pic: 971 Friction Clutch Transmission Insides

[Michael Corsetto]

Originally Posted by T^2

I can see why taking seconds off of operation time would be helpful, and I concede that I shouldn't judge the necessity of this mechanism without knowing the design process behind it.

I wonder, though, if time wouldn't be better spent on low-hanging fruit -- some mentors and I made a lively discussion of this a few months ago when talking about how 1678 could improve our competitiveness. I know 971's bots always have high score ceilings, but often fail to execute to full potential. Would not it be more efficient to ensure basic functionality in each match, as opposed to some fantastic and some mediocre matches, rather than build a smoother autoshifter? (This isn't to say that both of these improvements couldn't happen simultaneously, of course.)

Perhaps someone from 971 could chime in here.

I'm not on 971 (actually on your team T^2 ), but you can't make these assumptions without any understanding of team structure, goals, etc. I just spent the last 5 hours at 971's shop, I can assure you that developing a friction clutch transmission is certainly NOT the only thing 971 is doing this off-season. Arguably, they've made larger strides this fall than we have.

You know what happens when you assume...

-Mike