Is there a dominant design style?

[techtiger1]

6 WD is the most common design style, I challenge the OP to find a game where swerve drive was necessary/needed.

[Knufire]

If people are interested, 5188 put a decent amount of effort into figuring out what drive direction to pursue for 2016, and came to a conclusion of a chain-in-tube WCD. This was an attempt to balance several factors, including cost, weight, performance, maintenance time, and machine time. I'll see if we can publish a white paper on our decision process before build season starts.

[thedude019]

Originally Posted by techtiger1

6 WD is the most common design style, I challenge the OP to find a game where swerve drive was necessary/needed.

it seemed useful in lunacy...

[jwfoss]

Originally Posted by thedude019

it seemed useful in lunacy...

While it seemed useful, 2/3 (971 and 67) of the World Champs had 6WD.
And just for reference, check out this article posted on FRCDesigns.

Dominant styles of design also vary by region.
Ultimately it is most important for teams to choose a strategy and design that they can build within their resources.

[Gdeaver]

2001 was my first First season. As far as design styles the biggest change I have seen is that back in 2001 most teams were kludging up robots with almost no 3d modeling and cnc machining. Now many great teams design in modeling software and use cnc machining in house or by sponsors. Great teams build machines not kludge bots.