Quote:
Originally Posted by Basel A
Personally, I think the competition would get a bit boring after a team's 3rd or 4th year, as the design changes less and less. For now, I'm on a "rookie team," so we're going through some struggles (really similar to FRC rookies, honestly).
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I wouldn't know about that--'long about year 3 or 4 for my team, the rules changed to the point where our previous design(s), which were very similar to each other (and I think built from each other), had to be thrown out due to some silly little change in maximum mass, or was it maximum starting volume. Incidentally, that was two years (3 competition cycles) ago, with the competition mining LUNAR simulant instead of MARTIAN simulant. The characteristics of each are rather different.
Just some nasty little minor tweaks can really shred established designs. Watching the reaction to SAE Aero Design eliminating carbon fiber and similar materials from their Regular Class was quite entertaining, even as a competitor. Just one minor little change to the rules, that was it for rule changes for that class for that year. One minor little change...

(OK, until the competition committee realized that they'd forgotten to make an exception for COTS props and engine mounts.)
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Past teams:
2003-2007: FRC0330 BeachBots
2008: FRC1135 Shmoebotics
2012: FRC4046 Schroedinger's Dragons
"Rockets are tricky..."--Elon Musk
