Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomcfitzgerald
Also, try to move away from the kit gearboxes and frame. Doing that forces you to design what you want, rather than what you're given. Big difference in attitude with that shift.
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I also disagree with this statement. A team should only move away from the kit of parts drivetrain if they if they have the wherewithal. This is going to different for each team. Do they have the technical knowledge? Do they have enough mentors to guide them? Do they have time in the pre-season to develop it?
I believe the kit of parts allows all teams to leapfrog many steps and start running closer to the elite teams. I am from the pre-andy-mark era, so remember how much resources went into getting a working, bullet-proof drivetrain. With the kit of parts, every team can have a rolling chassis in week 1. If a team is struggling finishing the build season with a working robot, the kit of part drivetrain makes a lot of sense. A team can focus entirely on their scoring mechanisms.
What is the penalty for the kit of parts chassis? Perhaps is weights more. however , you can get the custom gearing you want. You can even add a two speed gearbox.
A working drivetrain wins games. A well tested scoring mechanism wins games. The pitfall for us non-elite team is not being able complete enough design iterations. When a robot is first tested on the final day of build, you know not enough testing will be done.
By going with a kit of part chassis, a non-elite team can get more time to go through the design iteration process, more time to come up with that genius idea. I would argue, time shapes ones willingness to explore ideas. When time is scarce, attitudes quickly change, people become more narrow minded from the stress and the looming deadlines. Ideas are not fully developed because people don't have time for the research, prototyping, modeling and building. By focusing less on the drivetrain by using a proven successful design used by many, one has more time to focus on other aspects of the robot.
My old team 766 frequently did drivetrains based off of kit of part drivetrains. It was a good tactic for an early start on the build season.