Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel_LaFleur
You posted while I was posting 
Paint jobs are superficial.
They do not score or provide defense.
And it doesn't add to (very many) strategies.
It also has little to do with robots breaking down, and in fact they may be more prone to breaking down since there was less time to tweak the robot (It was at the paint shop geting annodized after all).
Paint jobs are a luxury ... one that many teams (mine included) typically cannot afford (both economically and timewise). The only game I required some paint on our robot was 'overdrive', because I knew that we would not be able to see the robot below a specific level (middle barrier), so I had 2 posts painted different colors (we could see them over the barrier and they told us location and orientation). |
The paint itself provides no substantial point scoring advantage, but it's more often than not when you see a robot that is just totally decked out and color coordinated, it is a reliable robot made by a team that has their act together. Sure, I've seen powdercoated robots that perform poorly, but it's usually not the case. Especially when you're specifically talking about late round alliance selections at regionals.
The former lead mentor of 973 thoroughly believed that powdercoating had zero competitive advantage, but he loved my introduction of it to the team. Why? Well, before then on 973 getting a single robot done and shipped was considered success. The students on the team, and many mentors, doubted the group's ability to make two robots, and powdercoat the competition one. When it happened, it was a great lesson to the students in setting and achieving goals. Deciding to powdercoat was almost a symbol to the team of the greatness we were pursuing.