Page 26 - Anatomy of a Robot

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PROJECT MANAGEMENT 11
As the project progresses through development, it’s strictly up to the PM as to how
to keep track of progress and tasks, as well as the degree of tracking.
FINDING PROJECT RESOURCES

Once the project proposal and project plans are approved, work with your manager to
schedule and obtain the resources you need. Due consideration should be given to pos-
sible interruptions that might occur during the course of the project. Generally, this can
be done in about 10 minutes in a private meeting with management.
Human factors come into play here. Some people like to work together; some don’t.
PMs will draft engineers they like and can rely on. Some engineers will want to work
for PMs they like and will want to avoid others they don’t work well with. Some peo-
ple will want to work just on the mechanics and others just on the motors or control sys-
tems of the robot. Remember, too, that people work differently. Some people can start
things but will never finish. Some will never start anything themselves, but will finish
things and get the project done. You will need both abilities on your team.

WRITING FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATIONS

As an initial effort in the development project, the PM should have a functional spec
written, schedule the review meeting, circulate the plan a day in advance to the review-
ers, and preside over the review meeting. The functional spec is designed to fully
explain the functional requirements of the robot from a high-level standpoint. The spec
may take several days or longer to write and be 5 to 30 pages long.
A system engineer (SE), who can be appointed by the PM, typically writes the spec.
The SE can be anyone (including the PM) as long as he or she is performing the SE
function.
The major trick for the SE is to write requirements that best balance the needs of the
reality of development cycles, the schedule, and the budget. Often, no recovery is pos-
sible if a mistake is made in this part of the project. Get the spec right first and revise
them, as needed, along the way.
The spec should incorporate an outline appropriate for the hardware spec of the
robot. If the robot has software as part of the design, the spec should also incorporate
an outline appropriate for the software spec.