My team has yet to start working with the new kit (we’re still working on building the new FTC field), but we have started thinking about what we want to do with our design. We’ve come up with some pretty cool ideas, but each time we run into a constraint (or a perceived constraint) of the tetrix kit. Still, I have no doubt that we’ll be able to come up with something.
I think that FIRST intentionally wanted this to happen. Treads were almost a staple on a vex robot and now they took that part of it away. I think it’ll be interested to see how teams deal with this. :D.
The treads were good for almost anything. Drive train, manipulator, and many other things too. Treads were used for everything. That doesn’t mean they are unfair, it does mean that they are very versatile and people have found a lot of uses for them.
However you’re right it will be interesting to see what happens. I expect we will see a lot of arms.
Well this year has a similar game object except with this year’s game; you can’t use the NERDS style arm since there are no holes in the middle of the puck, you don’t have treads so you can’t make a ramp bot, and you may not have the motors (360 degrees range of motion) to make whatever design you come up with anyway.
Well another thought. I personally think the Vex game looks like alot more fun to play and watch. What yall think.
Our school is doing the BEST robotics competition here in Nashville. We just got the kit, and quite frankly, it is pitiful compared to Either the Vex or the Tetrix kit. This does mean that we have to be more creative though, so in a way, having less makes it a bigger challenge.
Jim Frye with Lynxmotion, Inc. here. While the brackets look like my design they are in fact very close copies! Not sure why they decided to copy my Servo Erector Set designs when we would have been happy to make them available for Tetrix if asked. :mad: Our prices are much lower and we have a much better selection of brackets. In fact our Servo Erector Set has over 110 unique mechanical components. 
Wow - the similarity is so striking that I just assumed they had licensed your designs and/or had you manufacture components to their (slightly different) specifications. I’m very sorry to hear that you are not profiting in any way from Tetrix. Seems like First/Tetrix needs to learn a bit about Gracious Professionalism…
Cheers,
- Dean
I was wondering, is anyone else experiencing a delay in receiving their kit(s)/part(s)?
We just heard news that the next shipment of kits will be shipped out this weekend. Hope we get them soon.
And as far as the VEX game is concerned, I fell that the VEX game is … trite. A tad bit over done and I think that it’ll be easy for teams to go look up designs of robots they can use. On the other hand, personally, the FIRST game is an EXTREMELY nice change. It’s somewhat of a challenge to simply maneuver around the field and getting the pucks off the racks and scoring is a whole 'nother story.
Personally, from a builder’s standpoint, I find the FTC game to be…more exciting. (If that’s the right phrase)
I actually like the fact that the Vex game has some similarities from year to year. I know that hard-core fans on forums like these are always looking to raise the bar, but as a coach, I keep getting new kids who have to start from ground zero, and it’s nice to have a game that they can understand and score in. Our 2nd year veterans like the fact that, “I can actually use some of what I learned last year to improve this year.” And our 3rd/4th year veterans haven’t reached saturation yet, and probably won’t as they’re graduating seniors.
I like the vex games. It has basically the same idea each year, but it varies just enough that you will want to vary you design to have a more effective robot. If you use the same design year to year, it shouldn’t work as well or better than the challenge the bot was originally designed for.
As a mentor with three teams, I also have a ton of new students that are starting at ground zero.
I have students that are “Junior Mentors” from prior years and they are doing a great job of leveraging the last years robots learnings. We kept one of the robots from the 2007-2008 season as an example.
I’d love to have new and harder challenges for me, but the competition isn’t about what I want as a mentor, it’s about the students. It needs to cover a broad range so that rookies and experienced roboteers can be successful.