paper: Spanking the Children

[magnets]

Originally Posted by IKE

I don't think you fully understand the role velocity plays in hit energy. Yeah, pre-2007 some of the more thuggish teams built tanks and bashed opponents "back in the good old days", but most teams trying to play the games drove around and got beat on quite a bit. Frames have IMO actually gotten better. the KOP frame has a lot better durability to it than the KOP frames from 2004 onward. In fact, I would say it is nearly equivalent to some of the best from the 2007/2008 timeframe.

Deformation comes from energy. and Kinetic energy is KE=1/2*m*V^2. In 2007, most defenders only traveled at about 7 FPS or less. Now, may are hitting 10 FPS with some teams exceeding 12 or 14 fps even. When comparing the two, a 7 FPS robot has 1/2 the kinetic energy of a 10 FPS robot. 12 FPS robot is at 3X a 7 FPS robot. 14 FPS is at 4X the Kinetic energy.

I help kep a lot of teams running during the weekends, and this year, I am seeing a lot of fallout due to wires getting pulled out during high speed impacts. Its a rough game.

For the most part, I agree with the frame comment. The 1x2 aluminum box frames that are popping up all over the place these days are pretty tough. The ball intakes this year aren't that tough.

I also agree with the speed comment. Now that teams with an average budget can just purchase a frame with a three CIM two speed transmission, there's a ton of teams with wicked fast robots.

As for past robots being slow, I don't think you could call 111's 2003 auto slow. Full speed collisions in auto could be dangerous that year, especially with teams using CIMs and drill motors together. I remember being amazed that a team (??) built a robot that went 14 fps, which isn't that far off from some teams this year.

http://youtu.be/vnwl31zoAPI?t=1m4s