Quote:
Originally Posted by DampRobot
While a lot of good points in this discussion were brought up, I'd like to remind everyone that possibly none of the suggestions here will be acted on.
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So what can Manchester do to, reasonably?
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There are some very simple rule changes which would help teams alleviate the time crunch imposed by the 6 week build season.
-Allow reuse of bumpers. Bumpers are one component in which zero creativity is allowed either in design or fabrication. Requiring teams to repurchase materials for and re-fabricate bumpers every year serves no purpose other than subsidizing the plywood/pool noodle/fabric industries. It's immensely wasteful of materials and valuable build season time. Bumpers should be re-classified into the same category as the drivers station console. The option to reuse, modify or completely re-fabricate each year should be up to the discretion of each team.
-Publish the list of legal motors, the robot size restrictions, and bumper rules on October 1. This allows teams to begin designing drive trains, or even pre-purchasing motors, during the fall. Keep the rule that designs must be published before kick-off day to be used.
-Current rules allow for fabrication during build season of previously designed parts if the design was published prior to kickoff day. This is good, because it encourages out of season development efforts. Suggested rule change: Make it legal to use any parts fabricated after October 1 or November 1. This preserves the intent of the rules that the current years students are the ones building the robot. But it allows teams to take educated risks in choosing to pre-build some parts of the robot. It also would promote closer cooperation between rookie and more experienced teams, as the experienced teams could help rookies come up to speed outside the pressure cooker atmosphere of build season.
I would give my left arm if someone would start a company making bumpers as COTS items at a reasonable cost. With a clever bracket system design, no modifications would be required, and they could be used year after year. Not having to make bumpers every year would go a long way towards reducing burnout on our team.