Vous êtes confronté à un dysfonctionnement critique dans votre démonstration de robotique. Comment allez-vous sauver la situation ?

Being calm and not having a breakdown ourself can help us handle the situation in a fun way not making ourself and the robot look like clowns

When your robot decides to throw a tantrum in front of an audience,keeping yourself cool. I don’t have direct experience with this exact scenario, but I can share insights that can help others. The robot stops responding or starts malfunctioning. The 1st thing to remember is that your reaction sets the tone for the entire situation. If you panic, your audience will likely sense your anxiety and lose confidence in the demonstration. Meanwhile,You start thinking about common issues that could cause such a malfunction,Your calm approach not only helps you think more clearly but also buys you time to diagnose and address the problem. This approach can turn a potential disaster into a testament to your professionalism and problem-solving skills.

Being cool during this kind of scenario is the most important thing. We have to be cool and work effectively on making it work more efficiently. Sometimes malfunctioning creates more interest in the public.

Staying Calm and making sure people around you stay calm, there is no shame in saying I DON'T KNOW what is wrong, but i am finding what is wrong. Work you way from knowns to unknowns, keep track of things that were checked.

Try to demonstrate with limited funcationality. Demo the features which are still working. That gives audience the required confidence in your product.

Enquanto você avalia o possível erro, explane ao público outras funções ainda não abordadas do seu robô. Desvie a atenção do público. Conduza a discussão de maneira que o foco não seja o problema e sim as possíveis soluções. Interaja junto ao público para juntos raciocinarem nos princípios básicos das funções apresentadas e o porque elas poderiam dar errado.

Most problems are in the small things or details and most people try fix starting by most difficult itens. In my experience if something used to work start by basic itens... is there that big problems start jusy because people complicate and get in panic about trouble shooting. :)

There are two scenarios in this case. First is -if you know your robot’s design like the back of your hand, you have an idea of where the fault may lie. It can be something that you probably struggled with the most during the process of robot building. So your first line of action should be to check that hardware issue or software bug, then we can take it from there to implement a solution. In the second case where you absolutely have no idea where the fault lies, start by examining the robot and determining if it is a software or hardware issue. Again, in this case too, you need to know the design of your robot thoroughly so as to troubleshoot and make it working again. 3 QA’s of - Assess , Analyse and Act are of prime importance here.

Believe me Audience is well prepared for these scenarios. Follow the limited funcationality approach and communicate the situation clearly.

Its always best to be transparent and honest about the issue and how you intend to remedy it. If the audience is new to Robotics, it will take assurance and a teaching mentality to "Train" them on the life progression of a robotic cell. It is always best to back this up with real life examples. If the audience is accustomed to robotic automation, they will probably be well versed in the caveats to getting a cell operational and keep it that way. Explaining the situation and how you plan to remedy it, are key. If you can demonstrate the solution as part of the presentation, then that is a major win. Either way, keep calm, be honest, and be willing to answer every question.

Keeping composure under pressure is important in such situations. The moment is a loss when the audience feels like you’ve lost control or that you lost faith in your solution, even for a second. It’s necessary to explain clearly what happened and how it can be fixed, in that you involve the audience in what’s happening to dilute the situation. If you already have a feeling that such a situation might arise, have a video or a visual prepared to showcase how it would have looked like.

There were gasps from the audience where you expected accolades. That’s sad, but use it to deploy and display your Crisis Management and Communication skills. Though honest communication is highly important as well as desired in such a situation, the audience needs to see that you are in control and your team needs the motivation to attack the problem and make it right. Hence your tone and words should be uplifting yet truthful. As for the time required to fix it, it’s best to give an estimate and affirm your commitment to solving the issue at the earliest.

Informez votre audience de manière concise sur le problème rencontré. Expliquez avec des termes simples que le robot rencontre un problème technique et que vous travaillez à le résoudre. Évitez de trop entrer dans les détails techniques pour ne pas perdre l’audience ou les inquiéter davantage.

Make a video, take photos. In robotics, as in any other field of computing, you can never be 100% sure that everything will work properly on the big day #murphyslaw.

The importance of being prepared can not be overstated here. Having a backup can quickly remedy a situation that is sliding off the rails. That being said, sometimes with a proof of concept prototype it may be cost or time prohibitive to prepare a complete second robot. If this is the case you should still try to have backups for critical components or components with a higher probability of failure. Having backup cables and components on hand not only makes you appear more professional, it can turn a dramatic failure into a minor blip. Having a component fail in a demo can also play into the narrative of the demo. It can be an opportunity to show how easy it is to repair the robot.

Having backups is surely a blessing as live troubleshooting is a good practice to showcase skills and ease of useability and repair of the robot, when the troubleshooting is not easy as expected then we can swap out the tantrum throwing robot with a calm and working one and have the team that's offstage look at the faulty robot and figure out if the tantrums is caused by any unforeseen condition on stage

Rehersing robot demonstrations should be done anyways. So why not taking a quick video during rehersal to have a backup if the hardware fails?

Having contingency is a critical part of automation and no different in case of any demonstration. Being prepared for such uncertain scenario by having an informative content on an alternate medium is always advisable.

It's a demonstration it's all about interaction make this as a point of focus and create a bond with audience and take feedback to work on probable issues and rectification

I approach tech demos like theatrical performances. The goal is to tell a story about your robot or product. This is where preparation can go a long way to transform a demonstration. Consider the possibility that the robot will have a malfunction before the demo and develop engaging ways to pivot and continue. This may be as simple as having a joke or anecdote prepared while you create time to repair the malfunction. It may even be a more dramatic scene where you get into a fight with the robot. For example, a remark like "why are you always trying to embarrass me?" can endear the robot to the audience. The exact way you react will be context dependent. Know your audience and their expectations beforehand and prepare.

Crack some jokes while assessing the situation. Most of the time the problem is something that you can reproduce, explain how the occurrence of the current problem is quite rare with the help of numbers and tests performed during development and ensure that it will be fixed immediately.

Pendant que vous travaillez à résoudre le problème, engagez votre audience. Parlez des autres fonctionnalités du robot, de ses applications potentielles, ou posez des questions pour maintenir l'intérêt. Cela montre votre capacité à gérer les imprévus et garde l’audience engagée.

Be honest always. Acknowledge the issue sincerely and briefly. Share an interesting anecdote or insight related to the demo. Explain the steps you're taking to resolve the problem. Encourage questions and interaction to keep the audience engaged.

After the demo, review what went wrong and identify the root causes. Reflect on what you could have done differently to prevent or handle the issue better. Document lessons learned and create a plan to address similar problems in the future. Share your insights with your team to collectively improve and grow.

Make sure you learn from your mistakes and your task. Whenever there is a failure take notes of it. This helps you when there is a failure next time . It will help easy for you to diagnose and treat the error easily

Practice and be prepared. The more you prepare the better your demos will go. When doing a robotics demonstration make sure that the robot is always starting from a known predictable state. Do dry runs of your demo for your colleagues before you do it in front of an audience. This can be key in identifying likely problems before they occur. Prime the audience. If you want to demo a feature and you know it only has like a 50/50 chance of success set expectations beforehand. Say, for example, "this feature is experimental." All of these things can go a long way to make your demonstrations more professional and more successful.

Get to the podium, quickly. Yell, "Run for your lives!!" Point to the exit doors. Resign. Consider becoming a monk. Turn off the lights before you leave.

Why single out robotics - 2016 Samsung Galaxy Note 7 - highly anticipated phone was plagued by faulty batteries that caused overheating and even explosions. The global launch turned into a massive recall, product discontinuation, and significant financial losses for Samsung … Facebook (Meta) Libra in 2019 - proposed cryptocurrency aimed for a global audience faced security concerns regarding data privacy, money laundering, and financial instability were raised by governments and regulators worldwide. The project ultimately fizzled … Google Pixel 2 XL in 2017) … Windows Vista in 2007 … Apple Maps in 2012 … tech glitches and software bugs can derail even the most hyped global product launches … life moves on … don’t over think :-)

Stay Calm: Maintain composure to think clearly. Identify the Issue: Quickly diagnose the problem. Communicate: Inform the audience about the issue and your plan to address it. Use Backup: Switch to a backup system or pre-recorded demo if available. Engage the Audience: Answer questions or discuss key points while resolving the issue.

Anything computer based will always have good days and bad. This question is only important if you are unprepared for the worst case. If you cannot afford the backup hardware, you should not be doing a DEMO