I was generally impressed by Team 34's robot. From what I've heard about 16, 34 isn't the fastest to the ramp but they are consistent. This is the best part about them. Their drive team is great to work with and very knowledgeable. How many other robots have the honor of winning two regionals this year? Without the alliance with 34 we would have failed to make championships. I saw someone else mention 118. It was an amazing machine with great potential but didn't have the autonomous to consistently be great. But when they got suctions on the ramp they were difficult to move. We managed to push them off early of Friday but by the end we had trouble getting them off with team 34, and team 57 had little luck also. As for team 148, The robot was great and by far had the best autonomous. The were taking all but two stacks near the end within 2 seconds. Stay away from it in autonomous, that thing was verging on dangerous.

While i agree, but before this turns into a fight for who has the better bot, lemme just point out that this year you dont have to have this wonderful complex machine to win, a simple box with wheels will work wonders with this years competition, so before everyone starts arguing, lets take a step back and realize that each bot has its strong points

245/292
 

My picks for the best robot so far would have to be either 245 or 292. 292 has seeded #1 at 2 regionals and they won in Chicago. 245 didnt seed high in Chicago, but helped our alliance win (they are awesome), plus they just won in Grand Rapids after seeding in the top 8. Although these team numbers may not be as recognizable as 111, 45, 47, etc. I'de make it a priority to watch out for em. :D

Really flattered that you list us, but your modesty is showing! Of the robots/teams (it does take both) my favorite would have to be 25's Evil Machine hands down. This thing is crazy fast (I love how it gets air going up and off the ramp); the driver must have a reaction time measured in milliseconds. Also, as mentioned elsewhere, they epitomize gracious professionalism.

Another favorite would have to be 384. Not as fast as 25, but just as well driven and I was really impressed that the students do all the work on it while the mentors gab with visitors. A really great bunch of people, who have also won a couple of regionals this year I believe.

So lets see no one has listed any teams from the Northeast yet interesting ok.

didnt see anyone from the south either (UCF regional to be more specific)

while i agree that simple bots can be very successful in competition, more complex ones still outshine. A simple bot that is lightning fast does nothing against a team like 192 which shifts on the fly between custom gear ratios (one really fast, and one really strong). Also, I want to see a robot that can reliably beat out team 60. I don't care how fast you are....the one way net of death combined with lightning speed and being immovable on the ramp is pretty bulletproof.

I think DanLevin247 put it best. Nobody here has seen -all- the teams. Let alone all the teams going to Nationals. Because of that, I don't think anyone can really make an accurate judgement of who is best.
Sure, it's very possible that one (or mor) of the teams already mentioned by be in the champion alliance this year, but then again, maybe not. (and yes, I know Gope asked not who would win, but that seems to be the air of responses)
There are a lot of really cool, effective, bots out there that often get screwed over by poor or unappealing alliance partners. Some teams have half their matches 2 v 1 and lose them all. Others have them 2 v 1 and win them all...

"The best" is a relative term to begin with. The best design to do what? Stacker, KotH, sweeper, pretty-to-look-at?

As to the highest quality construction aspect? I believe that any team of students that poured their blood and sweat into the machine to get it to work right should be given high honors.
Many teams have machine shop made parts and professional welding. I'm not going to bring this into the engineer vs student debate, but I think if the students built it, they should get a bonus in comparison to a professionally built machine.

There's my 2¢, don't spend it all in one place.

130 pounds surrounded by diamond plate armor.
13.6 feet per second.
A heckuvalotta force.
10 seconds is all thats needed to move an immovable object.

311 271 173 108 180

hrmm, well by the end of the LA regionals, 'bots were getting to 60. Going under its wings and pushing them from there, it'll be a toughie but it prolly could be done. Man, too bad we didnt get our custom transmission in, 25 ft/sec in fast gear, heckuva lotta push in low, shift on the fly =(

25 fps? Thats something I gotta see! Could you guys turn well, or did you risk blowing a transmission on the drills?

So far all I have seen is people voting for teams in their region of the country or themselves...

My opinion

I havent seen or heard about any truely dominant robots this year with a few exceptions. Some machines early in the year that started off pretty dominant that were beating out teams early were starting to be beaten in the later regionals by teams that have started to get their complex machines tweaked properly and strategies corrected. There are no truely dominant robots this year unlike teams like Hammond in 2001 and 2002 and Chief Delphi in 2000, who imho should have taken it all at the championships.

This is going to be the most interesting championships we have seen in a long time. About everyone has a decent shot of taking it all. I can't wait to see this go down

I agree I have seen alot of teams that I thought would win some regionlas that were beaten.

has 180 been to any regionals outside of UCF?