanban up-to-date.
  • Spend within budget.

Signers: Purchasing Lead + Business Mentor.

G5 — Sim Autonomy Passing

Purpose: confirm software is on track independent of hardware readiness.

Required artifacts:

  • Working simulated match run.
  • At least one auto routine.
  • Log replay demonstration.

Rubric:

  • Every priority subsystem has IOReal + IOSim.
  • Match runs without crash.
  • CI green.

Signers: Software Lead + Software Mentor.

G6 — Field Readiness

Purpose: confirm the robot is ready for competition.

Agenda (90 min):

  1. Priority-1 demo — 20 attempts, count success (20 min).
  2. Priority-2 demo (10 min).
  3. Auto routines demo (10 min).
  4. Full-match cycle demo (15 min).
  5. Driver practice log review (10 min).
  6. Failure log review (10 min).
  7. Sign-off (15 min).

Rubric — pass requires:

  • Priority-1 success ≥ 80% across 20 attempts.
  • Priority-2 functional.
  • One auto scoring reliably.
  • ≥ 20 hours logged driver practice.
  • Endurance test passed.
  • Failure log addressed.

Signers: Team Lead (student) + Integration Lead + Lead Mentor.

G7 — Event Departure

Purpose: the "we didn't leave the batteries at home" gate.

Walk doc-templates/event_checklist.md. Every item ticked. Signers: Team Lead + Pit Lead + Lead Mentor.

Conditional Pass

Sometimes a gate is 90% there but blocked on one item. Conditional Pass allows next-stage work to start with a named blocker + hard deadline. Blocker must be closed before the next gate.

Example: CAD Lock conditional-passes with "weight to be recomputed by Friday." If Friday comes and weight still not verified, the lock is revoked.

Failing a Gate

Failing is fine. The response:

  1. Named blockers written down.
  2. Rework assigned with owner + deadline.
  3. Rescheduled gate meeting.
  4. No next-stage work begins on the failed scope. (Other subsystems continue.)

The team that fails Strategy Approval and reruns it in three days will beat the team that skipped the gate.

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