[Kevin Ainsworth]

Two topics:
1) Encoder Vex Chain
I don't really like this myself but we haven't had time to change it. It should work but could be a pain. Any slop would result in inaccurate positioning for low speed maneuvers. I personally would like to see gears, thanks for the input.

2) 8WD Chassis Wheel Lift
We ran the same configuration in 2013 and the thing was a beast. Where your center of gravity is positioned does matter. You would ideally want it to be located central to the six wheels touching the ground, so between the gearboxes. If you made the front and back wheels both raised your robot would be tipping forward and backwards every time you accelerated or decelerated. It would also make your robot unstable during dynamic moves. It would make your contact patch width to length ratio way to high and your robot would be extremely unstable and twitchy at speed. Your width would be about 28" and length would be around 9" so your ratio would be 3:1. Way too high. We modified our 2013 practice robot to test the ideal ratio by making the side rails slide in and out on extrusion and I can tell you the current ratio is about ideal for high speed stability and low speed maneuverability. There was no perfect ratio but too long and it took too much motor energy to overcome the scrubbing wheels, too wide and it became too twitchy. I would like to know what Team 67 had on their wide 2012 robot. From their tech notes it looks like none of the wheels were raised but that's from looking at the pixelated AutoCad drawing. I can tell you from actual testing that with six wheels touching we can go full speed, throw one stick the opposite direction and pinwheel to go the opposite direction, at full speed. I see no issues with maneuverability, low speed scrub is minimal and it doesn't take much power at all to pinwheel with no forward motion. The wheel contact patch is still wider than it is long so you get the best of both worlds.