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good point. Using numbers to drive your decision is called Data Driven Analysis.
simply, you calculate the results of the different options you have, and then let the numbers determine your best option.
Take last years game again. If the only thing you do is park on top of the ramp, you get 25 points.
if the only thing you do is push half the boxes into your scoring zone, you get (how many boxes were there again?) 26 points?
if you get half the boxes on your side, and maintain a stack of 4, you get 88 points
if you build a bot that stay in the starting box and knocks half the wall over, you get 0 points
let the data show you the most productive tasks your bot can do
same thing for tradeoffs in the design process. If you use the stock transmissions and two drill motors in the kit, your robot will have a certain top speed, a certain amount of pushing force, and you can bolt it all together in one day
if you build a custom transmission, the performance will be different, but it will take you many weeks to design and fabricate.
This is another area that separates engineers from basement inventors. Inventors get an idea that seems cool to them, and they run off and start building it.
Engineers look at the data, and let it tell them where to focus their life-energy to get the most bang for the buck.
In FIRST you only get 6 weeks - its not much time
if life, you only get to be an engineer for 40 to 50 years - its not much time either (when you are trying to change the world :c)
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