Ground pickups are very important to consider having for your robot, but not always needed. Generally they assist with Autonomous performance as there are usually staged game pieces that are on the ground that robots can acquire during that period. It can also help shorten cycle times by picking up an object that may be closer than where a Human Player may be able to introduce the game piece into the field. Usually it is worth having a ground pickup, though there were some exceptions where most top level teams didn’t need one, like Deep Space.
Pros
- Versatility in pickup location
- Probably decrease in cycle time
- Probable increase in Autonomous performance through multi piece autonomous
- Pick up game pieces that are dropped or missed on their first attempt
Cons
- Usually an additional mechanism
- More complexity
- More weight