Who are the better shooters?
 

I'm wondering, "who are the better shooters?", that people have seen at regionals. At Boilermaker last weekend, team 135 was a strong shooter that ended up as the 'undefeated' top seed but lost in the semifinals, I think? They were good not only at shooting but at picking up from the floor. (Floor pick up is a completely different topic) However if you started pushing them from the side with a good drive train, while they were shooting, they could be stopped.

I'm now going to talk about my team, 85 B.O.B. Our drive team coach has said that in the finals, at Boilermaker, we easily scored 30-40Pt's a match. (I could be mistaken) One of the reasons that we did this is because we got our camera working. In one match we were off to one side, with the "body" of BOB turned about 90 degrees to the 3pt goal, and the turret moved and scored 3-4 balls. This was pretty cool from up in the stands, and from my point of view makes us one of the better shooters. You might disagree, but keep reading.

Most of the 3pt shooters that I saw at Boilermaker needed to "line up" there robot with the goal, which if you seen any finals matches this can be VARY tough to do. I'm not saying these teams are bad, its just hard to drive with "obstacles" that keep moving and hitting you.

Turrets on the other hand allow drivers the ease of not always moving the robot, just the turret. With some good programming, and a camera, the turret locks on to the goal and make its own adjustments. Team 85 got this to work and it helped lead us to winning the regional.

I my final opinion, I think that the better shooters are the ones with a turret. Easier shooting, less worry about where the robot is, and some very exciting matches make a turret robot a cool one. Now its YOUR turn to tell me and everyone else, Team numbers or types of robots, "Who are the better or who make the better shooters."

Re: Who are the better shooters?
 

Have you seen the Cheesy Poofs (254) yet? If not, i suggest you watch video from either PNW or SVR. They are absolutely INSANE, and they do not have a turret. All it takes is a few seconds of an unguarded ramp and you're either doomed or just BARELY going to scrape by. What makes it so good is, as you said, ease of aiming. 114, Eagle Strike, was pretty good also (turret), though they had a slow rate of fire (which i hear is going to be fixed this weekend at Davis).

Re: Who are the better shooters?
 

Don't forget about 1024 or 1038. 1024 has amazing automodes and uses the camera very well.

Re: Who are the better shooters?
 

Nothing compares to 25.
Sparx and DIvision by Zero were the best at FLR (think mass quanities) but 25 is deadly accurate even when pushed ( you need to actually spin them around to make them miss).

Re: Who are the better shooters?
 

Team 25 and Team 86.

Wait, just saw team 254 in action. Gotta add them to the list.

Re: Who are the better shooters?
 

At the UTC New England regional, my top shooting picks were:

126
20
237
177

All of these robots performed beautifully, and I believe all of them could score well in autonomous mode.

Re: Who are the better shooters?
 

Yeah I didn't see either of those regionals, except for maybe a match or two. But like you said an "Unguarded" ramp, which is a luxury in the finals, and they were great. Most of the teams don't try going on the ramp and shooting, but if you can make it up and in to the corner of the ramp, no one can move you, if thats how your robot works.

EDIT: You said I forgot Cheesy Poofs when I actual didn't mention them because I didn't know that were good.

Re: Who are the better shooters?
 

Best at Pittsburgh by far was 1038. They were able to sink shots even with some defense, and their autonomous sank like 6 shots average, with some higher scores. And I believe it was all dead-reckoning!

Re: Who are the better shooters?
 

The one thing that botehrs me about 254 is they like to get close to the ramp to shoot (or up on it) and at the championship teams aren't going to just let them do that. I want to see if they can still be effective is they are kept from their "sweet spot".

Re: Who are the better shooters?
 

When ours (1139's) was working, it was pretty cool - our programmer-guy did a really good job on the camera code, and we actually landed several shots while being pushed around by other 'bots. :D

Re: Who are the better shooters?
 

The point to the Poofs is that you have to guard them 100% effectively, 100% of the match. If you give them three seconds pointed more-or-less at the goal, they will have scored 25 or 30 points. Their rate of fire is mind-boggling -- the best I've seen in the Webcasts or live. Their other claim to fame is lizard quickness and an extremely maneuverable chassis. One defender mistake and they are g-o-n-e. (Disclaimer -- I haven't seen some of the other 'bots mentioned in this thread.) (Another disclaimer -- I watched 753 do an awesome job guarding the Poofs at PNW -- so the Poofs spun around and dumped 20 points, plus or minus, in a low goal. They can hurt you in multiple ways.)

Re: Who are the better shooters?
 

296- Not at lot of buzz about these guys, but after GTR, I expect that to change. Incredible autonomous shooting. Incredible range. Incredible Drivers. An incredible machine

25- Enough said. Amazing shooter. Still waiting for someone to hold them away from the Human Loader...

40- Evershifting autonomuos routine. Once they get into position you can't push them (unless of course your team number is 1138)

138- Great shooter, but they run on omniwheels

254- Crazy Shooter, crazy drivers. And these guys don't need an unguarded ramp. They make an unguarded ramp (and can't they shoot from the base as well?)

222- Just fun to watch. Once they get up on the ramp its fun to watch them shoot. See SOAP's archive of Virginia match 70 to truly get it.

1519- Great autonomous shooter. These guys were our autonomous routine at BAE.

I've heard about the ThunderChickens. Does anyone have any pictures?

Re: Who are the better shooters?
 

In match 1 of the finals, the poofs were held off the ramp....so they shot from in front of it, and still scored 90% of the shots. What REALLY makes them deadly, however, is their adaptability. If something isn't working, they almost always find a way around it. (Match 3 of the Quater Finals and match 3 of Finals at SVR they slightly changed their auto mode to clinch the win)

Team 25 is definitely up their, and 222 looked very impressive. The rest of those mentioned i have yet to see

Re: Who are the better shooters?
 

From what I saw at UTC.
20 - I was just flat out impressed impressed.
126 - Usually high quality machine with a very fast shooter.
237 - Their programing with the camera was top notch again.

The obvious weakness with most good shooters though is they shoot low.

Re: Who are the better shooters?
 

Team 818 has a great but low shooter.

Tomasz Bania