Schedule
Fall: Design Phase
Most of the design phase took roughly the time it was estimated to take however it generally overshot when looking at the actual time. The primary reason for this was due to having zero bearing on the actual amount of time each section of the Fall portion of this project was going to take. Of course, as time went on the estimates for the project became more accurate but this was a struggle to pinpoint at the beginning of the project. All of this was considered a risk factor as a lack of experience severely affected the timescale during this portion of the project. However, all milestones were completed by the time they were scheduled. One major milestone was to complete all the analyses within the time that they were due. This was done with each analysis generally taking less time as each analysis took roughly one hour of the two set aside.
Figure 5.1: Fall Schedule
Winter: Construction Phase
For the winter schedule, most milestones were done in a timely manner with most finishing on or before their assigned date. The current milestones set for this quarter include ordering all the parts needed for the final design and assembling the different vehicle sub-assemblies as well as remodeling various parts of the vehicle to align with the engineering teams vision. The risks associated with this portion of the project have to do with ordering the parts on time as if these arrive late then fulfilling the assembly orders will not complete in a timely manner. Another risk associated with this quarter would be any failures of the parts and pieces developed for use on the RC Baja vehicle. An additional risk found during this phase was the amount of work that had to go into remodeling the vehicle as this took a lot of time to do properly and if not done properly would set the project back. There was not any particular time conflicts with this portion of the project as it is scheduled, and any conflicts would only arise if the parts do not arrive on time or break during construction. This remained true for the entire quarter.
Figure 5.2: Winter Schedule
Spring: Testing Phase
For the spring schedule, most milestones were done in a timely manner as this was the final portion of the project which meant there were many more risks involved with falling behind. As mentioned previously this is the final quarter of the project so any setbacks will not be able to be fixed at a later time. Additionally, if the vehicle is unable to pass the test parameters that are set for it there will be little time to adjust the vehicle at this point. The milestones associated with this quarter include creating a testing plan for the vehicle to endure, creating the final presentation for the project, and competing in the RC Baja competition.
Figure 5.3: Spring Schedule
Figure 5.4: Milestone Deadlines & Labor Cost