Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris is me
I would figure out what elements you don't have from your old robot and can't reuse. Included in the Basic Robot Kit are many expensive control system components you do not necessarily need duplicates of. If you're mostly looking for the mechanical / hardware components, you could easily get the price down to less than half the cost.
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Chris has it. The am-3050 kit you've linked to includes a roboRIO ($435),
eight Victor SP speed controllers ($60 each, so $480 there), four CIMs (about $100 total), a new PDP ($200), a new VRM ($46)...
All of that is good stuff, and things you will likely use next season. However, that's not to say you
need them--some of those components are available through the kit, product donation vouchers, or FIRST Choice, so you'd have them right around Kickoff when it counts.
I encourage teams to rehab and keep old robots running, but if your 2016 robot is absolutely thrashed a fresh AM14U3 is
$599 every day (plus CIMs at
$28 each if you
really wanted fresh ones, but the ones you have will likely suffice unless you've got hours and hours of nonstop running on them). Transplant your control system (or if autonomy isn't a necessary element for your system,
maybe a cheaper one) and you'd be running and driving.
If you know your end goal, as others said we can probably point you in the right direction on where to save money.
