Who started building before Kickoff?

[JesseK]

Teams can do anything they want in the offseason, including building a fully-functioning robot base. That robot base cannot be used as the team's base for the actual game if it was built in the offseason. However, having a driving base is an incredibly valuable research tool when determining the details of a drive train which will play the game. For example, only a few hours after kickoff we changed wheel configurations on ours until we were happy with the turning behavior and interaction with noodles on the floor, based upon our initial findings for how we would play the game. We were then able to start designing our actual drive train with confidence.

The drive base is also incredibly valuable if it has extra motor controllers so prototype manipulators can be mounted, tested and refined on a kinetic robot rather than a static lab bench.

It's also a great team bonding experience, as having a working drive base can get team members motivated for the upcoming season. For pre-rookies, it's a great student and mentor recruitment tool. It's a great driver tool by allowing you to choose drivers based upon maturity rather than seniority or supposed experience since the driver can practice for longer periods of time.

If you're considering making an offseason drive base, I recommend you go forward with it under the assumption you'll build a new game-ready, separate drive base after kickoff. In other words, determine your level of funding, then if you can sustain it buy double of the electronics. No need to buy double motors/gearboxes/wheels quite yet - it's all likely to change after kickoff. Also - it should be completed by Thanksgiving at the latest. We've found that a December deadline often tends to allow us to procrastinate into the Build Season.