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Originally Posted by Gdeaver
OK,
So what year are we going to make the official transition from design and fabricating our robots to design spec and outsourcing the robot? It's going down that path so why don't we just make it official. Say 2008 we just get a kit of catalogs and go shopping.
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My estimated guess: Never.
Consider that most of the FIRST-targeted COTS parts are designed for drivetrain applications. (Sure, you could use an AM traction wheel for your shooter this year, but you catch my drift.) So you've now got an uber-pimped drive setup--but barring another year like 2002 or 2003, you're going to need a lot more than that to get to Einstein.
In Kitbot-era FRC, we've seen two games that emphasize scoring as the key to victory, something an unimproved drivetrain won't be able to accomplish particularly well. (Did any score-in-the-base-of-the-goal robots make it to the elimination rounds in 2005? Did any plain boxes on wheels do significanly well this year?) Unless Dave's got something up his sleeves for 2007, the next game's going to require yet another manipulator to win the game. Until AndyMark and IFI start slugging it out in the two-joint arm department, I'm not worried about this becoming a real problem.