Why is doing Research important?

A critical step to the Engineering Design Process (from our blog post last week) is to do research, and look up any background information that is needed in order to develop a design solution. Research for a project could also be called a Technical Review, and includes background information, prior work, and relevant patents.

For our project it was important to start with researching what is currently being done in the Urban Air Mobility field with control systems. Are companies already considering what we are trying to offer as a solution? What is being done with the safety of the Urban Air Taxi's that are currently being published in papers? Are there any existing patents we need to be aware of with the design of our control system? All of these questions are very important in having a good understanding of the direction of your project, as well as a clear picture of what the current "state of the art" is for your project.

Another important aspect of research is to see if any of the existing solutions actually worked. After you understand the problem you are trying to solve, knowing solutions that didn't work are also extremely helpful when you are brainstorming possible ideas (because then you know NOT to try what someone else did).

Research is truly fundamental in the beginning of any project or process. You should know the background information about every aspect of your project, and be up to date on the latest technology that exists. For the BEST Robotics Competition, it would be important for you to tie this into your research with each game by figuring out what is currently being done with what problem you are trying to solve. As an example, with the Current Events game it would have been important to research how companies are handling trash in the ocean, and if anything is being done to solve this problem. Knowing this, you could have figured out a design solution and applied it to your robot design.


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