One speed vs Two speed gearboxes

Originally Posted by asid61

I can see why you would do that, but that severely limits your speed. A 20fps+ drive can trip in seconds, and even an exeperienced driver can make mistakes (see: 1678). To prevent that you have to cap out your speed, thus limiting your competitiveness. One less thing for the driver to worry about IMO.

Team 71 won a world championship with a dominant robot in 2002 spending the majority of the match traveling only inches each second. If you think you need 20+ ft/s to be successful in FRC I suggest you take a step off the California powerhouse hype train and re-evaluate what a drive system is supposed to do. Better yet, attend my class on Strategic Design at the WRRF workshops on December 13th and I will personally explain to you why this isn't necessary.

I understand where you're coming from - I once had a similar mindset as well - luckily I had some good mentors knock some sense into me. We're fortunate to have some of the best mentors to learn from here in California - especially in the Silicon Valley.