Predictions for Championship
 

What are everyones predictions for who will take home the ever wanted title of 2004 FIRST National Champion?

There are some criteria to this question though..

1) Have you been to a regional with this team?
2) How are they as alliance partners?
3) How are they as Opponents?
4) What do you think is special about this team that would help them to victory?
5) Any Special Circumstances

My Answer...

My pick for national champs would have to be my local favorite this year, 716

1) We have been to 2 regionals with 716, NJ and UTC. They did amazingly great in NJ, and really well at UTC.
2) They are by far our favorite team to be allianced with. They are very open to different strategies, and can apapt very well to what your robot does. Also, they have the COOLEST/NICEST drive team ever.
3) 716 puts up a fight in every match... just look at their #3 seed in NJ
4) Theyre hanging arm is so great. They can hang in seconds and do it every time. They are extremely fast and can power over any robot (i believe i saw a pic of their tranny on here) Also, the are able to push robots OFF the top platform while hanging.
5) Well, this year has been great for CT teams. Mens UCONN winning the championship. Women are going to win it tonight. I think this good luck spree will spread to a FIRST team as well.

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

Looking over the list of qualifiers for National Chairman's Award...this year I can guarantee it will go to a very deserving team...no matter who wins.

Good Luck Everybody.

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

I'm not sure what exact time will win the championships this year but I know have a good hunch on how it will be won. I believe the alliance that will win will be an alliance comprised of one partner hanging and blocking the bar while the other alliance partner caps and then hangs. Got any ideas of who those people are??

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

I like 16 this year. I watched them at SLR.
They do everything faster than any team I've seen so far. They have good knowlege of strategy and are consistent in what they do. And they have been in two winning alliances so far. I see a third coming. They are just too good to count out. They are great as alliance partners. In St. Louis every elim match they played they won. They can do enough things well and FAST enough that they are a hard opponent. I mean de-cap a 2x ball and hang in the 20 second range fast.

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

yeah i ahve to agree 16 is a great bot, i'm not sure if they will win nationals but i bet a team like it sure will.
The winning alliance will have two hangers and be able to control the 2x balls other than that its pretty much up to driver compitance.

Good luck to all!!!!!!!!!!!!!


P.S. i'm sensing an underdog win this year

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

My prediction for winner is my favorite robot: Buzz9 by Team 33 the Killer Bees... There is a reason they were my first pick in Canada.

Their robot proves that small balls can win over any hangers. Getting 100+ points by themselves by small balls is just amazing. Now they can also HANG, adding another 50 points to that total. The way they pick up balls and the skill of their human player (whooooooo) is so amazing that it will be a shame if they don't at least win their division.

I wish 639 could come watch, but we're not coming to Championships this year.

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

I haven't seen anyone mention 71, 111,47, or if i might say 11. 71 caps while hanging. 111 hangs in autonomous mode. And from what i hear 47 caps quick and hangs quick. I don't want to brag but i have seen over 160 robots from our 3 regionals and of those i'd say we are in the top 3 robots there. I maybe wouldn't pick us to win, but division...very possible

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

I'm gonna go with team 233.

1) Have you been to a regional with this team?
2) How are they as alliance partners?
3) How are they as Opponents?
4) What do you think is special about this team that would help them to victory?
5) Any Special Circumstances

1) I saw them at the Central FL regional. Their radio broke in the last match of the finals, otherwise I think they would have won it.
2) Never was paired with them but hope to be in ATL :)
3) They never give up on a match. They can easily remove the 2x ball from any goal.
4) They can hang extremely fast and have great drivers.
5) Nothing I haven't already said.

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

not to burst your bubble, but i believe you were ranked like 40th in NJ...

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

Hey Tomm,
Team 11 was against us (237) in the finals at NJ.. remember that crazy wait for the hanging judgement of team 11 against us??
Yeah, and then team 11 went on to win a regional this past weekend, forgot which one.

I would just like to add to this thread that Archimedes has a lot of strong teams and would like to predict that Archimedes is going to win it all.
Who in Archimdes is goin to take it all is up to debate though... :D

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

Team 122 would be willing to oblige ;)

If you ask me, (or if you don't, I suppose), the perfect aliance is one that can cap, hang and herd. We can cap and hang; if we get together with a great ball herder that can hang also, I think it would be a great combination. Of course, I imagine there'll be other good robots out there with quite a different idea of who should win! To see, to see ...

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

sorry, i wasnt trying to bash 11... i thought they did great when they were working correctly. I still remember talking to them about picking them. And if you do remember Elgin, we were the team that picked team 11 as our alliance partner, which caused that little skirmish.

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

I really don't know, but by past experience, I'm sure that at least ONE of them was at the Chicago Regional. Last year, I think all 3 were.

The best alliance would be like the top two robots concieved by our team (and probably many MANY others) at the beginning of the season (one of which got picked, but I'm sure the other one is out there).

1. Knocks 10 pt ball, then autonomous hang, can manipulate 2x ball (switch b'tween big goals, guard bar)

2. Picks up small balls, drags small goals, manipulates 2x.

An alliance between the two would be AWESOME, and would so win.

Another 3rd winning type was one which most of us unfortunately overlooked completely. It is the bot that stays below the ball drop and "nets" all the small balls.

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

1) Have you been to a regional with this team?
2) How are they as alliance partners?
3) How are they as Opponents?
4) What do you think is special about this team that would help them to victory?
5) Any Special Circumstances

I'm guessing that Team 254, the Cheesy Poofs, are going to control Championship this year.

1) Yes, they outperformed us at Sacramento and Silicon Valley Regionals.
2) Very powerful, in fact it seems they don't need a partner to do anything except hang.
3) Unstoppable and requires defensive play. There is no hope for anyone trying to outscore them directly.
4) They do everything and their driver is like a machine (I mean this in the best possible way... I have yet to see him make an error other than trying to pick up a 2x ball off the ground, which the bot can't do properly anyways)
5) Nope

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

All you do is cap the net and they are done for the match so I dont think that type of bot will go far. unless...they can also pick up the balls

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

we were in 43rd at the NJ regional but then went to the UTC and came in second in the qualifiers and went on to win the competition

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

I would definitely keep an eye on 303 who won at NJ and was a finalist at Chesapeake if memory serves. They and 177 were the best small ball machines that I have seen and if 177 gets that hook working, than they will be even more difficult, they won at Philly.

The statistical analysis shows that small ball machines win in the playoffs, so if either one of these teams can get together with someone that can hang consistently, look out.

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

233 is a great team. Playing for the FL championship was fun. I think anybody can be beat with the right game plan. I hope we meet 233 as partners in our group. I just like their robot paint job.


The robot that wins is going to be the robot least worked on. If you have to keep fixing your robot it will be hard to move on.

I will wait to make my prediction on who will win. But right now I like the odd's of the winner coming out of Curie.

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

After seeing 3 regionals I had my winner picked out, and then saw that they weren't going to the Championship! I thought Hyper (69) had a very strong machine for this years game and would be a contender if they went. They won the very tough NH regional after seeding 2nd. I would have liked to go up against them at some point, or allied with them.

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

I understand u not wanting to "bash" us, but every team has problems. We went 6-1 at Chesapeake and finished 5th. We also went 6-2 at Palmetto finished 4th and went on to win the regional. We've fixed every problem and things have CHANGED since u guyz saw us at NJ. And when we were there we did pretty good in the eliminations, (close one huh 237?).

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

88 can do all that!!!!!! :D

But other than that I love 1114's robot... They have a great robot... They need a team that has a great scouting program to win though because I'm not sure if they have one or not...

I heard someone say that 111 can hang in auto mode!?!?! That is really just amazing... Truly is...

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

Thanks for the kind words. We actually do have a very useful Palm scouting database. It keeps track of all the information you could possibly want. I've found it to be a great tool when it comes to match preparation and alliance picking. If anyone's interested I could put some screenshots together.

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

Have you actually seen this? I wonder if someone from 111 will confirm this? I don't think they tried it during the Midwest Regional... Would be cool if they could, but they are able to do other things on the field, so I wonder why they would hang in auto....

111?

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

That's cool... We have one but are having trouble getting it to sync into the lap tops... don't know what to do right now but we'll figure it out before nationals...

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

Good alliances will need 1 (one) dedicated small ball robot and one that can cap extremely reliably and/or hang really well. The third one could be...an all around bot?

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

When i saw that WildStang and the Beast will be in the same division i realized that they will be a very hard alliance to stop if decide to partner up.

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

111 has a hard time hanging in driver mode, let alone auton. 27 has been at every regional that 111 has been to (not to mention alliance partners with them both times), and I've never seen it. Why would you want to anyways!? 111 handles the 2x ball amazingly. I wish WildStang was as great as everyone thinks (2x alliance partners). Don't get me wrong, Team 111's awesome, I'm just clearing up some rumors.

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

This game this year comes down to three things.

1. Robot's ability to play the game
2. Alliance Partners
3. Luck <-- This will decide who wins and who losses this year

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

I disagree. Driver skill is very important in this game, and I believe the best drivers will win. Also important, of course, is pit politics; getting yourself into a good alliance is an important aspect of successful teams. Very, very few things in this game are decided on luck (all I can think of is where those purple balls drop). The best teams just make it seem like they are lucky.

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

Luck? I agree on that... We have had some terrible luck... Finishing very low seeded in ranks because of the alliance partners not showing or being broken but when we wrere picked in NY nothing was stopping us and the only reason why we lost in the semis was because our alliance tipped in both matches (which I might add they are excellant hangers but they had bad luck and tipped)... Thats just how the game is though... You can't tell when you are going to be tipped or working alone...

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

Ok I forgot something but over all I hate to say but I have seen some of the best drivers loose due to bad luck. Yes skill is a big part but it has to come down to how well lady luck is feeling that day.

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

I think 233 will wind up taking it. I saw them in NY, and they were amazing. Everything seemed to run perfectly. They seemed to do good with any robot they were paired up with. If 522 and 233 align again, it'll be a tough alliance to beat.

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

I think driver skill is also a huga aspect, at the NJ regional our drivers tried the same idea time and time again (trying to hang using the hook and winch idea), but after we decided to take a different course of action (take out the winch) we went on the win 2 out of 3 of the rest of the rounds that day, both by 100 or more points.

As for luck, i think autonomous is the biggest example of luck, especially with dead reckoning, the things that occur during those first few seconds could make of break the whole round.

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

Durability and reliability of the robots should be considered above many of the other factors mentioned here. Remember a National Champion can easily compete in 12-18 matches without pitting this year in the elimination round. A robot that can due everything but is not easy to quickly maintain might not be the best partner.
My $0.02.

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

Hanging in autonomous mode - it is humorous to see how rumors and tall tales get started. We have not shown all our autonomy cards yet, but hanging is not one that we have seriously considered.

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

You do not need a good ball robot to win. If you have two strong robot that one stops the ball robot and two stop the other robot from hanging.


To delay a ball robot can win the match becuase the last 20 seconds of a match is not enough time to score more than a 100 points but is enough time to get any good hanger to hang.


I have seen a good strong robot win over a good ball and a good hanging robot. look at team 386 they will stop you in your tracks. if you can't do what you want to do becuase you are fighting a robot then you will have to depend on your partner to win.. I like those odds. one on one.

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

I agree, my vote is for team 233 for the same reasons. They are very well prepared for nats and should put up a good fight against any opponent though winning won't come easy; the competition is fierce at nats and anything can happen.

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

We can consistantly catch more than half the ball drop, and I know we aren't the only team with a net.

This happened to us once in Philly (there is a picture in the photo gallery). But we can pick up small balls from the floor, one of our engineers claims that if we were to pick up enough, our convery system is strong enough to pop a 2x ball out of our basket.

Just because you're a ball bot, doesn't mean you have a weak drive train. We have a 2-speed shift on the fly drivetrain, so we can choose between speed and power. In the 16 matches we played at Philly, I believe we were only pushed out from under the ball drop once. We also managed to push 272 (the #1 seed) around and keep them from hanging when we faced them in the semi-finals.

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

there are tons and tons of good teams this year....of what ive seen from the 3 regionals ive went to 5, 16, 25, 222, 1405, 303, 237, 56, 716, 449, 1405, 122, 281 and many many others...its really gonna be a really competitive competion....good luck to everyone

Re: Predictions for Championship
 

I would like to know more about your scouting system. I've always wondered what Palm scouting is like :)