pic: FRC558's modified VEXpro Drive in a Day

[Oblarg]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

These hits add up over time, and don't really add value to the game.

6-CIM drives aren't only useful for big hits. The added speed is extremely useful for all sorts of defense.

Our drive strategy last year depended almost entirely on positioning - we had to stay between the opposing robot and where they wanted to go. A little extra agility makes that a lot easier to do. It came with definite tradeoffs, and was not an obvious design choice to make, but in the right situation it was very useful, and not just in a "ROBOT ANGRY, ROBOT SMASH" capacity.

I mean, I wouldn't blame FRC for reducing the motor budget, because there was a lot of damage last year, as many teams were not particularly thoughtful in their willingness to smash into other teams' mechanisms. That said, I don't think it can really be argued that it added nothing to the game, and I wouldn't mind the drive power staying where it is, either. I don't think it was game-breaking.

Full disclosure: I believe we played entirely reasonable (but certainly stiff) defense at the DC regional. At the end of that competition, we discovered a sizeable (but not functionally-damaging) dent in one of our AM14U end-plates. So, yeah, it certainly was rough, but I don't think it was anything I'd be unwilling to deal with in future years. I don't believe we caused any non-superficial damage to another robot at any of our competitions.

Edit: Completely agree that the "rough play rule," as it was worded, was awful. I do think it could be done better than that, though.