Why are they showing us how to build a chasis?

[Leav]

are we still going to be watching this in 6 weeks?

[Roland]

Aren't you the same person who complained that the programming is too easy this year?

[BandChick]

Okay guys, breathe. They showed you how to build a chassis for the NOW period. It was to benefit the rookies just to show off a little. Besides, the whole point is to be GRACIOUS to the things that FIRST gives you, and I'm actually happy they showed you how to use it. Some people do better with hands on visual learning than reading from a book of directions.

They showed you how to build the chassis for those teams that want to use what FIRST provides. Though it is not required, it was a nice added bonus and we should be grateful.

[Eugenia Gabrielov]

Hm, I understand that for a few people it may be really basic.

But I was on a public relations related subteam last year, and I honsetly knew nothing about what a chasis even is until today. You hear the word, you hear other words that may relate to it like frame or drive train, but it's hard to visualize if you aren't working on it every day. Rookies who haven't even been exposed to the term may also have difficulty.

While I understand that to some it seems elementary, I think kickoff is a great place to have that demonstration.

- Genia

Rookies definately have it easy this year. I'm glad their working on educating them for this year.

offtopic: Hey Genia, Simon is doing great here at 639. Have a great season!

[MOEmaniac]

For a rookie teams things like putting together a working drive train and building a good chassie can be a difficult thing to do.

[kevin.fort]

Originally Posted by MOEmaniac

For a rookie teams things like putting together a working drive train and building a good chassie can be a difficult thing to do.

yea the drive train and chassis are not really good enough for a more experienced team and even if you did use them they would still need to be adapted for your superstructure. So they are trying to make jumping on the train easier.

[greencactus3]

Originally Posted by kevin.fort

yea the drive train and chassis are not really good enough for a more experienced team and even if you did use them they would still need to be adapted for your superstructure. So they are trying to make jumping on the train easier.

no, you can never really say its not good enough. maybe not "as the experienced teams might want it to be".
[off topic]can never.....can't ever..... same difference?[/off topic]

[Kyle Love]

Here's my view on it...

Last year, as a rookie, I would not have known anything about building a drive base or a gearbox at all. This is, what I think, a GREAT way to "teach" the rookies on how to build a drive base. This could be something the rookies, or veterans alike, could use to "experiment with". To find out what doesn't work, so they can make adjustments to the kit bot or build a new one using things they learned from the kit bot. I am giving FIRST 2 big thumbs up for this!

-Kyle

[elknise]

When i watched the video, the chassis they gave us looked really flimsy, but when we got the kit and i found out that is is 1/8 inch aluminum, i was more excited about using it. Personally, i would not use it, but my team is inclined to do so because of how easy it is going to make it for us. Last year we made our own chassis and it worked out good, but the kit this year looks more substantial.

[Bharat Nain]

There are several good things about giving us the chassis
1) Head start for rookies or teams that have lost some engineering support
2) If they are building their own chassis, this could be assembled and the sensor could be played around with for programming. Everyone wants to see how the new software works
3) You wont have robots on the field with an amazing arm structure but their wheels falling off during autonomous.
So make good use of it

[tpearson]

I remember my first year participating and without the returning members on my team, it would've taken most of the build time for the new people on the team to just get a working chassis and drive system, so this is definitely a good thing. [ot] can't ever and can never are the same [/ot]

[J Flex 188]

Exactly as Bharat said, for some veteran teams this pre-assembled chassis could serve as a prototype bed for mounting the new sensors and running it witth the 2005 RC for teams without the benefit of an older robot. At the same time it also provides a solid test bed for the first days or week of build season allowing many different configurations of wheels and the like to be tried. Also it serves to teach new members the fundamentals of what a solid base should look like (in relative terms). Although its small, for some teams having accomplished as much in the first few days is a big step forward.

[Leav]

Originally Posted by Roland

Aren't you the same person who complained that the programming is too easy this year?

yup, i was a bit hyper-active during the kickoff broadcast and felt compeled to post everyother thought that went through my head....

i apologize.

but i still think that the questions are legitimate (even though people have answered them in this thread)

[Eugenia Gabrielov]

I understand how you feel, Leav, that things are a bit exciting right now. I'm sure a lot of possibilities were considered before deciding to present that knowledge at kickoff. However, a lot of rookie teams haven't even met before. Their FIRST season is the build season and competition. Nothing more. It's hard for me to relate because my team does a good deal of education and demos during the fall, but this may be the only time that they learn to make an effective "base" so to speak.