Parts dropped from the 2003 Kit of Parts?
 

Over the years, FIRST has dropped parts from the Kit of Parts. Has anyone heard anything about parts being dropped from the 2003 Kit of Parts that were in the 2002 K.O.P.?

No more....
 

From what I have heard, no more drill motors. They will probably be getting a new model of them.

I've heard there will be no more fisher price motors because they gave them all away last summer. This is only rumor though. They may still include them.

I heard the whole series of motors are being switch to different ones... not just drill motors or fisher price....

Yeah, I think FIRST gave away alot of thier motors @ that Garage Sale Thing........


Who knows

I heard somewhere that all motors have been dropped from the 2003 kit. All motions on the robots will be enabled through energy stored in very large "garage door" style springs. A real understanding of kinematics, kinetic/potential energy utilization, and dynamic efficiency will be absolutely required to build a successful robot for this year.

-dave

That would make the robots less heavy but... I dunno that would be a big change and not to mention dangerous. If one of those things let go and hit someone in the face... there could be serious problems

Surely you jest Mr. Lavery!

My inside sources tell me that due to recent financial strains, the 2003 kit will consist of one standard set of tinker toys, three hundred premium grade rubber bands, and a box of paper clips.

Oh the creative possibilities!

JK.......

On a more serious note;

I really do like the possibility of the springs though. If it is indeed true that they will use the springs, I am excited to see what people come up with.

Are you being serious?? :confused:

Before anybody starts panicing, check the forum name.

This is the Rumor Mill, it has that name for a reason.

The only person who ever posts anything serious here is Ken L. You should know better by now DJ.

Yeah thats kinda obvious... MattK's post kinda baffled me there for a second. I was wondering if he seriously believed Dave's post :confused:

I don't think that it will go to just springs. While it would be harder from an engineering standpoint, i think it would be less 'cool' for 'out-siders' which is something FIRST doesn't want to do.

While FIRST won't ever do something like battlebots, they do need to make something that is exciting and makes people want to watch. And, i'm sorry, but people want action, not a pile full of springs. (Even if they can get a ton of work out of them)

If first ever wants to 'replace' football, FIRST need to do what the public wants to see. They can't tell the public what they will see.

They need to develop a game where things can be changed on-the-fly to create something new. Like any sport. The 'game' stays the same, and the players stay the same (the parts which we are allowed to use), but the manner in which the players accomplish the game changes. It is the thrill of seeing what play the team will run, and how the other team reacts that makes watching football cool. But, how it is now, the overall strategy doesn't change enough between matches.

Sorry, got a little off topic, but what we are given in the KOPs really determines what we can or can't do.

I would bet that we see drill motors

As for any of the others? Well I like change. It keeps us all remembering what its like to be a rookie team
"How do we make that motor do this?"

But I like the rubberband idea, with a 30 pound weight limit

Getting close now....

I think I remember seeing a Junkyard Wars episode like this. They had to rely on stored energy, rather than motors/engines. Rubberbands, washing machine drums, and other things were used to store the energy needed to race around a track.