Drive Systems... ...The FIRST Arms Race?

[David]

Originally Posted by Ianworld

I think this thread suffers from the chiefdelphi syndrome, which is that elite teams dominate the chiefdelphi scene. Numerous teams that aren't making 6 motor drives and beautifully machined manipulators are out there and don't post on chiefdelphi. At the same time most of the teams that would make a 6 motor drive end up showing it off on here. It doesn't change the argument, but its good to keep in mind when you consider that this arms race isn't really amongst all 2000 teams but just about 50 veterans that have the experience and resources to keep the battle raging.

i don't agree with this. There are members from most teams on Chief Delphi. And alot more than 50 teams are capable of producing 6 motor drives but, like my team, do not see the point. They are heavy and unnecessary. A well designed 2 motor drive will still be very competitive. Also you cannot win a match by having an amazing drivetrain. The only thing you can win from a good drive train alone is a pushing match, which FIRST doesn't awards points for. Something more important than the drivetrain is the driver because a smart driver can avoid a pushing match when possible, or knows when to shift down to push thru someone. If a team wants to spent 75% of their weight budget on a drivetrain, let them, but one of the elite teams will know that scoring is more important than pushing.