Hands Down.........ChiefDelphi 2000. Fab machine!
 

Remarkable design. The huge swooping arm. The 'crab' drive. Loved it!

1995 West Ottawa and then Prince's robot. I cant remember the team number all the way back then because it was changed but they are now team 141 West Ottawa and JCI... Any of the people that know that game would probably remember this robot. It threw the giant balls from anywhere on the field up and through the uprights with ease. It was an awesome machine.

Right now, I'm saying 71 and 173 from last year (02). This year, I'm kinda partial to 79, just because they had a translational drive that we would have loved to been able to build (ours broke...).

the one robot that i liked the most is from this year and the robots name is eleanor from team 9. they have a great robot.

big arm that extended and was on a turret, fast hooks that never let go, and trucks custom made to stay on the pivoting ramp

hey im partial to it.. :p

i was amzed by delphi that year, i saw one match where all of their team8s were broken and they still managed to make a high score

Team 60 has always impressed me with awesome robots. The Cheesy Poofs have also impressed me with great machines year after year.

I think the best machine ever always is the robot that my team finished for every years given game. We make it a point to only enter the robot when we feel it is worthy to play the game and as a result I always think mine is the best... a narrow persepctive? maybe... the truth? yes...

When all is said and done, robot design is just a trivial part of what FIRST really is!

GO ROBOTS!!!

seriously, gauranteed bots that doo particularly well should not get all the credit.

for instance, the techno ticks from the NH regional and UTC won both, and won chairmans. plus, they had a sick and amazing bot that could do almost anything, from all the bots i have seen, i havent seen any being able to on the fly grab boxes and stack them in one felsh swoop. and since they couldnt go to nationals, no one knew about them, and i belive if they had gone, they woul d have gotten alot more attention than just me.


other than that, the best bot ever i have seen would have to be our bot in 00'. R2K, this bot was really bad in competition, but it looked like a million bucks!...almost cost that much too :p.
http://www.baesystemsfirst.org/team151/2000_info.html

I know I my outlook may be a bit swayed but more than one has expressed this opinion - what about the '98 (Ladder Logic) Bomb Squad entry. We squeezed the balls in from the side and were tough in the one-on-one rounds.

Greg

#16 Baxter 1998
 

Greg Mills did not say enough about this amazing machine. This machine could score 24" balls in the center goal by squeezing them to fit between pipes on 16" centers( I may be off an inch or two). It had a conveyor that could fit between the pipes, score multiple times at one trip to the goal, and make room in the goal if it was full. It could hold two balls in the 3 point scoring position and protect them both. Simple in concept yet ingenious in design. The construction is of the highest quality in every respect. This machine is in my top three and should be in the FIRST Hall of Fame. As mentioned before, FIRST should use this premium example as promotional and inspirational material for the newer teams not as fortunate to witness this incredible machine.

Sincerely,

Brian Beatty

Re: Wildstang 1997
 

That is a machine I remember very well, particularly the beautifully fabricated 4 stage (I think) lift made from thin aluminum with lots of holes in it. The lift was powered by four seat motors placed side by side.

Still, Beatty/Hammond's '97 machine was undoubtedly one of the very best ever for the task at hand, right up there with their 2001 robot. Bill and company have an exceptional knack for figuring out how to play the game each year, and their '97 machine made that year's game seem almost easy as they won their first of three (or is it four?) Championship Events.

Re: #16 Baxter 1998
 

Wow, I wasn't around back then but I would love to see some pics if anyone has them! Sounds like a great bot =)

What? They were in Galileo with us and believe me, we were absolutely overjoyed to be able to invite them in our alliance.. They were hands-down the best team in Galileo and played an huge part in our championship..

Hehe, we had a 12 ft. erecting arm that year. :)

Some of my favorites would include 235's machines. Those guys are wiz's with NC equipment and dangerous on a CATIA tube! Their 2001 machine had powered "go Kart" steering, a beautiful wood plank arm to put the ball on top of the goals and beatifully anodized aluminum throughout. Their 2002 'bot had a "Catapilar" tractor style articulating pivot with mini tread drive and the tethered mini bot. Team 66 also had a neat 'bot last year. We especially liked the mini Penguin. The Huskies (65) had a cool 'bot last year too. Also really dig the 2002 469 bot. 2000 was my inaugural year. I was totally amazed by the Chief's with the swerve, Wildstang's machine was just killer!! Baxter also had a really sweet bot that year too!! As far as our own creations, I love our robot this year. She had a really fast auto mode, very dependable, and looked cool. I keep telling the team that I am taking it home and mounting it to my wall!!
:cool:

Re: #16 Baxter 1998
 

1998 was a great year for robot building. In addition to team 16, teams 47 and 111 had amazing robots. My memories are too vague to describe these robots with any degree of justice. I hope someone who was around in '98 could provide a description. I think most people were shocked that none of 16, 47 and 111 made to the quarter finals. All three teams ran into some horrible luck.

The reason I think there were so many memorable bots from '98 is because it was the last year before alliances. Now many of the top teams focus on specific aspect of the game, knowing that they can get their alliance partner to handle other parts of the game. In the pre-alliance era, teams were forced to try build robots that could do everything. As a result we saw many awe inspiring robots.

I'm a huge fan of the alliance system, but reminiscing about the great bots from '98 makes me long for the days of good old 1 on 1 competition.