[Gabe]

Bigger, badder drivetrains will only get you so far in the world of FIRST. The best and most successful robots are those who innovate and design conservatively. The best teams are those who understand their robot inside out, and understand design limitations and design advantages. In other words, the teams that have a knowledge of what they are doing are in my mind the best teams.

This year our drivetrain is using two large CIM motors. And they do just fine, working great with our custom transmission. I will definately say that our drivetrain is modest compared to other, but mechanically it works, and that is key. I have seen many other teams with outrageous transmissions that are being pushed to (and sometimes beyond) their limits. Mentioned before, defense will only get you so far. Last year at SVR a student said something that I will always remember, that " defense doesn't show up on rankings". Teams that score point will always move the crowd.

I believe that FIRST includes too many motors. Really, 4 CIMs is really unecessary, as they simply seem to encourage teams to use them in tandem and the two large CIM minibike motors. I think FIRST should eliminate some of these drivetrain motors. My suggestion to encourage creative design is to change the rules to allow teams to dissasemble the window motors to use their electric motors, while at the same time allowing only two small CIMs and two large minibike CIMs for the robot.

I also want FIRST to bring back great games like 2004 and before. From waht I have heard, I missed out on the greatest game ever played, and from 2005 till today the field has been pretty much the same. I want FIRST to go back to having more obsacles and game pieces so that teams must dedicate themselves to specific tasks. This year I have seen FIRST make a move toward this, as teams are making hard choices in going with ramps, arms, or a combination of both. So I like where FIRST seems to be headed.