View Single Post
  #28   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 27-01-2017, 09:09
ldsedam's Avatar
ldsedam ldsedam is offline
Registered User
AKA: Drew Sedam
FRC #2137 (TORC)
Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Rookie Year: 2012
Location: Oxford, MI
Posts: 25
ldsedam is an unknown quantity at this point
Re: Value of a Gear Ground Pickup

Being able to pickup the gears off of the ground is an extra part to a robot that isn't necessary to compete, but it might give that little edge in a unique scenario. My team said from the first day that we must do it for a few reasons.

1) If you have partners that don't have gear manipulators then you can just set a gear on their bumper at the start of the match and have it fall. That saves you one trip to the feeder station if you can just pick it up off of the floor.

2) Early on I anticipate gears dropping every once and a while from robots that haven't quite figured out how to support the gears completely. Being able to pickup off of the floor in this situation might just save you a couple seconds on some cycles.

Overall, it isn't super important, but it might be that little extra that distinguishes a good robot from a great robot. Not sure though until competition starts.
Reply With Quote