Quote:
Originally Posted by Steven Donow
I'm gonna have to disagree with this here. For a vast majority of teams, it's much more beneficial to put your resources into other things besides developing a drivetrain. As a learning excercise, sure, it can be great, but the kitbot is an excellent drivetrain that so many teams, both new and veteran, definitely undervalue.
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I agree, the kitbot is a fine drive - it just so happens that FRC 4607 tried other measures. We went back to the kitbot for our State Tournament bids in 2013 and 2014. We were part of the winning alliance in 2013, and lead the charge for our alliance in 2014 - only losing to the eventual champs that had two teams with much better drives (2175 and 2052).
However, in Minnesota, there are a lot of teams that do kitbot drives - so distinguishing yourself from the pack is difficult if your team does not do the other things right. For some reason, 4607 has found a niche in the game the last two seasons (I give credit to my strategy team and Ginger Power for this).
There are 60+ teams at North Star, and most have kitbot drives. Of these teams, most of the top teams have already competed at another regional and have the nuances of the game figured out. So if you are a kitbot drive new to the game, you are behind the crowd of front-runners.
So yeah, if you want to be a team that has a drive train 'just as good as the rest' - so be it. Good luck in that. I would highly suggest that you look to do something better. I am sure that our insignificant 'kit-bot' drive train was something that 2175 looked at when they did not draft us in the MSHSL Championships (we were #2 after Quals) - and why they chose 2052 (the #6 team after quals).
There is a reason that 2175 and 2052 have been the top teams in Minnesota the last two years (Both have won multiple Regionals, made it to the Elims in their respective fields at CMP, and have been state champs the last two years). Both have drives that are light-years beyond the kitbot.