The Design Award: Form Meets Function

The Design Award is the “Best All-Around Robot” award. It recognizes a robot that is reliable, functional, AND aesthetic. It acknowledges that presentation is a part of engineering.

In the real world, products like the iPhone don’t just work well; they feel premium. Your robot should be the same.

The Pillars of Design

1. Robustness & Reliability

A robot that falls apart doesn’t win Design. Your robot should look like a tank (or a sports car), but definitely not a pile of scrap.

• Cable Management: This is huge. Zip ties, cable sleeves, and custom 3D printed wire clips. No spaghetti wiring!
• Structural Integrity: No bending metal. Use gussets. Use proper fasteners. Show that you understand load paths.

2. Industrial Design (Aesthetics)

Yes, looks matter.

• Color Theme: Pick a color palette (e.g., Black & Orange, White & Blue). Anodize your aluminum. Paint your wood. Use 3D printed accents in your team colors.
• Side Panels: Polycarbonate side panels protect your electronics and offer a canvas for sponsor logos and team art.
• Lighting: LED strips (programmable are best) that give feedback (e.g., turn green when an artifact is captured) are “Practical Aesthetics.”

3. CAD Integration

The Design Award requires that the robot was designed before it was built.

• Renderings: Include high-quality Fusion 360 or Onshape renders in your portfolio.
• Exploded Views: Show an exploded view of your drivetrain or slide assembly. It looks incredibly professional and explains the assembly process.

Justifying Trade-offs

Design is about making choices. “We chose a 6-wheel drive over Mecanum because we prioritized traction on the ramp over strafing ability.” This sentence proves you evaluated options and made a Design Decision.

[!NOTE] The Why: For every sub-assembly, have a “Design Requirements” bullet point.

• Requirement: Must reach the High Bucket (30 inches).
• Solution: 3-stage Viper Slide.

Getting an Aesthetic Audit

It’s hard to judge your own design. You look at it every day.

[!TIP] Visual Audit: Upload a photo of your robot to FTC Coach. Ask for an “Aesthetic Analysis.” It will point out messy wiring, clashing colors, or empty spaces that could be used for branding.

Conclusion

The Design Award winner is the robot that everyone wants to take a picture of. It’s clean. It’s deliberate. It looks like it came out of a factory, not a garage.

Make it beautiful. Make it work. Make it win.