Sustainability - 2014 - COTS parts

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Justin Montois

Most of the COTS items available are for drivetrain components.

I'd call them powertrain components. Things like planetary gearboxes tend to be useful more for manipulators than for driving, for example.

Originally Posted by Justin Montois

However, the main reason teams exist for a year or two and then get discouraged and fold, is they simply don't have the experience to tell themselves they need to limit themselves.

Wasn't there a recent survey/study that suggested the principal reason for new teams folding after a year or two was lack of funding? I don't think discouragement is all that big a factor -- many of the people I talk to say that a "bad" year is more likely to encourage them to try harder the next time.