IMPORTANT 2005 CHANGES!!!!

[UlTiMaTeP]

Some very important changes that have been made this year that I noticed after reading all the pdf's in full detail. Many teams have started discussion on bots including mine (710) and have gone unaware of these changes, and started CAD'ing there bots to the wrong specs.

Important changes that were not highlighted:

1. Weight has dropped to 120, but the battery including connector will not be weighed in during inspection

2. Robot size has dropped 2 inches in width but grown 2 inches in length. New size is 28x38x60

3. During finals there will no longer be Alternates. A standby team will be chosen from the top ranking seeds and will replace the team that is inoperable. The team that was replaced cannot rejoin any of the following matches but will still be "in" the alliance. An alliance can only have one standby team.

4. No Drill motors will be provided this year, but there is an addition of a new mabuchi motor

5. Field size is 27 ft. wide and 54 ft. long (2 feet wider and 4 feet longer)

[Wayne Doenges]

4. No drill motors

Wayne Doenges
CAD Mentor

[Arefin Bari]

Peter, you forget one other...

5. Field size... its 27 ft. wide and 54 ft. long.


-Arefin.

[UlTiMaTeP]

LOL thats not important to me though

[Justin]

An Ode to Drill Motors...

Heres to Makita, Milwaukee, Bosch...you powered drive trains I'll always remember...the likes of Atlas and Hexcalibur, tank drives both. You pushed freshman around the cafe on team information night. You gave your all, stripped a few gears, and blew a few clutches. You powered many a team to Victor(y). So long old friends....

I know that they've pretty much been replaced by globe motors as the favorite for drive systems, but being so old school it is sad to see the drill motors go. They've been a staple of the FIRST kit of parts since, well probably not the begining but darn close I'd imagine. One more thing that I can bring out at a compention to get weird looks from rookies in a few years ;-)

Good luck to all teams this year...should be a fun game,

Justin

[UlTiMaTeP]

Originally Posted by Justin

An Ode to Drill Motors...

I know that they've pretty much been replaced by globe motors as the favorite for drive systems, but being so old school it is sad to see the drill motors go.....
Justin

I sure hope your not powering your drive with globes!

[Tytus Gerrish]

but a sweet $350 camera system

[Lil' Lavery]

But we get 2 more atwoods, which are so much better than the bosch's anyway.

[jgannon]

Originally Posted by UlTiMaTeP

I sure hope your not powering your drive with globes!

I think "globe" is just his nickname for the already multi-named CIM / Chipua / Atwood motor.

<_<
>_>

Yeah, that must be it.

[Matthew_H]

Originally Posted by jgannon

I think "globe" is just his nickname for the already multi-named CIM / Chipua / Atwood motor.

<_<
>_>

Yeah, that must be it.

The globe motors are much smaller than the CIM motors.

[ShadowKnight]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

But we get 2 more atwoods, which are so much better than the bosch's anyway.

Not really. When comparing the power vs. torque between the cims and the drills, the drills won out.

[Pin Man]

That's good about the weight... You actually have more weight to work with... The battery is 13 pounds... So technically you have 3 extra pounds to work with... WOOT!

[Kit Gerhart]

Originally Posted by Pin Man

That's good about the weight... You actually have more weight to work with... The battery is 13 pounds... So technically you have 3 extra pounds to work with... WOOT!

But the extra Atwoods replacing the drills will nearly add the three pounds back.

[Eugenia Gabrielov]

I think the fact that alternates have been eliminated is extremely significant.

On the upside, an alliance won't be left stranded in the case of a mechanical malfunction. Since strategy is paramount it will be important to have as many functioning robots available as possible. Also, this will give teams that were balanced on the edge a chance to make it into finals when they may not otherwise get that chance. I'm sorry if I missed this part, but how exactly would these alternates be picked?

On the downside, a team won't be able to reenter competition even if they fix themselves. This puts a lot of stress in the alliance. So if the standby team breaks, they're essentially stuck again. I wonder if there will be any team updates on this subject?

[roboticsguy1988]

Originally Posted by Wayne Doenges

4. No drill motors

Wayne Doenges
CAD Mentor

I agree. Drill motors = nice!!

Also I do like the new camera system.

Even though the field is bigger I think it still a little bit small for 6 robots.

And last but not least the 3 extra pounds may not seem like much, but it is nice. I remember being less than a pound over weight, and the extra 3 pounds would have been really nice there.