Examples of when it is not advantageous to be lightweight

[hrench]

Aerial Assist was the first year that we designed a robot that didn't have to lose weight to make 120 and it turned out to be great.

Speed was a big part of this game, but since we're not rich and wanted to try it, we used the AM14U kit frame and drive system. We noticed right away that with only about 90 lbs that we had good acceleration, but we also noticed that the kitdrive has gears that are appropriate for a 120lb robot. We resized the gears because pushing was already traction limited; we didn't lose any pushing ability, but we gained both speed and acceleration.

Point is, if you make a lighter robot, you need to be sure to size your gearing to take advantage of it.

Pushing is a great asset, but acceleration and a higher top speed might be better ones. First year we've won a regional in eleven.