[Andy Baker]

Just some thoughts for you. Many of these points have been brought up before, but I'll mention these again.

Last year, we had about the same motors, except for not having the Chiapuas (big black motors). Some of the fastest robots drove about 9 feet per second, while a few got over 10 feet per second. Most of these fast robots used 4 motors to get this speed.

This year, robots will probably get up to 15-16 feet per second, since the new Chiapua motors have been added (not to mention an extra Drill motor).

Now, since you are driving your robot around, here are a few tips:
1. Do not spoil yourself... load the robot down to get it to be close to 130 lbs. Duct tape a box of bolts or something to your drive base and DRIVE IT ON THE CARPET. Driving a light drive base on cement will give you a false sense of security.

2. While your drivers should not drive your drive base too gingerly. While they should not drive it recklessly, they should try to find weaknesses. Now is the time to see if and when it breaks.

3. Many teams will be switching gears, therefore getting really good speed and then getting really good power. Although a robot may be very fast, it may find the need to push a goal around, therefore requiring power also. Many teams will use the drill motor gearboxes (3:1), some teams will use separate drive wheels to drive their robots while raising and lowering the wheels to change speeds, while others will be building gearboxes from scratch to get transmissions.

One thing for sure... drive trains will be all the rage this year.

Andy B.