[Ianworld]

I think if you start limiting the drivetrain you'll stiffle some good innovation. The last few years of FIRST have seen a number of interesting drivetrains crop up. Drivetrains are evolving and one route has been the stronger, beefier drive trains we see today, but the agility of robots has also increased. The first holonomic drivetrains only came about a couple of years ago and already those have evolved into the now more common mecanum drives(thanks to andymark). They're stronger and more agile than their ancestor. Swerve drives have never taken off due to their complexity, but those that have been built have had enough succesful stints in the limelight that one could argue that they're better than the 6 motor monsters out on the field.

As far as brute force drivetrains go, its really only been the third year of plentiful very strong drivetrains. But even these have been evolving. Three years ago there were very few 6 wheel drive robots, last year I'm pretty sure they outnumbered 4 wheel robots. The reasons are due to IFI's traction wheels, the 4 motor kit gearbox and the "I have to use an Andymark 2 speed to remain competitive" problem. I'm not sure if those were bad influences, but they certainly accelerated the drivetrain arms race. I for one hope we never go back to 4 wheel drive, those robots were inefficient and had severe turning problems that plagued rookies and veterans alike for a decade.

What will come next I'm not sure, perhaps 118's new drivetrain is a hint as to what the future will bring, but I think its clear that drivetrains haven't stopped evolving yet. Maybe we've seen everything now, and within 2 years most teams will reach a pinnacle of strength or agility. I know that when the evolution finally stops, once teams can't get any more out of the drivetrains in 6 weeks it will be time to throw a radical curveball, but for now give it another year or two.

A couple of asides. I think an example of what we don't want FIRST to turn into is a racing league, where stiff rules make teams fight for 1% or 2% gains in their designs. Also I think this thread suffers from the chiefdelphi syndrome, which is that elite teams dominate the chiefdelphi scene. Numerous teams that aren't making 6 motor drives and beautifully machined manipulators are out there and don't post on chiefdelphi. At the same time most of the teams that would make a 6 motor drive end up showing it off on here. It doesn't change the argument, but its good to keep in mind when you consider that this arms race isn't really amongst all 2000 teams but just about 50 veterans that have the experience and resources to keep the battle raging.