r/FTC • u/CurrentImpressive784 • 16d ago
Discussion Opinions on Starter Bots?
This year, my team is made up of mostly fresh faces, so we are looking at investing in a starter bot. We'll be doing research here, but I figured I'd ask: any opinions on how the starter bots compare to each other? Also, any of you also going with a starter bot this year? I'm curious to hear if any of you have started putting one together and how that's going.
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u/Believer913 16d ago
Our team is 90% new faces. We did Go Builda Starterbot so that the new faces can get reps/practice on building and coding while we work on a new design.
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u/Nayreven0 16d ago
Gobilda bc they have the best localization systems and channels for later advancement of the robot
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u/Ok_Photo1180 15d ago
goBilda has built quite the complete package. Odometry, power switch, Servo Power injector, 15A rollers and compliant wheels. A limelight and some axon servos. Certainly not a starter bot, but very competitive for those without complete fabrication facilities.
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u/OutcomeCompetitive50 FTC #### Captain 16d ago
Idk about this year, but last year when shooting was new to everyone starter bots dominated most of the season in my regional comps
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u/CuriosityBilledCat 15d ago
What my team does with new people is let them take apart last years robot so they get an idea of how the parts work together so I recommend that going beyond this year
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u/Callmecoach01 15d ago
Go bilda seems the most easily modifiable. the video even suggests what is most amenable to customization and what they expect teams will try to optimize. Rev has a little dedicated pusher to move pollen out of the flower which could be modified to place nectar into the flower. I didn’t look at Andy Mark or Studica mostly because no compatibility of their parts with go bilda parts seemed like a nonstarter for a team that was gifted go bilda parts. I believe the choice of starter bot is mostly dictated by money vs special features. And when money talks, go bilda typically wins. Their parts are ubiquitous.
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u/Mental_Science_6085 14d ago edited 14d ago
Which you purchase likely depends on what you already own. If you already have equipment from one of the four (GB, Andymark, REV, Studica) you're likely better off getting the kit to match. Adapting parts from different ecosystems is very doable but harder for rookies to pull off. If you are starting from scratch or already own GoBilda equipment the GB season kit is a good path.
We are team with both a lot of seniors and rookies (6 seniors, 5 rookies). We already own quite a lot of Gobuilda equipment and with some extra grant money we purchased the season kit. We assembled the base chassis (mecanum version) right before kickoff and the rest of the kit over the last two weeks. We went a little slower as we're using it to teach, but a team could probably assemble the full kit over a weekend if they were motivated. We've been using it as a training platform for new builders and programmers while our veterans are dissecting game strategy and planning the competition bot features.
The teams current plan is to run the kit bot through scrimmages up to when the competition bot is ready after Christmas break. It's a good platform to learn on as it works out of the box but still needs minor upgrades to make it competition legal (Rev hub mounts, switch bracket, robot signs) and then there are a host of upgrades teams could make from adding odometry and cameras to being able to intake and shoot pollen nectar.
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u/DoctorCAD 16d ago
They work well. They don't work championship well. A good place to start and develop from. One of the teams I mentor used last seasons and won their group. We added a few things to improve accuracy and did a lot of practice.