What Have Been The Gains Over The Past 20 Years In FRC?

[Chris Fultz]

The list is long, but some of the major technical gains I have seen in 10 years would include -

1. Availability of COTS transmissions. These have allowed teams to create a powerful, reliable drive system and focus on the unique portions of the robot (ball handlers, manipulators, etc.)

2. Kit Chassis. The availability of a kit chassis that is very flexible and useable is a huge step. Rookie and veteran teams have made great use of this part of the kit.

3. Sensors and Autonomous Programming - Teams are making major steps in the use of sensors in autonomous and driver operated modes. More robots use sensor inputs to make decisions and allow mechanisms to be enabled or disabled. The step changes in autonomous mode functin and capability is incredible.

4. Use of modeling software (Autodesk, Solidworks, etc.) to design in advance of making parts. More and more robots are designed in software before any parts are made and modeling can allow multiple "what-ifs".