We just switched from FRC to FTC this year and had to buy everything from scratch…except we didn’t know where to start. Should we buy all parts only from REV or buy electronic parts from REV and other parts from Gobilda?
I can’t speak to much else, but goBILDA mecanum wheels are amazing and were all the rage 2 years ago. I absolutely loved using those parts from them.
There are many neat aspects of each of the current FTC build systems so it kinda comes down to what you’re looking for.
I’m one of the primary designers for the AndyMark Robits line so I have a bit of a bias towards it. Our primary consideration was to make robotics more accessible by removing some of the pain points in building a robot. We’ve opted for larger hardware more akin to what is used in FRC as we saw a lot of frustration from newer users trying to handle the smaller M3/M4 and 6-32 fasteners. Additionally we chose a simpler hole pattern to make it less confusing on how parts go together and align more to what you’d see in FRC. These choices lead into the idea of progression where we expect many Robits components will get used by programs that either have both an FTC and FRC team or programs that transition between the two.
We started with Tetrix (as this predated REV’s FTC offerings), and then switched to REV basically as soon as it existed as a complete enough system. We have since used mostly REV with some Tetrix and Gobilda thrown in. If I started from scratch I might go with Gobilda, but REV has been very good for us on the whole (and stay away from Tetrix’s D-shaft).
The Game Manual Zero site lists some of the pros and cons to the various systems. Notably, Robits hasn’t been added yet.
Hey, editor for GM0 here!
With robits being so new we haven’t had the hands on experience to write an article on it for GM0. Personally, I’m a huge fan of what Andymark is doing here and really want to get it added, but we can’t really do a build system justice until there has been some initial usage and feedback from teams and until we have had hands on experience.
Notably, this has not stopped us from adding the Andymark High Speed/High Torque servos, and we will be adding some other new stuff from AM as edits roll out (big fan of their power distribution block and other parts).
Off the hip, I’d say Robits is probably something you aren’t going to go wrong with, and I’d almost straight up recommend it if you are switching from FRC to FTC since it has some overlap (imperial parts being the biggest). If you have a 3d printer, your ecosystem choice does matter a little less, as you can easily adapt between things as you need.
Gobilda and Rev certainly are not bad choices either. Rev has some unique stuff in their ecosystem that I’d recommend checking out regardless (big fan of Ultraplanetaries since you can stock up on cartridges and make prototyping easier). Gobilda probably has the best all around ecosystem right now, so if you are going to be pure ecosystem with no custom parts, that is who I would recommend. However, access to a 3d printer will help you a lot regardless.
If I had to summarize, I’d say my recommendation would be getting things like sensors (and the control system parts, but that is obvious) from Rev, purchasing a base set of parts from Gobilda (the masterkit makes a compelling offering since it contains a good selection of parts to get started), and scrolling through Andymark and Rev to see if there is anything there you might want. Especially if you have access to 3d printing. Ultraplanetaries are good to look at, and the Robits stuff in general is compelling if you are switching due to the overlap (I also really like the concept of Robits tubes, although fair warning because I have not had a chance to use Robits yet. The AM high torque/high speed servos are also really nice).
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