Quote:
Originally Posted by GeeTwo
Unless your team is dripping talent, the answer will probably be that a custom drive train is only worth doing when the game presents unusual challenges.
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It is common in the working world to use off the shelf parts where possible to save time and effort and get to market quicker.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sperkowsky
I respectively disagree. Something like a simple west coast drive is really not that much more difficult then using a KOP drive train especially if you are going to go out of your way to modify it. Plus mounting gets easier and you are not restricted at all in terms of sizing.
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The lack of restriction you see as an advantage can also lead to a trap. One can spend a lot of time figuring out where to mount the components and optimizing it over and over.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay O'Donnell
While you may be correct about the physical advantages and difficulty, the biggest resource a team can control by using a kit chassis is time. The chassis can be built in a matter of hours, whereas any custom chassis will take multiple days.
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There is also risk that you are not able to get all the needed parts manufactured correctly in time. A few years ago, a team in our area that had been part of a Einstein winning alliance spent the Thursday of their first Regional completing the assembly of their robot. Their sheet metal sponsor delivered their parts just a bit over 24 hours before bag and tag so they had to bag an incomplete robot along with all the uninstalled parts (it didn't even have wheels installed). The imperfect COTS parts you have in your shop will perform much better on the competition field than the perfect custom parts you only have CAD drawings for.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jijiglobe
Team 694 won Curie this year with a kit chassis bot. It wasn't exactly a simple bot so you might not want to include it in your list, but it does technically fit the bill.
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This robot should be included. The time they did not spend developing a custom drive train (probably giving only a small increase in performance) was probably spent on developing the scoring mechanisms and practicing, allowing them to perform well enough to become the Alliance Captain and win the Subdivision Championship.