What is your opinion on the importance of speed this year?
Should robots emphasize acceleration or max speed?
Is there a benefit to slower robots?
Are there going to be long runs where there is an opportunity to accelerate?
Is there a role for small, light, and super fast bots?
Personally, I think acceleration should be prioritized. I don’t think there will be opportunities for long runs, so acceleration is more advantageous. Teams have to be careful not to make their bot so fast they can’t place accurately. Small bots could be advantageous as switch bots, but I don’t see a role for them in late season.
This season it is going to be a balance of acceleration and speed. Sprinting distances unless running across the field for a cube are going to be fairly short. My team I believe was thinking about shifting but kind of ruled it out due to extra cost, complexity and not needed drastically. It is probably better to do a moderate top speed to allow for good acceleration and not a crazy, un-achievable speed. I am almost thinking about trying a 8 775 drive train to give really good acceleration but I am not entirely sure on running that without having a low gear.