FRC Blogged-Kit of Parts Drive System Option

[Steven Donow]

http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...em-Option-2014

Please see the update below on the Kit of Parts Drive System Option from Kate and Collin, the Kit of Parts team:

For the 2013 FRC season, veteran teams had the option to opt out of receiving the Kit of Parts Drive System and instead receive a $450 Product Donation Voucher to AndyMark. Nearly 700 teams took advantage of this option. In the 2013 KOP Survey, 83% of teams who knew that it was an option said it improved the KOP experience. (Unfortunately, 10% of teams said they didn’t know it was an option. We need to work on that!)

Given the positive reception last season, the option will again be available for 2014! Veteran teams can choose to receive a Product Donation Voucher (PDV) from AndyMark instead of the KOP Drive System at Kickoff. Rookie teams will automatically receive the KOP Drive System.

The PDV will again be worth $450 and can be used on AndyMark parts. To accommodate orders and lead times, the option to opt out of the KOP Drive System for the PDV will be available ONLY from 10/3 to noon eastern on 10/17. During that time, the option to receive the PDV in place of the KOP Drive System will be found in the “What’s New” section on the right side bar of the TIMS main screen.

NOTE: If teams do not choose to opt out of the KOP Drive System in favor of the PDV by 10/17, they will be assigned the ‘default’ option of receiving the KOP Drive System as part of their Kickoff Kit.

To help you make your decision, we can give you some general information about this year’s KOP Drive System. It will look very different from those of the past and the two major variations include the following:

• The C-Base is gone. In its place is a redesigned frame using sheet metal and extrusion designed to make it easier to attach superstructures to the drive base.
• It is still a six-wheel belt drive robot, with an estimated final drive speed of about 10.5 feet per second. But, with the new design, we’ve changed to a direct driven center wheel powered by ToughBox Mini gearboxes.

The KOP Drive System can still be set up as a six-wheel drive “long robot”, but the redesign also now allows a six-wheel drive “wide” robot out-of-the-box. We are excited to continue to increase the competitive level of the KOP Drive System while continuing to give teams the opportunity to make the Kit of Parts as valuable as possible. We thank AndyMark and Gates Corporation for their support in creating this possibility.

Interesting to see that the new kitbot is a sheetmetal structure.

[coalhot]

Interesting, I wonder if this is any indication on next years game.

Looks interesting though...

[Akash Rastogi]

Excited to see what the new kit frame looks like. Making superstructure attachment easier might make more teams want to stick to the kitbot.

Nice work AM!

[AllenGregoryIV]

I'm guessing the standard 12.75:1 toughbox mini with 6" wheels. That's 10.9fps unloaded and 8.83fps with standard JVN loads.

I really do wish they would give a bit more information. I always like having a KOP drive to build so my team can be trained to help rookies. If I know it was simple enough to not need it I would rather have the voucher.

Giving a direct drive system to teams is very interesting.

[D.Allred]

Originally Posted by AllenGregoryIV

I'm guessing the standard 12.75:1 toughbox mini with 6" wheels. That's 10.9fps unloaded and 8.83fps with standard JVN loads.

10.7:1 looks like the correct option.

Anyway, I'm interested to see a sheet metal chassis that is long or wide out of the box.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by DevenStonow

Interesting to see that the new kitbot is a sheetmetal structure.

Curious what they mean by this, as the KOP drive (ever since it's inception in 2005) has always been sheet metal

[ttldomination]

I am actually really interested to see the new design of the kitbot.

To that end, I'm wondering what will be the pricepoint for the frame and such. Is the $450 the dollar equivalent of a new kitbot?

- Sunny G.

[bardd]

I wonder if the direct driven wheel means we'll be getting a WCD kitbot this year. My gut tells me yes. I hope it's true, if not for the advantages of WCD then for the sheer coolness of it.

[Thad House]

I think even though it is a direct driven center, I think it will still be a dead axle system. I don't think FIRST would make the kit chassis not have an outer frame member because that outer member is very helpful for both mounting structure and mounting bumbers, and I dont think they want rookies having to worry about how to mount things without that outer member.

[Lil' Lavery]

I just hope it's revealed prior to October 3rd (or 17th at the very latest).

[ttldomination]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

I just hope it's revealed prior to October 3rd (or 17th at the very latest).

Yeah, I'm wishing for this, but I don't think we're going to see it anytime soon.

The speculation about the game with be insane. At the very least, it would throw some hints about frame sizing and such.

- Sunny G.

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by ttldomination

Yeah, I'm wishing for this, but I don't think we're going to see it anytime soon.

The speculation about the game with be insane. At the very least, it would throw some hints about frame sizing and such.

- Sunny G.

They could reveal it without giving away any frame size hints. For example, put it together at the largest dimensions the frame possibly can go (something like 30x30), so it's ridiculously oversized for our purposes. Then just include a small note that says something like "This shows the maximum for each dimension possible with the KoP frame. This does not reflect legal robot dimensions for the 2014 season." Just about anyone who has been around for any length of time will realize that you'll have to cut a few members shorter to fit into the legal dimensions, and which members are chosen will define if you have a wide or long bot.

[AllenGregoryIV]

Originally Posted by Jon Stratis

They could reveal it without giving away any frame size hints. For example, put it together at the largest dimensions the frame possibly can go (something like 30x30), so it's ridiculously oversized for our purposes. Then just include a small note that says something like "This shows the maximum for each dimension possible with the KoP frame. This does not reflect legal robot dimensions for the 2014 season." Just about anyone who has been around for any length of time will realize that you'll have to cut a few members shorter to fit into the legal dimensions, and which members are chosen will define if you have a wide or long bot.

Most recent KOP frames have been marked with a small hole for the cut line to the smaller dimension. I would assume this one would have the same feature. Posting a picture to this community would lead to us probably figuring it out. The better question is why does anyone care about releasing frame size 3 months early. For about 8 years we knew frame size and it was never an issue.

[Ben Martin]

We always appreciate AM's efforts, and given the information provided, there is a very good chance we'll pick the chassis option over the PDV again. Getting a frame on day 1 where we don't have to do much fabrication and every part is aligned correctly is hard to pass up. Gates' belt system is also awesome. We have ran it through 7 competitions with no issues, and we will happily use it again.

A couple requests, if Andy/others are watching, which I'm sure you all have probably considered:
1) Making the length/width ratio a little less this year in the long configuration to improve turning
2) Making the drive shaft of the center wheel hex if possible, so interfacing a VEXPro transmission is easier and the system comes together without keys.

[SenorZ]

I smell modular robot systems...
Easy attachment of "superstructures" means easy removal of superstructers.