KOP Drivetrain vs Voucher

[Chris is me]

We've never used the Kitbot, and if we want to, we have plenty already. Voucher for us.

I think if you are at all unsure of what you're doing in the drivetrain department, it's best to play it safe and get a Kitbot you might not need. Kit frame material is very useful for other purposes (appendages, making a cart out of the 2010 kitbot, etc)

[Jon Stratis]

I think we're going with the kitbot... we've used it all but 1 year so far, and we don't really have any drive train plans that would be any better. Having the option though... it's something we'll be looking into for future years!

[Taylor]

KoP.
Even if we don't use the KoP on our chassis, it's good structural material to have - even if for offseason projects.

[Brandon Holley]

We're definitely taking the voucher, but we will miss having the kitbot. We've used it in the past as the "demo unit" for our robot quick build sessions. It's also been a decent drivebase to have around in the first week or so for prototyping/test bed type stuff.

However, that functionality isn't necessary, just more of a nice-to-have, thus voucher.

-Brando

[IndySam]

We will be using the Voucher for sure but I wouldn't recommend that for most teams.

I would suggest that at least 80% of the teams out there should use the KOP or "KOP on steroids" and focus their energy on game play.

[BrendanB]

KOP.

We have never used belts and would like to make the tranistion and we see the new KOP system as a great learning experience for our students and we could implement it into a custom drivetrain. $450 isn't a lot of money to raise to off-set the vouched and we use the kitbot frame as a test chassis a lot!

In future years we may choose the voucher if it is still around we shall see!

[Mk.32]

We are going with the voucher, we prototyped a WCD over the summer and love it. Also if we need it we have enough materials from the last 2 years to build 2/3 kit bots.

[Nuttyman54]

Just a word of warning to those saying "we have old kitbots if we need it", that is fine for prototyping or practice chassis, but may not be competition legal. In the past, the rule has been that a previous kitbot is legal only if it is identical to the current kit version. Since we know for sure that this year's kitbot is significantly different, unless the rules change there is a high probability that previous kitbots will not be FRC2013 legal.

I only point this out in case some teams, especially 2nd year teams, are considering taking the voucher and then relying on a previous kitbot for their chassis or having it as a fall-back option if their custom drive doesn't work.

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by Nuttyman54

Just a word of warning to those saying "we have old kitbots if we need it", that is fine for prototyping or practice chassis, but may not be competition legal. In the past, the rule has been that a previous kitbot is legal only if it is identical to the current kit version. Since we know for sure that this year's kitbot is significantly different, unless the rules change there is a high probability that previous kitbots will not be FRC2013 legal.

The old Kitbots are still COTS items. As long as they are unmodified, they would be legal under previous years' rules.

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

The old Kitbots are still COTS items. As long as they are unmodified, they would be legal under previous years' rules.

The difference being cost accounting - a previous year's kitbot that is not identical to this year's kitbot would have to be accounted for cost-wise on your BOM. This year's kitbot is "free" on the BOM and doesn't count toward your total cost for the robot.

[Anupam Goli]

I probably have to go back and read the exact post, but our team is probably going to be looking at using the voucher. We haven't used kitbot in a while, and with our off season experiments, we're looking at using 80/20 and going to tubing soon. However, i don't know if the KOP includes the motors, belts, or transmissions. I do want to take a look at these timing belts and not having the motors would be a bad day. If the belting system is good and with the new wheels, this kitbot actually looks really good.

[jbsmithtx]

As much as my teacher likes the whole new belt idea, I'm pretty sure we'd rather go with the voucher... Depending on the game, we would like to use mechanums this year and make our drive train. Seems like different games require different drive trains, and better maneuverability is always going to be a plus....

256 is going with the voucher. I've been designing a new custom drivetrain that utilizes our steel tubing, so we're super excited to be able to get the $450 to AndyMark. Maybe we'll get to use shifters!

Unsure on whether you want the voucher or Kitbot? Here's something that'll help:

Do you have a custom drivetrain that's been proven to work that you've spent a long time perfecting and carefully designing, with all the math and physics done?

If no to any of those parts, kitbot is probably a good idea. Plus, this year it's an awesome kitbot.

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by Taylor

KoP.
Even if we don't use the KoP on our chassis, it's good structural material to have - even if for offseason projects.

Yes, but is it really $450 worth of aluminum?

While it's not my decision, my recommendation has been for the voucher. We DO have a custom drivetrain we've been using for several years that's near perfect and works very well. But if we didn't, Kitbot is a good choice.

[Ankit S.]

We are going with the KitBot. Although we are planning on making a custom chassis over the next few months, we may not be able to get it to a decent level before build season. It will also be interesting using belts instead of chain.