MSC Top Bots Preview
 

With MSC this week, I thought I would highlight some of the top talent* coming to Grand Rapids this week. I will discuss four teams in this post and follow it up with two more posts highlighting 3 other teams in the next 2 days.

67:The HOT Team. FIM Rank 5. The HOT Team is the original Michigan Power house. 67 is 6 for 6 on reaching the MSC finals and is striving to make it 7 for 7. In 2015, HOT has 2 district wins at Waterford and Livonia. The robot is an impressive beast. Boasting a 3 tote stack auton, six stacking from the HP station, and a RC arm capable of picking up a can in any orientation or off the step, 67 is a force to recon with. With a few new tricks up their sleeve for MSC, 67 will be looking for their a third blue banner on the year.

Current Achilles Heel: Dropping RCs while placing stacks

Impressive match: Q52: Livonia

503: Frog Force. FIM Rank 126. My dark horse of the event, 503 has continuously improved throughout their season. Finishing QF at Standish, SF at Waterford, and F at Livonia, 503 is hungry for a victory. Boasting a fast stacker and capper from the HP station, 503 is well above average scoring points. However, the "secret sauce" to their robot is their 4 Cim powered canburglars. Only loosing twice due to a programming error, 503 grabs 2 RCs in about a third of a second and is just waiting to have a rematch. 503 has some major improvements of their own debuting at MSC, a new claw and ramp will be unleashed.

Current Achilles Heel: Solo scoring potential

Impressive match:F1: Livonia

2137: TORC. FIM Rank 1. Two time winner at Waterford and West Michigan and Bedford SF, 2137 is no stranger to winning or pressure situations. Sporting two fast canburglars and a fast HP 6 stack. 2137's impressive canburglars sport clear blockers to stop other teams from hooking into the top with them. As long as they reach the top first(usually should due to the speed) they will win the RCs. Team TORC is almost always good for 2 bins in auto, 2 capped 6 stacks, and a few extra totes.

Current Achilles Heel: Releasing canburglar bins.

Impressive match:QF6 Livonia

2054: Tech Vikes: FIM Rank 22. Two Time winner at Kentwood and Escanaba and SF at West Michigan. 2054 is the sole FIM member of the #28pointauton club. Showing off a reveal video before their first district, 2054 has been tuning this impressive auton through three competitions and has it down. However, the Tech Vikes are not a one trick pony. After auton 2054 utilizes a ramp to create stacks of 6 with RCs. The tech Vikes have just about perfected their auton and ramp loading. I'm excited to see what they have to show off this Thursday.

Achilles Heal: The third bin in auto.

Impressive match: F2 Escanaba
*These robots are my personal top 10 going to MSC.

Re: MSC Top Bots Preview
 

Day 2:

1023:The Bedford Express. FIM Rank 3. 1023 is the most decorated team in FIM this year, taking up a whooping 4 blue banners in three events. However, Bedford didn't get there without constant improvements each week. Week 1 saw an effective landfill miner, week 3 found the addition of a ramp and HP loading, finally week 6 brought out a 20 point auton and improved consistency. Bedford is only robot I've seen in FIM consistently able to score 146 points solo (3 capped/noodled 6 stacks and 20 point auton). I expect the versatility of landfill and hp loaded to be a highly sought after skill come Saturday afternoon.

Current Achilles Heel: Knocked down RCs

Impressive match: F2 Bedford

314: The Megatron Oracles. FIM Rank 6. 314 has 3 district victories already this season (Kettering, Great Lakes Bay, and Lansing) and will be on the hunt for their forth banner this weekend. 314 is another impressive ramp fed HP bot that stacks them up 6high with RC and noodle. 314 has shown a very controlled and deliberate game plan that needs no help from team mates. If 314 is paired up with another strong HP robot, expect them to head to the landfill with plenty of time left as the HPs will run out of totes.

Current Achilles Heel: Auton

Impressive match:SF2 Lansing

469:Las Guerrillas. FIM Rank 17. 469 is a two time winner (St. Joesph and Troy) and one time Finalist (Woodhaven) robot built with all that signature Las Guerrillas uniqueness. Sporting tethered ramp and and extend RC arm, 469 is a quick HP stacker capable of creating 6 stacks with RCs and noodles. The trick in the design is the RC arm, capable of reaching over the upside-down totes for the step RCs, this feature puts 469 above many other HP loaders that run out of cans.

Achilles Heel: Auton

Impressive match: SF2 Troy

I'll be previewing the last three robots tomorrow. I can't wait to see MSC matches starting in just two days

Re: MSC Top Bots Preview
 

Day 3:

548: The Robostangs. FIM Rank 9. 548 is a two time winner (Livonia and Bedford) and one time finalist (Southfield), looking to continue the winning streak in the next few days. The Robostangs are a HP fed robot that requires the impressive skills of their HP to land the totes upright. Utilizing a chain and hook elevator, 548 stacks incredibly quickly while holding an RC on top. While their stacking is impressive, 548 has shown off the fastest canburglar in FIM to date. If other teams don't catch up or surpass this speed at MSC, expect 548 to have at least 2 extra RCs to play with every match.

Achilles Heel: Only 5 tote stacks

Impressive match: Q41 Bedford

3641: The Flying Toasters: FIM Rank 34. 3641 is a two time finalist (Livonia and Bedford) and one time Semifinalist (Gull Lake), looking for their first victory of the year at MSC. The Flying Toasters are another HP fed robot, but with a built in back loading ramp. This allows 3641 to stack very fast, creating 6 stacks, without being attached to a tether. 3641 isn't anything flashy, but given a station, they will put up some big points.

Achilles Heel: Auton

Impressive match: F2 Bedford

33. The Killer Bees: FIM Rank 2. 33 is a two time winner (Southfield and Troy), accomplished this by creating the best landfill miner in FIM. 33 sports a unique design of a lightning fast intake, quick elevator, stabilization bar, and long RC arm. 33 puts up impressive points from a 20 point auton, and clearing the landfill with 3 six stacks and 2 RCs from the step in teleop. 33 will be a great alliance partner is qualifications and eliminations in a field full of HP loaders.

Achilles Heel: Stability

Impressive match: Q61 Troy

Honorable mentions that almost made my top 10: 66, 217, 1025 1918, 2337, 2834. I look forward to watching all these teams compete this weekend in the largest MSC ever!

Re: MSC Top Bots Preview
 

Not to put TOO fine a point on it but I can think of another team (cough, cough, Chief Delphi, cough, cough) that might have a claim to such a title.

That said, they are amazing.

Joe J.

Re: MSC Top Bots Preview
 

This is a cool take on a vaguely LF-style preview... I appreciated reading through it to get to know some of the top Michigan teams this year better.

With FRC getting so big it's hard to really keep on top of what's going on around the FRC world.

Re: MSC Top Bots Preview
 

I have enough trouble trying to keep up with all the FIM teams. LF will always be the king of previews but as he/she/they can't be everywhere. I thought I would highlight some Michigan stuff and possibly bring out some discussion on these incredible robots.

Re: MSC Top Bots Preview
 

NC Gears... Just saying.

AT MSC, there is always great teams, doing great things.

I am really interested in how this expansion plays out, especially with the game (or job) this year.

We have grown into new diggs...

We have grown from a field of 64 of the best teams to 100 of the best teams.

We have grown from 1/3 of the field, to 1/2 of the field, to now, 60% of the field advancing to Championships.

This is the best weekend of robotics all year. I am biased.
This year, I am really interested if we jumped the shark.

Time will tell.

Good Luck to all the teams competing this weekend.

Bonus Robots! Yeah!

Re: MSC Top Bots Preview
 

Well with 76 out of 204 (~37%) matches played my top 10 isn't looking so great.

Ranking (Team number)
5 (548)
11 (1023)
15 (33)
21 (3641)
24 (314)
30 (2054)
33 (2137)
37 (503)
44 (469)
70 (67)

With 548 the only one in alliance captain position, and only 1023 and 33 ranked in the top 15. Either we will see a big turnaround from a lot of these teams, or MSC is so crazy competitive I can't predict a thing.

Re: MSC Top Bots Preview
 

Aren't 1023 and 33 in captain positions too because of the 16-alliance elims?

Re: MSC Top Bots Preview
 

Correct, I forgot about the expanded elimination rounds. Still, I'm not doing so great on my predictions, I would have guessed all 10 would finish in the top 25

Re: MSC Top Bots Preview
 

It was only day 1 and they had to adjust to two different fields. The average team only had 3-4 matches. That's like saying the first one out of the gate will win the race.

Re: MSC Top Bots Preview
 

I think your predictions are still very accurate. I think we'll see most of them finish in the top 25 or so. It'll be difficult for 67 and 469, but anything can happen. The first match today both alliances scored +200. I'm sure these 10 will be picked for elims early.

Re: MSC Top Bots Preview
 

As of Match 116 of 204, 97 of the 102 Robots at MSC have over 100 QA Points.

97

Bravo State of Michigan, Bravo.

Re: MSC Top Bots Preview
 

Anyone know what happened to 1023? They had been leading the pack for quite some time, but suddenly they dropped off, along with their average and OPR - I haven't been able to watch any of the matches from school.

Re: MSC Top Bots Preview
 

Match 123 was a killer for them. I think they missed the 20 point auton, 314 and 66 took the HP slots. 66 dropped a RC that was on a 6 stack, and 1023 isn't nearly as good from the landfill. If teams give 1023 upright RCs and a HP spot, 1023 is a consistent 3 6stack team.