General Motor Rules

[Karthik]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

It's a relatively bounded arms race though, as 500 and 700 sized motors only get so powerful at 12V.

Yes, but it gives a huge benefit to teams who can identify and source the most powerful motors in those series. My fear is that you'll have low resource teams limited to what's in the KoP and available from AM/VEX, while teams with mentors with industry experience will have a tangible power advantage. These teams already have many advantages as is (all well deserved), I don't see the need to make a rule change that will only widen a gap that much of our community is already concerned about. This is similar to the arms race that occurred with minibot battery chargers in 2011. Most teams just used the Tetrix chargers, while some teams used advanced chargers which allowed for a measurable difference in output speeds.

I love the simplicity of what you've proposed, but for me to get behind the issue, FIRST would need to identify a vendor which has a steady supply of motors in at least 75th percentile (perhaps much higher depending on the marginal power increase available around the 75th percentile) of power available in the form factor.