Question for John V-Neun and Paul Copioli

[Joe Ross]

John, will 229 be using the kitbot frame?

Paul, will 217 be using the kitbot transmissions?

[JVN]

229 is using the chassis, but not the gearbox.
We decided that 2 speeds was important for us, and as such will be using a new revision on our transmission from last year.

I was in Manchester for kickoff, when I returned to Clarkson there were a lot of surprised teammates who wanted to know "Why did Lavery thank you during kickoff?" (No one on 229 knew about the chassis/transmission until they saw it on stage.) So I explained my involvment in the KOP process to the team.

Later on, the team decided to use the KOP chassis as part of our new drivetrain.

As I said before, I stand behind the KOP chassis 100%. I am proud to have been a part of it's design, and am proud to see my team take it to the field.

John

[Paul Copioli]

My team is using the kitbot and chassis as a test bed for the vision system.

We will be using the gears from the transmission for our drive, but not the rest. We are doing a six motor drive base this year and the kit transmission housing wasn't large enough to fit the third motor.

We were going to use the arm configuration of the transmission, but our design and packaging has led us down a different path.

Our objective for the kit transmission was to have a reliable, competitive drive transmission that could be assembled quickly and gave consistant performance. Our primary focus was to get the rookies (and lower resource teams) driving in their first match of their first regional.

I am a little bummed that we are not using the gearbox this year, but at least we are using components.

-Paul

P.S. - I'm just curious, why are you asking?

[Aignam]

A liiiiitle off topic, but I'll take my chances:

I can't wait to see how much higher the level of competition is going to be now that every team will be rolling. Great job, John and Paul---hopefully this sets a standard for the FIRST kit in the coming years.

And, for the record, it's really cool that even veteran teams like the ones you guys are from will be making use of the kitbot---it definitely has not been a waste of time/resources for any parties involved.

[Joe Ross]

Originally Posted by Aignam

And, for the record, it's really cool that even veteran teams like the ones you guys are from will be making use of the kitbot---it definitely has not been a waste of time/resources for any parties involved.

That's exactly my thought.

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by Aignam

I can't wait to see how much higer the level of competition is going to be

On our team, MUCH higher. This is the year of 6 (hint, hint).

[Greg Perkins]

Team 134 is using both the gearbox and the chassis this year. it would be a shame to waste such a great product that was so heavily influenced by "REAL" first teams. great job!