Best Can Burglars?
 

Over the last weeks many teams have displayed that they can Can Burglar. I feel the winner of Einstein in 2015 will come down to who is truly the best at it. But who are truly the best ones?

Re: Best Can Burglars?
 

I think that some of the best were built especially for the championship and we will see them only there.

I saw a few at Midwest, ours grabs two at a time although it is not the quickest. And after participating in Eliminations at Midwest not only was the number of cans important but the speed was more important. Ours was slower and we went up against an alliance that could steal one out from under our can burglar. Another important trait in a can burglar is the ability to pull them and keep them upright.

Re: Best Can Burglars?
 

The #1 seeded alliance at NE Champs (1519, 195, 2067) still put up over 200 points with only 3 RC's.

The canburglar war mostly makes the difference in the head-to-head matchup, but you have to be able to score them to get to the finals.

Scouting teams are really going to have their work cut out for them.

Re: Best Can Burglars?
 

One of the best I've seen is 548. They were the champions at MSC and for good reason. They are a fast and consistent two can grabber. No one else at the event could match them, although a few came close. They back this up with an even more consistent two 5-stacks and some landfill potential.

Re: Best Can Burglars?
 

This game has a heavy emphasis on consistency so any method for determining "the best" should include that as one of the KPI (Key Performance Indicators). It seems most people are focusing only on the speed of the mechanism.

Re: Best Can Burglars?
 

Your point is dead-on.

For illustrative examples, look at MSC Octofinal 11, where canburglars 217 and 27 go head to head. Then look at MSC Finals, where 27 goes against 548.

(I am hoping for some video links on TBA soon.)

These examples show how overall speed, including quick return to full teleop capability, makes a difference in the score. All three of the robots in these examples have very consistent burglars.

Re: Best Can Burglars?
 

Strength/grip is also a factor.
In the finals at NECMP, we (2067) were slightly faster than 175 when grabbing the RCs.
They went for the two middle ones, and we went the two on the right side.
However, 175 would always end up with two, and we'd only get one.
Our canburglars are a bit flimsy and don't grip all that well, so 175 could rip the left RC from our hook.
See this video for reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCNmGJqVHbE
Similar strength battles happened against other teams too.

But if two teams both have an iron grip on the RCs, then some interesting things could happen.

Re: Best Can Burglars?
 

548 and 27 did play against each other at MSC finals but they did not actually have can burglar battle, but team 1711 (on 548 and 1023 champion alliance) had equipped an arm after alliance selection very similar to 548's arms and was able to beat out Team Rush's arm in a battle. But video of the battle shows 548's arms in the background hitting and taking before 27's.

Re: Best Can Burglars?
 

The reason Rush lost this battle was not because arm design but because Rush lifts their arms in auto so they can still get the robot set if their whole alliance does. I also did a video on my phone to see and while Rush's arms hit later than 548, their arms are still in the container before 548 can start driving. If it was a head to head match and Rush did not lift their arms in auto it would most likely be a stalemate until one decided to give up. To be the fastest can grabber you not only have to be the fastest arm in the can but also able to drive away before the other arm can come down. If someone else's arm can enter the can before you drive away it doesn't matter that your arm was down faster.

Re: Best Can Burglars?
 

It would have been great to see 548 go up against 27 because they both lift there arms and are very quick.

Re: Best Can Burglars?
 

Huge shout-out to 1711 for working with us and 1023 to get that arm modified and mounted in such a short time after alliance selection. Their mechanical, electrical, software and drivers all worked together to get it working so well so quickly.

We had contingency plans for if 27 chose to line up opposite us (548). Part of that plan involved what happened in F2, where the hook on 1711's canburglar was tweaked to have a much better grip on the can.

I'm sure if our alliance had tried that more than once Rush would have had a counter autonomous that didn't lift the hooks, and it would have been a stalemate.

Re: Best Can Burglars?
 

I found a video of 27 and 548 during a qualification match at the MSC.
https://youtu.be/L2TAlWL3Ky0

Re: Best Can Burglars?
 

And a shout-out right back to you guys! It was a super risky move; probably the most risky thing that we have ever done in elims. But it paid off! If we hadn't won that war we would have been stuck with only 4 bins.

We all had a great time, and can't wait to see you guys at champs!

Re: Best Can Burglars?
 

548/1711 beat 27 to the can in both Final matches.

Finals Match 1:


Finals Match 2:


Sorry about the Play watermark, these are just photos. If you want to watch the finals matches they are onDetroit Public Television. Finals matches are played on the bottom video at 05:54:36 and 06:08:06.

Re: Best Can Burglars?
 

Wow, that is impressive, still amazes how 548's CanBurglars are able to get the can in such a quick time. Does anyone know if the CanBurglar on 1711 was an attachment from 548? The arm looks very similar...

Re: Best Can Burglars?
 

Yes we gave them some cheesecake

Re: Best Can Burglars?
 

Yes but getting the arm down doesn't matter if they don't drive away before the other team can get their arms in. It then comes down to who has the better arm. The strength of the arm can decide this as well as the shape of the hook.

I will post my picture I have later that shows that Rush's hooks were in the containers before Either team could drive away.

Re: Best Can Burglars?
 

Something else to consider is the ability to disengage from the RC quickly afterward. I recall seeing some matches (I don't recall which team and where now) where the robot spent precious seconds dragging one or more RC's around, twisting and turning, trying to get them to disengage so they are available to be scored and so the robot can get on with stacking.

Lastly, many RC grabbers drag the RC's off the step and leave them on their sides. Unfortunately, many robots cannot score the RC's when they are on their side. Some can take RC's laying on their side and get them upright but that takes yet more time.

Re: Best Can Burglars?
 

All of the best (fastest) ones out of the PNW are single can takers: 4488's is fastest, with 1983, 2930 and my team (2046) also having very fast ones

Re: Best Can Burglars?
 

It was precisely the shape of the hook, in fact, that decided this can war. We lost a can fight the match prior because the hook design allowed them to slip out of the cans, so for the final match we took a pair of pliers to the hook and bent it around a bit more. It ended up working, but I can assure you that that fight was a tense moment for those of us down there on the floor.