[Nathan Streeter]

I've been thinking of a few different areas that could be sources of big change, and I have to say the one 'genre' that I really don't like is changing the 3v3 structure. I like having a selected backup robot in elims (at bigger-than-district events), but otherwise don't want to see change there.

A few potential areas of "big change" that I do think could/would actually be good:

- Reducing weight limit to 100lbs or 90lbs. Robots have only been getting heavier over FRC history, with the early increase to 120lbs, then the addition of a separate bumper weight (and the growth of this allocation up to 20lbs), but the perimeter change has brought the area down these past two years. Additionally the presence of bumpers, COTS components, and better motors have enabled teams to build lighter. Bringing the weight limit down noticeably would reduce the 'm' aspect of robots' kinetic energy, push teams towards fewer motors on the drive (by reducing the weight budget those extra CIMs are more costly and also less necessary since less torque can be applied to the weels), and make teams evaluate which assemblies/mechanisms are really worth including (seems to me like recent rookie teams rarely come close to the 120lb limit).

- Dramatically reducing # of rules. Obvious, but highly unlikely given the GDCs recent trends.

- Multiple game pieces. I like this one a lot... could become very interesting and would force teams to either specialize or do some incredible engineering to combine.

- Moving autonomous to the end (or having a beginning and ending mode). The more I think about this the neater it would be... teams would have to prepare for the autonomous mode during the match and reserve time to place themselves carefully or use exceptional autonomous capabilities to ensure a successful final auto mode. It would be kind of like an end-game of itself...

- A dramatic change to the 'T' section of the manual such as how ranking is done or enabling a form of instant replay.