Whats wrong with the FTC KoP

[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)