Whats wrong with the FTC KoP

[Tom Line]

Originally Posted by Garret

Well in the case of my team this adds additional cost that could have and should have been avoided. If FIRST is requiring us to buy parts to compete in this years game then this minibot competition is not fair at all. There are no FTC teams associated with my team or even in our area, meaning we have to buy the parts, and well frankly we think we support FIRST enough with our FLL programs, I don't see a need for us to invest in FTC just so FIRST can promote its own program, they should at least allow them to use VEX or be a little less restrictive, cause I mean seriously they are basically saying teams that have FTC counterparts are getting a bonus, where as teams with Vex counterparts or that run lego teams, are at a significant disadvantage, and not to mention the fact that the parts are expensive.
I am frankly afraid to use anything other than Tectrix, because I don't know if they will make rules against using non-tectrix parts.
I apologize for the rant but I am frankly frustrated that they are forcing FTC upon FIRST teams if they want to be competitive, and because of the restrictions imposed its pretty obvious that this is simply to promote FTC. But that's how I see it.... Again sorry for the rant.

Not using components out of fear that they will change the rules is an artificial wall you are creating for yourself and your team.

In addition, FIRST made it clear that you could receive a brand new FTC Tetrix kit for free through FIRST choice. There is no additional cost to teams.

In addition, every year FIRST has a new 'end game'. Whether it be the '10 lift, or the '07 ramp, those end games sometimes require special mechanisms to compete. Those always cost money as well.

I don't particularly like the legal-parts rules. Teams that have the ability to burn or make gears out of aluminum are going to have a small advantage because of the total lack of textrix gear ratios. Once our team decides on the final gear ratio I'm going to go on a search of local suppliers who can burn or hobb said gears out of base materials. If I was able to /purchase/ those gears, I'd be much happier, but it's not a hurdle I can't overcome.

[Garret]

We aren't planning on not using them, our current design uses non textrix parts, I am just afraid that they will change the rules again, and we will have to redesign.

And yes we got that free kit, but what if we want a second minibot or want to prototype, the kit doesn't come with motor controllers, or break some of the few parts that were in the kit. I mean seriously this is more just a boost for textrix, but yeah.

In addition, every year FIRST has a new 'end game'. Whether it be the '10 lift, or the '07 ramp, those end games sometimes require special mechanisms to compete. Those always cost money as well.

Those endgame parts, though requiring us to "buy materials" require everyone to buy materials, but not materials from a of a specific brand. It would be like saying that you could only make your hangers last year by using a winch. But in this case they being overly restrictive, imagine if hanging last year prohibited use of stored energy from anything other than the battery supplied during the finale period. What if they said that you had to only use one type of material to build your ramps in 2007. There wouldn't have been as much variety, and the game would have lost a lot of its inspirational aspect, at least in my opinion it would be less inspiring.

Just saying....

[gblake]

Is this really a useful conversation?

[PAR_WIG1350]

1350 has had no issues with Tetrix motors themselves so far. For the 2009-2010 FTC game we had 2 of them geared to ridiculously high speeds (to launch balls into the off field goals), and the gearhead failed on one, while the motor survived. The second one survived in its entirety. Tetrix motors can be sensitive to gearing, an intermittent load such as a ball shooter can be geared fairly high. However, for a drive mechanism, gearing up should be kept to a minimum and the load should be minimized (at 1:1 or lower gearing, on a horizontal surface, load doesn't matter quite as much). That being said, the tetrix motor can be impressive if they like the conditions in which they are operated.

[Techhexium]

1) Yeah I don't like the Tetrix servos either. Last year my team ruined a few servos because they tried to make it go 360°, but they broke the mechanical stop.

2) Yes Tetrix parts are expensive, but if you have contact with an FTC team, you can have them buy Tetrix parts for you at a 30% discount here:

http://parts.ftcrobots.com

(Discount only applies to FTC teams)