Is a shifting transmission really necessary?

[Paul Copioli]

I am with Jay on this one. I have said it many times before: 2002 ruined a lot of us by making us think shifting is a neccesity. In 2002 shifting (of some sort or another) was essential because you could transfer over 360 lbs to your robot base (two goals at 180 lbs each. you 3 goal grabbers are excluded from my argument). 2003 and 2004 did not need shifting if you had at least 4 motors driving your drive base. I bet some teams did fine with two motors and no shifting, but 4 or more without shifting was plenty.

Speed and accleration are key and the race to the middle depends on both. Don't make your high gear too high or your acceleration will be horrible. If you do not shift during the race to the middle (goals, end, whatever) then there is not much difference in time between a 12 fps robot and a 8 fps robot (with the same motors driving). Teams like the Killer Bees who have an automatic transmission are taking full advantage of shifting with automatic speed/torque based on current speed of the output.


We shifted in 2002 and 2003, but not in 1999, 200, or 2001. We will not shift in 2005 unless we can transfer weight to our robot.

-Paul