Best Robots of 2006
 

Hi,

Now that all the comps are over and we aren't gonna see much more of teams' '06 bots (except for some off-season events maybe), I still didn't see that many robots. Therefore, I wanted to know about other bots are out there that I didn't have a chance to see and are completely awsome:
Which teams' bots did you think were simply amazing, almost flawless; bots that were so effective overall that you wish you thought of their design. Please post reasons for your picks and maybe even a special feature on the robot that impressed you. Also, I know that there were tons of great bots, but I meant for this thread to have the best bots. Keep in mind that its almost impossible to see every regional and get to see every bot.
Here are my pics in no particular order...they are all here for different reasons (I'm sure I'm forgetting some):

25:Their robot was a piece of art. Their ball feeder to their shooter was simple and effective. It was one of the best engineering solutions to this years game. Also, they are so strong and fast, I couldn't believe it. Their drive train also is strait forward and very effective, not to mention their handy brakes. Their overall design was so clean and professional looking. They also used the camera really well (as several teams did) in controlling their huge turret, which I thought was a sight to see. Their robot seemed to be teasing how effortlessly it could shoot balls into the 3 point goal.

The triplets: Their robot design was so solid and sturdy, nothing on the frame of their robot seemed to break, not even when they tipped. Having their robots looking so intact and ready to go to me seemed like a miracle, especially because they went through three regionals.
I loved how when they would human load, they would start loading their balls up their ball chute, ready to be shot by their four spinning wheels. When shooting, balls seemed to glide out of their robot--very smooth. Their accuracy and sturdiness was amazing, and they were almost impossible to move. Another feature I fell in love with on their robot is their automatic aiming system, where their camera would take over and aim the robot. Their autonomous modes were devastating to the other teams; in Newton when 1503 used their autonomous mode where they would go straight out and then turn 90 degrees toward the goal, they were never thrown off course, even when hit multiple times.

322:This robot has to be the fastest robot I've seen all season. They were so good at hoarding all the balls from the field and can turn on a dime. Their robot seemed so well built and they can turn on a dime. Also, they can turn on a dime.

254/968: Though they didn't use a turret or a camera to control their robot, they were scoring powerhouses nonetheless. If you let them onto the ramp for a few seconds, the match is over. I loved how fast balls would fly out of their robots into the goal, it was incredible. Not only were they were effective at scoring, but they were also some of the fastest bots on the field. This was demonstrated at Silicon Valley when 254 would fly back to the other side of the field to get on their ramp in the last seconds of a match.

111: Wild Stang's robot this year was very effective. They were fast, and could score very accurately. Their camera-controlled turret was very sensitive and aimed their turret very accurately. Some things of their robot were eerily similar to ours, like how they got the balls to their shooter and their shooter and turret set up. I loved their wheelie bar to support themselves when going up the ramp. This was because their robot is wider than it is long. I'm guessing this is so that more balls can be collected. I've never seen a robot wider than it is long, and I couldn't believe I didn't think about that to collect more balls at a time. Very effective.

195:I loved how effective their robot is when in autonomous mode and using various sensors. Their contraption to release the balls from their robot lowers so smoothly, I thought it was done very nicely.

I know there are so many other great bots.......but I'm not gonna name all of the ones I think were good....I want to see what bots you think were the best!

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

1901 - Just a rookie team this robot looked very professional, and the mentors and students understand what FIRST is about. And as the days progessed at FLR they looked better and better. Their robot was really simple, and could play some mean defense.

1126 - These guys aren't their division champs for nothing. There turreting shooter, along with there ball collector are amazing. Add in an experienced drive team and you have a great robot on the field.

217 - Once again if you had time to stop by a teams pit the Thunderchickens should have been on that list of teams to stop by. Always willing to show you things on there robot, and always a solid team. This team proved to be a great team again this year, with there turret and loader, it was a great machine. This team kept it simple by loading off the human player, and only going with a few balls instead of 30 or 40 to shoot.

( I know there are more teams i'm missing. I'll think of some of the ones that aren't mentioned soon and post them too)

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

1523 "M.A.R.S." - one of the best engineered catapults i've seen in FIRST, it was better than half the shooter wheels I saw

494/70 "Martians" - brilliant use of omnis. Period.

190 "GOMPEI" - forget the turret and tracking, the hopper on this bot was a peice of work. Look at video from BAE to see what I mean

1625 "Winnovation" - I have to mention them just because of the absolutely scary autonomous mode. The accuracy was just downright impressive.

254 "Cheesy Poofs" - Amazing driving at SVR. With the two speeds, they could dodge almost every other bot on the field. I have video of them getting on their ramp at the end, and remaining parallel to the ground the entire way up. Also one of the best alliance partners, they kept 71 from tipping multiple times in the Newton elims. 968 deserves a big shout out also, but I didn't get to see their bot as close, since they weren't at our regional.

EDIT: I just have to say that I've only mentioned robots here that i got to personally see up close. 254 is at our regional every year, and the rest were in Galileo at champs. There are many MANY robots i would like to mention, but these are a cross section of those that impressed me personally.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

322 was the only corner goal scoring robot I saw that other people would really defend by blocking the corner goals the whole match. They would score so much per match , be so quick, so effective, such a tight turn radius, that other teams would actually have to plan on how they could block the corner goals for the entire match. Leave a one second window, bang 35 points... 5 seconds.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

To me, it's almost as simple as looking at the team list for IRI. I'm am looking forward to playing with and against every team there... It's going to be so exciting.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

My favorite out of the robots that haven't yet been mentioned has to be 233, the Pink Team. This robot's 6-wheel drive was pretty much immovable, and their camera-controlled turret ensured spot-on delivery of balls, every time. The "Archimedes screw" was a great way to store, index and feed balls with just the one mechanism. The aesthetics were very well done - if you can stand the colour pink, that is! I had the pleasure of seeing 233 dominate its way to winning the Boston regional, and it was an extremely nerve-racking experience to have had to face them in the Archimedes finals.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

We can go on and on about who had the best robot in 2006, because it is our opinion. So, I will go ahead and list a number of teams who I think performed the best.

1) Team 25 - Undefeated for 2 regionals? Championship finalist? If you haven't stopped by their pit and stared at their robot for half an hour straight you have missed out big time.

2) Team 254/968 - These two teams have amazed me over the years. I wish if I had the resources to build a chassis like them. Get them up on that ramp, you are done for the match.

3) Team 1114/1503/1680 - Known as the triplets, these 3 Canadian teams are my role models when it comes to collaboration, team organization and teamwork.

4) Team 217 - Thursday at championship when I walked into their pit, Paul and the students were on the ground working on the robot, the turret+shooter was off the robot. But, it only took them a day to snatch the championship gold away from everyone. What else does this team need? They already have the national Woodie flowers, and Championship gold under their belt. One of these days we will watch them get the championship chairmans.

5) Team 111 - I participated with a Motorola team (108) for 4 years as a high school student. During the process, I was introduced to many engineers and students on team 111. They never stop amazing me. I haven't been able to find a weld that looks nasty on that robot since 2003 (2003 was the first time, I looked at their robots in person). I appreciate the fact that engineers like Al, Dan take their time out and talks to me about FIRST, team organization. That is how a mentor should be.

6) Team 233 - Do I even have to say anything about the pink machine? Not only they have amazing robots every year, their members are very friendly. Mrs. P and the crew has never refused to take Tytus and I along anywhere they go. It was fun hanging out with you guys all 3 nights at the championship.

7) Team 1902 - A little history behind this team. Team 1083 (Emoticons) fell apart after 2004. The mentors (George Wallace, Dan Richardson, Mike Walker) was starving to taste the competition and hence the birth of team 1902. Not only they had a very good robot that dominated during the competition, they were the Florida Regional Finalist, went undefeated at lonestar Regional in Houston (Thanks Matt for correcting me), and were the Archimedes Division Finalist at the championship.

... I am sure I forget a lot of things I wanted to point out... wait no I didn't...

8) Every single FIRST team that participated this past season had the best robot. Every one of them spent 6 weeks to keep the team together and build a robot to compete. They gave their best to it. So take a moment to congratulate yourself and thank your team members.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

not to be bias or anything but here at 1902 people would often ignore the shooters on our alliance and just the block the two corner goals so we could not score

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

They where so fast! It was amazing watching them at West Michigan, they tied us in wins/losses but beat us out with their higher Q-Pt's and where the #1 seed. The only down part of them being the #1 seed was that they get the First and Last picks, other than that they were great. There really isn't enough I can say about their robot, besides its fast, goes everywhere, and they will make you pay if you leave them alone.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

469: One of the few teams who managed to pick up balls from the floor and have an accurate high goal shooter, I was extremely impressed with the design of the Las Guerillas robot. Their use of the camera made them very consistent in scoring most of the balls in autonomous. When 469 loaded up and went to shoot, the balls would come out like fireworks and accurately score. Also, great manuverability allowed them to play some mean defense too. Not to mention dominating the highest scoring match ever. Great job guys.

Can't wait to see everyone at IRI!

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

599- not just because its my team, but we were undefeated in LA besided the final round. We also were able to shoot on the ramp and off the ramp in competition before 986 was able to. We also had an all hand built robot with no machines other than handtools on the thing (school got rid of metal shop). I think we had a great robot this year. Too bad senior prom was the same weekend as Nationals, or we may have gone (3/4 the team was seniors who all had senior-itis and didnt want to miss prom).

986/254 - They did the same things we did, just with shifting gearbox and a cleaner looking machine. Great robots, both in function and looks.

987 - High Rollers were great at Arizona. I was very disappointed when they lost in the finals. Eh, i was disappointed a lot from the results at Arizona, but High Rollers looked great, and definitely on my top favorites of this year.

Triplets - Function and a lot of PR on CD. They worked great, and the compliments about them throughout the competition season were well deserved.

330 - You guys were great in Arizona, great in LA as well. It was a great year being on your alliance in elimination in both places. Hope we team up at competions in the future. You guys always make make great robots. I was a little suprised when i herd that you guys did not get that far at Nationals. But at LA and AZ, you guys ruled, except for the cracked tranny in the finals of LA.

All Team- 6 weeks and a functioning or semi-function robot is a huge accomplishment. I think there are many i also missed from my short list. It was a great year for a lot of teams and seem to me like a very fun game compared to the past (i only have Triple Play to compare it too). I hope everyone had a great time like i did, and hope well for next year.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

Before 968 decided to shoot from the floor, maybe. 254 had shot from the floor in earlier regionals (Portland and SVR), though.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

Here's to some GSR teams.

1276. GSR champions. They had incredible drivers that could sneak around any robot and get on any ramp they wished. And when they got on the ramp, it was all over. They had one of my favorite gathering systems. Just one roller that lauched the balls up into their, otherwise human-loaded, hopper.

1519. More GSR champions. Wow. Autonomous demons. They just had "one of those autonomous modes". 10/10 everytime regardless if they were hit. Outstanding for a second year homeschooled team without a sophisticated machine shop.

$0.02.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

At the Colorado Regionals, I really liked Team 159's (Alpine Robotics). It was really cool when our captain chose them for our alliance in semi's. The only thing I didn't like about their bot was the panel they had to take off to get to their transmission. I believe it was held in by a lot of screws that needed the allen key for every single one. But despite losing semi-finals, me and my fellow driver cheered like crazy for them when they got the Chairman's award.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

In no particular order--

1114 and company--fantastic, almost immovable drivebase. Great shooter from range, and close up. Very efficient human loader. Only "weakness" was floor loading capabilities, which were still very sufficient. Had imho possibly the best auton of the year--it either made darn near every shot it took, or didn't take any shots at all, leaving them in position to score all their balls after auton.

469--AMAZINGLY fast and accurate shooter. Simply deadly. With a turret no less. You'd better hope you can outscore them, cuz you're prolly not stopping them. Same with 1114

217--Fantastic autonomous. Also one of my picks for best auton. Great turret, very nice ball sorting/delivery system to eliminate jams, and good drivers. Their competition results just about say it all.

111-Probably the best auton of the year. Even when hit they managed to correct and make most of their shots. In addition to this, they had a ton of different paths they could take before shooting-making it much harder to knock them off course in the first place. If they managed to get up on you early during auton, you were in trouble. Very nice ball delivery system to keep from jamming, while still retaining a wide pickup zone to facilitate loading. Had they been able to human load, they would have been even better.

987--Great all around robot. Good turret and ball pickup, combined with a solid drivebase and good driving/strategy. They were a force on Newton. Another team that could sink you during auton.

70/494--Very much like 469 in function. Two scary teams.

25--Speedy, with a good turret. They couldn't hold as many balls as some others, but they usually made all of them count. Another excellent ball sorting mechanism, that was very simple.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

Agreed. The High Rollers defintely deserve a spot on the list of best robots of '06. When we had seeded first at the LV regional, we chose them as our first pick, they were definitely one of the best bots there. We then chose team 8 as our second pick to have a very formidable alliance, and went undefeated through the elimination matches. The High Rollers had an excellent robot, and were wonderful to work with. :)

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

I thought they were the best robot during Arizona. There are many instences where the best robot isnt the first seed. This is all my opinion as well. I just thought the best functioning robot by itself was High Rollers at Arizona. Im glad they won LV regional, but i think they should have had Arizona. Yet again, i thought my alliance won that controversial match, but its all good, its not about winning. Dont take my opinions in offence, its just my 2cents.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

This is true. I mean, since your partners in the qualifying matches, you might get put with some teams whose robot maybe doesn't quite match up with yours, or whose robot may have been broken in their last match and isn't really ready to go back out onto the field. But hey, anything can happen in the qualifying matches, and losing one match can make all the difference. As long as other teams recognize your strengths, there's a good chance that you'll be picked for the eliminations.

But I agree with most of the teams people have mentioned. 987, 111, and the Triplets all had really good robots, and our team was lucky enough to be able to face them (well, one of the Triplets).

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

#1: 25
Fast, accurate, deadly. That's pretty much all that needs to be said about the most dominant bot this year. 25 dominated New Jersey, #1 seed, undefeated, champion. 25 dominated Las Vegas, #1 seed, undefeated, champion. 25 dominated Newton, #3 seed, #1 pick (Declined), Champion. 25 dominated PARC, #1 seed, Champion. 25 dominated Monty Madness, #1 pick, Champion. And Championship finalist, after losing the best match of the year, aint so bad is it?

#2: 469
Las Guerillas were amazing yet again. Fastest firing rate of just about any bots. Accurate are range, deadly up close. Ground loading, human loading, turret, defense, etc etc etc. They were #1 seed in Detroit, teamed up with 217, and emerged champions. The combination of 1114 and 1503 managed to stop them in the finals at GLR, but it was impressive none the less. They were the #2 pick in Curie, and made it to the semi-finals.

#3: 254
It is impossible to seperate robots performances from their drive crews. So, I will not lump 254 and 968 together, nor the triplets or Martians. I'm putting 254 ahead of 968 because they proved their dominance at 2 regionals, and, imho, faired slightly better through the Newton qualification matches (and were ranked higher because of it). Champions at PNW. Champions, as they always have been, at SVR. #4 alliance captain, the 2nd pick of team 176 (they, like 25, declined) on Newton, and Newton semi-finalist. Another amazing year and bot for the Poofs!

#4: 968
RAWC rocked. Period. Champion in Los Angeles. Newton Champion. Championship finalist. Wow. Who could forget the "A-Bomb"? Along with 25, and 195, they created one of the best alliances that I have ever seen in FIRST, in any of my years of involvment. Simply brilliant.

#5: 1114
3 Regional Championships in 1 year in the alliance era!?! #1 pick by 1503 at GLR, #1 seed at Waterloo, #1 seed at GTR, Champion at all 3. #1 selection in Curie by 494, and made it to the Curie finals. They could pick up from the ground well, but we even better with the human loader. Accurate on the ramp, from half court, or anywhere in between. Fast firing rate, and nearly impossible to move. The simbots were breathtaking. They are the story of 2006.

#6: 217
The Chickens ruled autonomous. 10 for 10 in the center goal almost every match, regardless of defense. Champions in Detroit, semi-finalists at GTR, and of coure, Champions of FIRST. #1 pick on Archimedes, the all GTR-Alliance managed to beat out super-powers like 233, 25, and defending champion 503 on the way to their first ever Championship.

#7: 1503
Ummm........2 teams had 3 Regional Championships this year!?! TOGETHER!?! 1503 and 1114's identical designs proved to be lethal when combined, winning Great Lakes, Waterloo, and Greater Totonto. They were the #1 seed at GLR, and 1114's (who was the #1 seed at both) first pick at the other two. Members of the amazing #2 alliance on Newton, picked by 987, they played against the 25, 968, 195 alliance as well as anyone, but drew the short end in 3 matches.

#8: 233
Pink's machine was beautiful, as always. Fast, deadly, memorable. Pink definately wasn't afraid to play defense either. The spiraling loading system worked like a charm, the turret was always on target, and they rained in point after point. #1 seed at UCF, made it to the Semi-finals. Champions in Boston. Finalists on Archimedes. They had more wins against the 296, 217, 522 alliance more than the deadly #3 Newton alliance did!

#9: 111
And the bot wasn't even their biggest success this season....Chairman's was.
They won both of their regionals. They were in the #1 Newton alliance. They were Newton finalists. They handed 25 their first loss of the season during the qualification matches on Newton. Deadly in autonomous, deadly on defense. Fast, accurate, and once they added the pnuematic brake, nearly immovable. Wildstang did it again!

#10: 987
They absolutely blew me away. An amazing robot. Accurate, quick, agile, powwerful. #2 seed and Newton semi-finalist. Who knows how far they could have gone had they not run into the brick wall of the #3 Newton alliance? Simply amazing robot.

Other 'bots of note (no particular order):
494, 70, 1680, 121, 1038, 703, 11, 71, 79, 1523, 1902, 322, 195, 296, 1126, 229, 330, 33, 1731, 343, 118, 365, 341, 177, 176, 69, 20, 1625

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

I forgot to mention team 1523. Their catapault design was awe-inspiring. It was so consistent and smooth. During the design process this year, we thought that a catapualt wouldn't be accurate enough to get balls into the goal, this robot proved us wrong!

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

My list of the best robots of 2006 (In no order because as I've said before there is really no way to determine a single best robot)

1114, 1503, 1680; Niagara FIRST not only had very good robots but they had an excellent strategy.

111; Wildstang had a powerhouse bot, they had a great Autonomous mode, couldn't even budge them.

70, 494; Great bots

217; amazing robot

280; great defensive bot

322; great corner goal robot

4; the one day wonder

71; like always an amazing robot

25; great robot and a great showing in the finals

Other great robots:
469, 503, 451, 522, 33

In my opinion 2006 has been one of the best years for robots over all, I was extremely impressed with all the robots I saw this year.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

I just want to mention that 2006 had some of the most sucessfull ROOKIE bots I've seen. That's something to be very VERY proud of.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

I liked 375, 75 before their roller system got crushed, 1660 we were unstopable in the corner at least scoring 25 in each match, 1155 and team 11.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

While they were not the best team 877 after they removed their shooter they did very well as a harvester, picked up very very well had good storage and pretty good speed. Could pick up many at a time and scored them very quickly. Only problem was they tipped, removing the shooter probably shifted their balance because I do not remember them tipping over before they removed their shooter.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

Yes, 877 was one of the best harvesters/dumpers at the Las Vegas regional. Their rollers were very unique, and they had a large holding capacity. After they got their autonomous mode working, they would score 10 for 10 in the corner goals. As Morgan said, they could expell their balls into the corner goals very rapidly and had no problems with accidental incursion.

My list for the best harvesters/dumper bots of '06 includes 322, 195, 1902, and 877.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

These are all bots I saw up close (217, 25, 968/254 Sorry)

1)111 This was to me the best robot I saw this year. It was very quick and it scored efficently. We could not have lost to a better team at WIS.

2)1114 I watched them after 494 was knocked out aand we sat with 70 to cheer them on. They seemed like an excellent robot. It was an unbeilivible machine to see in action.

3)85 THey were top dogs at WMR if you ask me (No Offense 322). Their ability to shoot and strong auto made them very powerful.

4)1625 This was one strong robot.

5)322 Best dumper this year. Period.

6)1305 They legitimitly stopped 1114. You don't get much better than that.

7)1504 Quick, agile, strong a very good robot

8)451 These guys are just a good team. Strong ramp shooters and powerful defenders.

9)365 It's MOE they ramp camped it was scary

10)703 Massive ramp camping scary. Auto ramp camp is scarier.

Honorable mention:27, 93, 503, 272, 302, 180, 341, 1126, and 201

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

I have to agree with everyone who has mentioned 322. They were an amazing dumper bot this year. I was in the pits most of the time in Atlanta, but I went to the stands for a little bit during the qualifying matches, and was lucky enough to see them in action. I was in awe at how quickly the could pick up balls. They scored easily 30+ points per match.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

Agreed. We'd be sitting up in our Scouting Pit watching matches and be like "Holy (@#$ how'd that alliance just get 35 points?!"

They pulled some fast ones quite a few times and are to be commended :)

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

Some robots I got to see that I especially liked:

365: A great shooter and their ball storage was very cool.

375: Great defense and, in my opinion, the best shooter at NYC.

1038: Accurate shooter, and they had a cool way of getting balls to their shooter.

108: Simple but effective shooter, with variable pitch if i remember correctly (we got to play with them on Curie this year...).

180: Great shooter, good defense and a fast robot

(and an honorable mention for 1743 and 1880, who did very well in their rookie year and had good robots)

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

1501 had the most AMAZING looking shooter. Had an extremely organized electrical system and the shiniest body panels I've ever seen on a robot. See their robot HERE.

Our robot looked good, and shot well, (when it was working :o ) but, well, we're working on the whole little durability thing.... :yikes:

-Q

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

Well thanks for that complement, especially on the electrical system (that was my part :D ).

I would rather view it as if the students on the team learned something that is going to help them for the rest of there lifes then there robot already is the best. Because that is one of the greatest learning tools you can have, and one of the only learning tools you can have so much fun with.

However i suppose the robots would be a way of showing what the students learned. I will agree some robots may function better than others and some may look better than others, which is a good thing. Because say something on a teams robot did not function as well as another teams. The student on that specific team learns that ok here are the problems that we had now if i would have designed or built it this way those problems may not of happened.

Anyway there were a lot of nice robots out there this year (unfortunately i don't remember team names or numbers very well.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

Team 1660
Their robot was fantastic! We were teamed up with them at Monty Madness and that was the first time I had ever seen them. Their robot was just a corner-dumper, but they did it right every...single...time. They were pretty much solid-state...nothing hanging off, nothing bouncing around; they were extremely solid and powerfull. They were one of the best dumper I've seen this entire year...and we've been to atlanta...

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

1712: AMAZING ROBOT and TEAM
395: HUGEST HOPPER IN THE LAND
1719: I liked how they delieve their balls

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

dame right this year there was a hell of a lot of great robots but a big part of the game was defence i don't mean to hong my own horn here but 522 was a great robot not one problem with that thing and we had to stop some of the best teams out there this year but any way give me your feed on the best defence this year

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

I saw 522 at PARC up close. Best defense and best teamwork I've seen. Very solid robot.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

one robot that hasnt been mentioned (or if it has i havent seen it) was team 86 their robot was a very good shooter

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

I wanted to agree with the above post re: Team 86's robot. My team was totally impressed with it at FL Regionals. It vacuumed up balls and had an amazingly fast shooter. We were amazed how under the radar they were with most scouts. Unfortunately they had some technical problems in Atlanta and had a rough time getting any time on the practice field to review repairs.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

I remember 1660 and they were a good dumper, pretty high up in the dumper category, but you should watch some more Newton matches and check out 322.
1660 was a good bot though, picked up great and dumped well but didn't turn as well nor moved as fast.

Hmm what I want to see is a match of 322 1660 and 111 vrs 195 968 25
That would be a very crazy match.

BE perhaps? I know its very very far for a lot of those teams. XD

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

Here are some pictures of us. That picture that you had was really really old.I want to see if i have a picture of the knight in the front.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

i believe that some one needs to mention the Bobcats team 177.
great D i mean pinning MOE on Galileo then putting somewhat of a stop on 25,968,and 195 (almost impossible to do it completly).
then at Battle Cry suddenly they can ramp camp and hit the toggle(that toggle saved some teams all weekend). so they are my pick that hasn't been mentioned. otherwise i agree with the picking so far. thanx for the mentions as well.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

233 had an awesome bot this year. I think you guys were underestimated but definitely one of the best working machines this year.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

1126 - These guys aren't their division champs for nothing. There turreting shooter, along with there ball collector are amazing. Add in an experienced drive team and you have a great robot on the field.

actually Tim we only had one returing drive team member, but i learned quick so as we can see it worked out just fine

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

Alright, here we go. Some robots that I got to see up close and personal (Meaning at regionals or on Curie, I could barely see the Einstein field)

1126- I didn't really get to see this robot until battle cry last weekend. Boy was I impressed! Until the breakdown at the end, 1126 was scoring like crazy every match. Their design seemed solid and the shooter was both accurate and quick to adjust.

176- I think that BAE Regional Finalist, UTC Regional Champion, Newton Division 1st seed and Finalist, and BattleCry champion is a good enough record for one year! This robot was solid and quite accurate. They were also able to dump well in both auto and when driver operated. This made their robot versatile and an excellent partner (especially for 177, it seems)

177- UTC Regional Champion, Philly Regional Champion, Galileo Division Champion, and BattleCry champion, yeah that's good too. They shot really accurately and were even able to hit the toggle switch better than any other robot at WPI (amusing design feature that they couldn't have planned) Great robot, great season.

126- These guys had a wonderful robot this year (as they always do). They, unfortunately, suffered a lot of upset defeats this year. Their auton shooting was great as was their shooting during the driver operation.

1519- A win at their only regional earning them their 1st trip to Championship, performing well enough in Newton qualifications to end up a picking seed, 1st seed at BattleCry, an accurate and hard to disrupt auto mode, great shooting during driver control... I'd say that's pretty impressive for a second year team with no corporate sponsor. Pretty impressive for anyone! This machine was really solid and really accurate.

296- The first time I saw that robot hit 10/10 in auto mode, I knew they would do well. I guess they did! A really excellent robot that scored well even during heavy defense.

1114-What is there to say about 1114 that hasn't already been said. Impressive robot, impressive work as a team, impressive strategizing, impressive job spreading FIRST in Canada.

469- Arguably the best robot I saw this year. What else can I say?

181- Able to shoot from the floor or from the ramp (sometimes) if anyone decided to defend them by pushing them up there. Good dumping. And better at pulling off an unlikely win than probably any other team I saw this year. Every time I thought this team was down for the count, they would push and maneuver themselves to a victory. Although they didn't make it to nations, they had a good season, finalists at both UTC and Chesapeake Bay Regionals along with a win at Beantown Blitz.

1629- Although I don't think that they performed as well at Nationals as they did at Chesapeake (but then neither did we), this team gave a truly excellent performance in Maryland. They had many autonomous modes, they were versatile in that they could shoot well and dump well even in auto mode, and they were a great partner.

20- Great job at the UTC regional. Excellent auton scoring, good scoring during the match even when defended.

549-sticking out in my mind right now as far as truly scary defense goes.

Excellent Robots that I didn't elaborate on-56, 293, 341, 237, 70, 79, 138, 1100

I am clearly far too stingy with praise! My list is not nearly long enough!

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

Okay, my top 5, in no particular order.

254/968. My reason for choosing this pair isn't necessarily the dominant ramp shooting, or the killer autonomous, but the simplicity and elegance of the shooter/hopper design. It worked so well, had a high capacity, seemed pretty simple, was speedy, not much else you could wish for.

469. This robot was so amazingly, awe-inspiringly, crazily, scary fast and accurate. If you left them alone for just two seconds, bam sixty points. The ball pickup was fast and effective, it looked like it was pretty easy for the human player to throw in balls, and once it was loaded, a quick zip to the goal, unload at insane speed, repeat.

217. The Thunderchickens were kick-butt for many reasons. The hopper just didn't jam, the shooter fired at a decent rate, it was accurate, and the defense was amazing.

Triplets. Loaded from the ground and the human player, did both quite well. They shot quickly and accurately, they were nearly immovable. Being champions of three regionals proves the effectiveness of the design.

25. The human player loaded it pretty quickly. It didn't jam. (As far as I know) The turret mounted shooter was speedy and extremely effective, delivering volleys with amazing accuracy. Just great.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

Quote:
originally posted by Bharat Nain
"233 had an awesome bot this year. I think you guys were underestimated but definitely one of the best working machines this year."

thanks for the compliment 25's robot was insane dont even get me started

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

there were many good robots this year, i really liked 1038's design... really potent shooter.

i also liked 393, they had a really powerful drive train (our robot is able to pull up its wheels, and plop on the ground, theres truck bedliner on the bottom for more friction, and at max weight, 393 pushed us like we were nothing...)
anyhow, thats my 2 bits

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

Some of the best robots I saw this year
25 amazing shooter and defender as they pushed us across the field at IRI
27 great alliance partner in galileo we almost got there
33 nice shooting from position 3 at IRI
70 saw plenty of them this year and they were amazing
71 best alliance partner and perfect match for our robot
86 great shooter and nice picker upper
111 all around amazing
126 nice auto and manual
217 same as 25
233 amazing shooter and auto
254/968 both amazing robots wish you could've been at IRI
365 Great shooting and ramp camping
469 best shooter and nice and solid D
494 same as 70 haha
547 FEAR Crazy D bot
703 crazy auto
910 the best D out there
1038 amazing shooter
1114 Very amzing all around robot
1126 great shooter
1272 another very solid D-bot
1732 My personal favorite rookie
1816 great D in wisconsin

I'm very sorry if I missed anybody but again these are the ones I saw

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

1213 was awesome.
They were simple, very effective, and very robust.
They were a solid shooter and could play some excellent D.
Among all of the great teams that were at IRI we were second seed.
Thats showing you something.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

Don't remember the number, but the robot that made it to the finals and had the dynamic autonomous... had me quite intriguied(sp?).

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

I believe that the team you are thinking of is Team 195, the Cyberknights.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

I loved Team 222's bot (a ramp launcher) that fired to reflect the shot off the top of the goal. It fell on some bad luck, but it made it to championships and I was really hoping it could have gone somewhere during the later matches.

I also liked Team 222 overall because of the hours some of our boys at 1885 (including me and lordtalps) and the guys at 222 spent playing hackie-sack at the VCU regional. Memorable times for sure. :)

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

195?

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

I forget to mention one robot that caught my eyes at IRI.

This 2 years old team is a true FIRST team. I dropped my mouth when I saw them in action at IRI. Team 1625 has come a long way in 2 years.

Here are couple pictures of their robot.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

i agree.
they were very good.

Re: Best Robots of 2006
 

No order:
team 25, great shooter, fast, accurate, great auto mode and they can play great defense
team 111, awesome auto mode, fast and accurate
team 254/968, fast, accurate, great auto modes, range, loading capabilities, and ball storage, though we had similar robots, they had an awesome drive team, so no offense to our guys, but i put them ahead of us.
But in my opinion, all robots were great, and i consider all of them to be best robots of 2006.