Quote:
Originally Posted by Superllama12
I agree, few will be crossing the field very often, but having the capability to do both the bump and bridge can be very important in the occasional situation
Pros: Can cross the field quickly, can play better defense, can get around defense more easily, faster crossing time, more appealing when choosing alliances
Cons: Heavier robot (if you use separate mechanisms for the bridge and bump), takes more time to develop and build, more expensive
Overall, it is good to be able to cross the bump, but it would probably be better to focus on other aspects of the robot such as shooting (unless you plan on doing hardcore defense, where it can be good to be able to quickly go over the bump)
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Personally, I don't really see such a conflict here. I do think going over the bump should be accounted for because, as said before, why handicap your robot? If I had to choose between the two, undoubtedly I would absolutely choose the bridge. As with the mini bot last year, getting those end-game points are worth like 3+ baskets, more if you have multiple robots on the bridge. The end-game as last year, I believe will be very important and a wise choice. Do you get any point explicitly for crossing the bump. No. I know I know, It saves valuable time, but really, will it equate to a 10 (or more) point bonus? Yes, you could have other teams tip it for you, but I really don't think we should design our robots around other robots. But, I said if I had to choose.
Thats the thing, you don't!
This isnt some majorly complex task to solve. It just takes some ingenuity, which is what FIRST is all about!
It seems extremely possible to me to design a drive base that can cross the bump and also a bot that can tip the bridge. There doesn't need to be some extravagant mechanism, just a lever of sorts to tip the thing on the front. And my team has a drive base that just drives over the bump! No extra moving parts!
I think that the bridge is more important, but in the long run, a team like mine will be able to do both and we don't have any extensive resources or huge grants(We are in the two thousands).
Just my two cents!