Now that Nats' is done... Who's the best?
 

I was very impressed with the enormous number of awesome robots at Nats... But since I was stuck in Galileo I'm just wondring who you guys thought was the best..

My opinion:

Overall- Team 25 astounded me. Their blazing speed and strength were better than anyone else. They pushed around 292 like a rag doll but unfortunately lost power in the first final match. In the second match they mauled 111- I'm pretty sure they would've won if they hadn't lost power..


In Galileo- 236 really impressed me. I was overjoyed that we were able to pick them fourth. Their ability to flip a whole match around with their speed and versatility was matched by none.


Let me know what you think-






P.S.- I realize there is another thread about the best robot ever. However, I wanted to hear about this year..

Baxter Bomb Squads bot was totally psycho! I wished it got to go against team 25's awesome bot. That would've been the match of the year!

thanks,

i thought 111 was really good as well, nice design, and a good driver

what happened in the final match really sucked , i mean really sucked, our power breaker switched off upon a collision i think, this was teh first time it happened in 2 reg. and the whole nats, it was a slight disappointment, but who really cares as long as we put up a good show and gave 111 a run for their money.

i think people from the other divisions were surprised to see our autonomous at the last match, becuase while in curie we kept knocking down the ramp stacks, however for the finals we decided to change it to just driving back and offsetting the other robots. but since we had nothing to lose we swtiched back to our original and pulled it off.

this was a great compeition
curie was hard as hell

and man i wish, we could have just had one more round with the whole 111 alliance and given the crowd a real show, even if it didnt count.

agreed
 

Yea we were in Galileo and I'd hafta agree that The Techno Tics (236) had one of the best, if not the best robot in our division. Hats off to them for their amazing speed, power, functionality, and driver expierence to the point where they made picking up boxes on the run look easy. If i remember right, you guys dragged a 5 (or 4) stack back into your scoreing zone witen the last couple of seconds, and still made it to the top. Was one of the highlights. Congrats.

thanks for the compliment

team 25 was definantly the fastest bot out their and probably the strongest too(i can't believe they pushed 292 around)

111 was by far the best robot, a better robot for the game simply could not be built!

111 Wildstang was simply amazing--they were manuverable, fast, and strong...What more can you ask for? Finals was great, and I can't think of a robot I'd like to go up against more than Wildstang. In Curie, teams 16 and 79 amazed me with their manuverability.

THanks for your complement. I liked our robot as well (I would get the boot if I didn't). But I highly agree that team 25 gave us a run for our money. I was very impressed with the speed of 25's bot it was getting air on the ramp. You just dont see that every day

How about best 2 out of 3?

Hey- just kidding. the Wild Stang machine WAS a great competitor and we were lucky you just didn't flip us off in the second round when we rode up your side. The engineering of that machine is awesome and truly of champion caliber.

Believe it or not- team 25 won every round in the Nats except that first finals round and that was the first mechanical breakdown we had since Annapolis. We figure the "Evil Machine" got at least 40 rounds in before it popped that breaker.

When the big stack went down in the second round we knew it was over for us but our driver Steve wanted to finish his tenure as driver with a bang and I think everyone enjoyed the battle for the hill.

Overall, my team had a terrific time and applaud the top alliance and all our partners and competitors for a job well done. I hope everyone came away with fond memories of this past weekend and a new fire to work for a better competition next year. Hey, doing your best is what it's all about.

WC:cool:

Well you did put up a great fight and you put a ...Dent... in our robot, a big one. You made us go to plan B. You had no mercy on us man. and it all was the best time of my life

I have to give credit to 111. It was an amazing machine.
But no one here has given credit to the reason they won.

Team 469(Las Guerillas) while not a technically best bot. They were the stronger robot. They had the most consistent fast autonomous mode out of everyone. In all three days I failed to see the miss and not be the first to the ramp. Their drivers were great and the team knew how to play the game. The were excellent at getting the extra 25 points. Their robot was designed strong and fast enough to do great in any match. They also achieve the highest score I know of with 302 QP's while working with my team. They were our first choice out of archimedes if we would have had the chance.

We discovered luck does play a part in the game. While being number one seed going in our final match we tipped over for the first time this season. And was dropped to fifth seed. We then lost our first quarterfinal 68-69. Oh well, we had a great time as rookie and will be back next year.

We want to congratulate the ARCHIMEDES champions and world champion teams 111, 469 and 65. By winning, you made us feel so much better about being so close.

As I was stuck scouting in Galileo, I didn't get much time to watch matches, till part of the Finals. I'd have to say, the thing that impressed me the most was 68. Their ability to flip themselves correctly was awesome, kinda sad that Buzz in the finals had "intentally tipped" their bot, though kinda good for some (I was routing for my friends on 74 in that match) Heatwave, 312, Auto was just impressive, The match I first watched with them, they got all the boxes but one, they had to Pivot wheel to help with KOH and they also made their own arc, 3 secs usually up the ramp, so impressive to me. And I believe it was 571, their design was just incredible....The fact their arm could pivot in so many places. Most of the bots however, where impressive with just individual aspects, like the Frog killing Team (as I called them) umm 503 I believe, their robot had interchangable arms, which was like wow. I dunno, there wasn't jsut one overall best bot in our division I think. However, after talkign with one of the mentors from 74, we thought that is HEatwave would of had the weight and time to build a stacker in the middle of the blank area of their bot, it wwould of been the most impressive, in my opinion,a nd he seemed to agree...whee...big post

Since I was a referee on Archimedes, I didn't see the other 3/4 of the teams run any matches (except at the Central Florida Regional) but after seeing WildStang run their qualfying and Archimedes elimination matches, I was sufficiently impressed that I expected them to win the Championship. That expectation increased when they were able to put together their "dream team" of 111/469/65. I was very surprised that 65 was still available for 111's second round pick.

I was very impressed with 25's speed and smooth driving. Team 79 had my favorite drive train at Central Florida, a fast, powerful, and well-engineered crab drive. I wish I'd had a chance to see Team 16 in action, as I hear they were awsome.

My vote too is for 111, Wild Stang! As I watched the Championship semi-finals matches I knew we were in for a fight in the finals! Hats off to their alliance. Team 111 has been a consistent producer of very impressive bots for the four years I have been involved. Put those bots up against any other teams last four bots and hands down they are the best. Keep up the good work! You are an inspiration to all of us.

Would have loved to go two out of three!

;)

I thought that 111 had an awesome robot and that their drive skill was amazing.

I also thought though that 25 had an excellent robot as did 469.

I'm a big fan of 16. They were our allaince partners in St. Louis. they are pretty amazing. I can't beleive they didn't make it farther. I wanted to see them in the overall finals. 111 was definately up there too but I only got to see it in 2 matches.

Thanks all. We worked really hard on that bot, and I'm glad others think so highly of it.

I'm not exactly sure how the rest of my team feels, but I know that when I first saw the speed and power of that 25 bot, my jaw dropped. I was praying that we wouldn't have to go up against those guys in the finals. That drive system was incredible and that driver was able to pull off some incredible moves as well. You guys put up an awesome fight.

Well, I must say, i was hoping that i wouldnt have to drive against 111 because up until that time no one has flipped us, and i didnt want it to happen there. Too bad our main breaker switched off..we still dont know why..becuase then the first match would have been more of a challenge for you guys instead of both us and our partner dieing. As the driver, id be scared to go against myself, and im really proud of the award the Baxtar Bombsquad gave us, most feared opponent. =)
anyway, my vote, of course us, but besides that, i would have to say i was impressed by 16 Baxter, and by 111 wildstang, those are the only two robots that i was scared to face, too bad i never got to go head to head with Baxter....

I hate to make this thread sound like a broken record, but I was very impressed with 111, too. I've been impressed with their machine ever since Great Lakes, and their performance in the Finals definitely confirmed that. We gave them a run for their money in the Archimedes finals, but we were definitely outmatched by an impressive alliance.

Thanks for that, you 25 and 111 were the two bots we were scared of...too bad we didn't make it to the finals of curie so we could've went head to head with 25....oh well, maybe next year

As the driver of 111, I was dead scared of Buzz and team 25. Team 25, your driver has some amazing skill and precision like no other. It's too bad you guys did turn off the first match, (although i didin't notice. I was just worrying about who came to the top, and to keep 'em off). Who ever the driver of 25 is, it would be great if you emailed me some time.

Surfboywanab@aol.com


Team buzz, it was very fun going against you guys this year. in 2000, we were alliance partners, and that was a spectacular show.

I also want to thank 469 Las Gaurillas, and Team 65, Huskie Brigade. Both teams had amazing strategists and drivers. Great Job this year! And great Job everyone.

I would have loved to meet up with Baxter bomb Squad and techokats on Einstein as well.

well we DO have this replay tournament in NJ this coming November......

how about it?

i'm pretty sure the match when we were with 16 was the highest with a 304 in curie... 25 i would say has the best driver and 111 has the best bot....

BTW. Although 25's robot was disabled during a match, our drive system was malfuctioning all over the place for both final matches. I would agree that I wish we had a replay for fun, to see how the game would go with all four alliance parters in perfect condition. I would have also liked to see 25 possibly get full AIR off our robot. Our whole team was impressed how that robot jumped from ramp to ramp. Great robot once again!

my opinions
 

We were one of the few teams (maybe the only?) to be allied in elimination rounds with both 111 and 16. We were lucky to pick 16 at Moto Midwest and get picked as a "descorer" by 111 at nationals. They are my picks for best robots of 2003.

111 is hands down the most technically superior robot FIRST has ever seen. They are so capable and flexible in auto mode that they can build a winning strategy around many partners. Mechanically they are strong enough to survive hits like the one Team 25 put on them in the finals when they were closelined in the alley. They could play the stack protect game, a KOH game, and a bin mover game.

16 has the coolest auto mode of anyone in the country imho. Blazing fast. To me it was the best totally offensive machine in the game with its ability to get anywhere on the field and move bins. I was surprised not to see them on Einstein.

Ken

you dont know how many times the people in our team have said that after the competition, we definatly knew that we could get air off of you guys
THAT would have been a beautiful sight, we all thought it would have been funny as hell too

dido to ken, and i would like to see 25 get air off 111 too

25 was amazing!! They kicked our bot in in our first match and rocked the house when we were paired with them.

heey....I know you! I agree fully with 68 being the most impressive in Galileo, its why we picked them first.

I also thought that 236 was one of the best and I was kind of sad we didnt get to match up against them personally, as we took ourselves out in the second match of the semis, where our alliance was beaten by theirs.

In other divisions, I definitely have to mention 111, even though It has been said so many times, and rightfully so...

A lot of my favorite teams were at Newton - so here is my report.


I mostly watched newton - 292 definitely deserved to be in the finals - they were very steady they played smart and won over faster robots, I wasn't sure about their alliance picks, but they must of been good since they won their division. 27, 254, 192 were an aw some alliance - I think they didn't win due to damage suffered by 27 in the first match of the eliminations. In a spectacular come from behind win over the 330 alliance, 254 and 192 scored a 55 to 54 win. The Hot Team (67) had a very capable stacker that was able to defend the ramp extremely well. I loved team 1114 a rookie from Canada that had a 8 stack going at one point, but only scored a 7 in regular play - these guys deserved rookie of the year at the Nats. I liked the Happague(sp) robot - I am not sure if had a swerve drive or two drive trains at right angles, but it was very maneuverable.

I am sorry if I left out any body from Newton - but these are the guys that stand out IMHO.

I saw 47 play - they looked good - 111 deserved the title - great engineering and good driving. Sorry but I missed seeing 16 in action - great to see the bomb squad back after a short hiatus.

One on one, I don't think anybody could have taken on 25, unless they were a total wedge or battlebot.

So we have a trend here
111 - 1 National champ, 2 national finals
25 - 1 National Champ'00, 2 national finals('02 '03)
71 - 2(or3?) National Champs '01 '02

Let them have a Re-Match?
 

Hey Team #111....Team #25 just registered for the PARC VI

*hint hint* *wink wink* ;)

http://www.tahsroboticsteam.org/PARC/

Wildstang, you make my heart sing!
 

Wow, what can I say? I loved our two alliance partners, Team343 and Team25. Both bots were designed expertly and put up quite a fight for Wildstang's alliance. I am one of those people that wonders what would've happened if our bot didn't have a bogus (borrowed) battery in it or if team25 didn't switch off. However, it was nice to end in a bang, and I must send shout outs to 111 and 25 and 343 for the great bots!

PS - There is a Kettering Kickoff down the road (like months or so), however I'd greatly appreciate it if Wildstang, Team 25, Team469, the Huskies, and Mertal-In-Motion came to that Kickoff event. Nothing like a good ol' rematch to get the blood flowing for a new game :) . Any other teams are welcome to join, Team 494 helps sponsor the event and loves it when more and more people attend.

Just a guess, but I think your breaker flipped cause you were sucking way too much juice. You guys have beautiful drive train with those 4 motors constantly giving 110%. I still havent figured out how with one speed 4:1 gear ratio you got 12 fps and an amazing amount of torque.:confused: During acceleration or pushing I bet ur bot draws like 240 amps. Last year we decided it would be a good idea to direct drive a high gear boschs with chippies to match. We knew the risk but since we were only gonna drive for like 3 sec and then clamp down it wasnt seen as a problem. We must have drained well over 300 amps and caused the voltage to drop to like 4V sending the controller into safe mode. We were qiuck to regear at VCU.

Too bad your breaker decided to flip out during first match of the finals. I would have loved to see the battle for the hill. You showed in the second match that you can get under Wildstang's ramp and push them around, something I have never seen anyone else do. 111 was all about maneuverability and leverage. 25 was all about power and speed. It was truly an epic showdown of the two best bots that I would have have loved to see go into a third match, winner takes all. I also would have been cool if 25's successfully made a 2 stack during match two.

469 Las Guerrillas also deserves recognition for being the most powerful bot in the final once they switched to low gear. They were also very fast, amazing what a 5:1 gear on a pneumatic piston can do. 25 couldnt catch 469 by running straight under the bar in autonomous mode.

Also to round out the winning alliance 65 The Husky Brigade was a good fast bot. Those big wings were incredible for "descoring". Our match against 65 and 1108 was my favorite even though we lost after 1108 Paola pushed their 3 stack back into scoring position.

71 won in '97, '01, '02

If you guys noticed in the final match, when 25 and thier allience 343, were attacking us at the top, we were getting pounded. I didnt' want to go "around" them, cause i had to keep em off. Right.....keep both 25 and 343 off with mini wings and a broken drive. But from the stands, it looked cool, and thats all that matters to me. Battle damage all the way!

I also thought the 25 and 469 chase was possibly the most suspenseful autonomus moment of nationals. Althought it lasted only a second, it could have changed everything. What a good good show.

Also. I just want thank Kit for being a great ref at Archemedies. Our team loves the techokats.

wildstang was definetly awesome, and the best robot out there by far. They deserved to win.

In galileo, I liked 236 for their speed, as well as 45 and 68 for their pure power.

25 was pretty awesome, even though I hardly got to see them. And 65 was definantly great, and it was tough to go against them in midwest. An overlooked team would have been 16. They were fast as hell, and their lack of power was easily overcome by their impressive speed. Our alliance partners from midwet, 217, also had a wicked fast autonomous but ran into some problems after that at nationals.

On a side note, and not to brag, were any galileo teams surprised by our performance? Allthough our robot wasn't the absolute best, it shows that smart driving and good strategy can go a long way, even when your robot isn't the best.

Again, I must thank everyone for the kind words. However, it has not been emphasized enough so I am going to restate it. We were a "team", we could not have done it without Las Guerrillas and Huskie Brigade. If there ever was a dream team it was the three of us! We were just lucky to be in a position to pick first because everyone wanted both of these teams. How we got so lucky that Huskies lasted the first round pick blew me away. We are still discussing the what if's because we knew we didn't want to come against any team that had these robots in their alliance.
And above all, the teams in the eliminations on the other fields were also the best of the best and we feared you as well. To those teams that would like just one more chance to play us, (against or with) I hope that happens. We just love to play with you all.

Re: Let them have a Re-Match?
 

Well- how about it Wild Stang? Huskie Brigade? Las Guerrillas? Tunkhannock is a 4-5 hr ride for us. Probably more like 12 for you. We're game if you are....

WC:cool:

how about IRI?
 

Wayne-

How about you guys coming a bit further west to the IRI? They have been running this awesome tournament for several years now and it is heavily attended by some fine teams. I know my midwest bias is showing, but I would say it is the best postseason tournament in terms of attendance and quantity of great teams.

Last year 111, 469, and 65 all attended. We can start arm twisting the 494 guys too (one of their Dads works in our shop) and see if they will bring their dyno.

Whaddya say? (Hey Andy and IRI folks, can you hold open a few spots for the East Coast hotshots?)

Ken

Out of all the teams in Nationals my favorite was 25... They had the best bot and one of the best scouting teams...

Re: how about IRI?
 

I'll bring it up to the team next week at our meeting and see if they want to do it. That kind of distance travel with robot and pit is not an easy feat especially if we need to drive it. Might be possible....

WC:cool:

25 was not a finalist in 02

Cory

actually we were semifinalists in 2002- I think that was good enough for us....

WC

Re: Re: how about IRI?
 

Re: Re: Re: how about IRI?
 

About 750 miles plus or minus depending on where in New Jersey and where in Indiana.