What will FRC 2016 Stronghold be remembered by?

[emeraldstorm]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

I wouldn't say they weren't worth the trouble. It was possible to build a better system custom, sure, but Rhino treads helped hundreds of teams field competitive drivetrains that could cross defenses, and I'm willing to bet at least half of those teams would not have been able to do so otherwise. They were a fine product and a good solution for this year's game. They were not free of issues, but that applies to many, MANY custom drivetrains this year as well.

While I very much could be wrong on this one, I believe 195's treads were a custom variant of the Rhino tread system as well? So more than one Einstein team was rocking treads in any case. And you can't necessarily consider lack of use as an argument against the effectiveness of a drive system that was introduced very shortly before Kickoff - many teams simply were not willing to take a risk on a new product like that in a system as critical as the drivetrain.

Our team went with the RhinoTreads this year, and if I were to do it all over again, I would definitely go with a pneumatic wheel base. The treads caused too many compatibility and reliability issues with us, even with the upgraded pulleys. A 6WD or 8WD 8" pneumatic drivetrain, welded aluminum 1x1" frame, and 6-CIM PTO. We're gonna have the CAD and engineering power next year, and I'm really feeling it.

Now, for a beginner product, it certainly worked well. It put up well for what the game did to the robots. Nobody on our current team had any drivetrain engineering experience, and we went with what everybody else was going for. Thing is, it's a base product. It could easily be improved upon, yet serves the purpose quite adequately, just like any other base drivetrain you can order. And, it was a direct upgrade to the AM14U3 chassis. I saw several unlucky teams getting their chassis bent to hell in one day.

[Jon K.]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

I wouldn't say they weren't worth the trouble. It was possible to build a better system custom, sure, but Rhino treads helped hundreds of teams field competitive drivetrains that could cross defenses, and I'm willing to bet at least half of those teams would not have been able to do so otherwise. They were a fine product and a good solution for this year's game. They were not free of issues, but that applies to many, MANY custom drivetrains this year as well.

While I very much could be wrong on this one, I believe 195's treads were a custom variant of the Rhino tread system as well? So more than one Einstein team was rocking treads in any case. And you can't necessarily consider lack of use as an argument against the effectiveness of a drive system that was introduced very shortly before Kickoff - many teams simply were not willing to take a risk on a new product like that in a system as critical as the drivetrain.

We at AndyMark loved working on the Rhino, and loved seeing what teams like 195, 1747, and others came up with on ways to use the Rhino pulleys and belts in their own custom drive systems. I was amazed watching the hundreds of matches that I refereed this year and continually seeing the different drive configurations that were out there.

Also, congratulations to team 1501 who ran a stock Rhino system the whole season and made their way to Einstein and made all of us in Indiana proud!

This year was brutal on everyone, teams, robots, field crews and referees alike, but I think we can all agree that it brought the community together like very few games before it, and really allowed teams to focus on teaching moments similar to those that engineering in the real world has!

[Jess_Clore]

Originally Posted by 3175student17

I believe that only one team with Rhino treads made Einstein (5050). So I would agree that they usually not worth the trouble.

As a member of 5050 I can say that we did have some trouble with our treads. We had 2 3D printed pulleys, and 4 aluminium pulleys. They also were replaced after MSC. But overall they did a pretty decent job.

[yonip]

Escaping robots anyone?

Speaking of which, how frequent are escaping robots in FRC? I'd imagine the polycarb "walls" were added due to escaping robots at one point, but I didn't really hear of any since, until this year.

Also, definitely happy our team managed pneumatic wheels. Even though we did break all the teeth off a 14t aluminum gear

[MikLast]

Originally Posted by dirtbikerxz

In my opinion, I am glad you didn't get a rhino drive. We were in the pit right behind you guys at lone star, and I think I remember you guys had pneumatic. Anyway, there were so many teams that had problems with rhino. They broke down a lot. And even when they didn't break down, they simply couldn't match the speed, agility, and toughness that a good drive train with pneumatic wheels had. No Rhino bot would have been able to maneuver like a bot like ours.

Zero issues with rhino treads. Our lead screw on the other hand broke twice. And our vision system is slightly buggy. But no issues with rhino treads.

[Theseusgoats]

The year of no human player feeding station. No one directly and only fed from there, they atleast had to harvest the ball. The ball wasn't just placed in the robot

[dirtbikerxz]

Originally Posted by Theseusgoats

The year of no human player feeding station. No one directly and only fed from there, they atleast had to harvest the ball. The ball wasn't just placed in the robot

I disagree, last years tote feeding station, and this years ball feeding station, were both similar. The only difference with the balls are that they rolled further.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by Jared Russell

This $@#$@#$@#$@# is mother$@#$@#$@#$@#in dope

TSIMFD!!!!

[Tom Bottiglieri]

Originally Posted by Cory

TSIMFD!!!!

#tsimfd

[IronicDeadBird]

The biggest thing I think I will always remember about this year is that it made it clear that the GDC hears a lot.

[MikLast]

NSFW obliviously, but Will.I.Am being Will

[indubitably]

Originally Posted by Tom Bottiglieri

#tsimfd

#OMFGRobots

Originally Posted by natejo99

The "Carver Curse" was broken.

We learned the real Curie curse was once you win champs as a Curie team, mysterious forces will prevent you from making Einstein ever again...

[Steve Compton]

Unremarkable high scores in elims in light of relatively low to no defense.

[GKrotkov]

Originally Posted by Steve Compton

Unremarkable high scores in elims in light of relatively low to no defense.

This is a key point condensed a bunch. Many alliances made it too easy to pilfer out of thier secret passage, or committed to a triple cycler offense when it was neither needed for the capture nor beneficial in the light of the strength of the opposing alliance.

[MARS_James]

Originally Posted by indubitably

#OMFGRobots



We learned the real Curie curse was once you win champs as a Curie team, mysterious forces will prevent you from making Einstein ever again...

That mysterious force has a name it is called gravity