Quote:
Originally Posted by EricH
tl;dr: If an electrical or controls change needs to be made, as it would with a new battery chemistry or brushless motors, put it in the KOP for one year. After that, it goes in rookie KOPs only; everyone else gets to use vouchers or local sources.
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I would only change that to read "put it in the KOP for
at least one year"
There are some cases where it makes sense to keep things in the KOP year after year. For example, the robot chassis, with the included CIM motors, gear boxes, chains, wheels, and sprockets. I love how FIRST addressed removing it from the kit for those who
opt-in, though... it makes sure that every team can get something driving.
I have mixed feelings about the control system, though. While I want everything (including the cRio) included in the kit every year so we don't have to dismantle old robots, that gets to be extremely expensive and wasteful. How many 20 year old teams do we have that have shelves of robots at their build space doing nothing but gathering dust? I would rather dismantle some old robots to get control system components back than have to sacrifice anything else in the KOP just to get a new cRio each year.