Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

Hey, while I know a similar thread was made before, the last one that I've seen was from 2004, three years later, what robot do you think was the best one ever? I myself will have to go with 25's robot last year, from being undefeated going into Atlanta, and being finalists, that robot was amazing. What do you guys think?

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

I'd have to say either 71 in 2002, that robot was made to win nats. Or 111 in 2003 for stack attack, perfect design for that year and an awesome auto mode.

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25's 2006 robot. i was amazed by it. it worked flawlessly.

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agreed, one of the most amazing robots I have seen

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71 in 2002 hands down. the only reason they lost a match on einstien is because they broke.

71 in 2001 is very close. come on this was a great design, couldn't beat it.

111 in 2003 very solid design and almost unbeatable.

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man, i can pick the best one i think it is for that year since 2002.
i cant pick just one tho.
heres mine

2002: 173
2003: 469
2004: 45
2005: there were so many great robots i cant chose just one
2006: 1114
2007: there are so many here too...i cant list them all

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

I'm dead serious when I say, if it doesn't say 71 on the side, it probably shouldn't even be considered. Hammond's '97, '01, and '02 bots all come to mind as some of the most dominant ever. They haven't been to the national/championship semi-finals SIX times, FOUR times winning the event, by fluke. I'll break it down year-by-year for the past few just out of mercy for the others though.
While it may be too early to assess 2007 (IRI hasn't happened yet after all :rolleyes: ), I think 330 put out the best machine this year. The Beachbot was as dominant as any team could be this year. Big useful ramps, powerful drive (with exceptional drivers), maneuverable, quick, could score through defense as well as anyone, lethal when left alone, semi-accurate autonomous (not bad for not using any sensors). And the results showed it, winning LA, San Diego, and Curie.
Raider Robotix in 2006 was dominant, but I personally like the 469 Aim High machine even more. Las Guerillas had the fastest rate of fire of any team, would hit a few in auto every round, an accurate turret, powerful drive, maneuverable with the drop-casters, ground loading, huge human loading hopper, and could score at will. They have a justifiable complaint that they should have AT LEAST been in the Curie finals if it weren't for a mistake by the refs (not counting an off-sides penalty against their opponents), and I personally believe they would have advanced to Einstein.
Triple Play is tough. So many teams put out great robots, with very few truly emerging from the crowd. I think the Pink machine barely edges out as the best from 2005 (sorry 217, 67, 254, 71, 118, etc.). 233 won Florida and Colorado (and IRI), and was absolutely spectacular. They could score as quickly and efficiently as anyone, had a killer autonomous that would load twice from the auto loader, could score very high, evade defense, and was just plain good.
So many good bots have graced the field over the years. The Killer Bees in 2004, the Poofs every year, the 2006 Triplets, Wildstang in 2002, Delphi in 2000, etc.
It's almost impossible to pick the best every, but if I had to, I'd say Beatty in 2002. That beast was just that, a BEAST. Team Hammond doesn't rack up the wins for nothing.

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

71 in 2002.
111 in 2003
A lot of bots in 2004
330 in 2005
Triplets in 2006
1902 in 2007

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Well, just from my years in FIRST, 233 had one of the most outstanding robots in 2005. There have been others, but that one sticks in my mind the most.

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71 in 2002 was amazing. I can see any other robot that beats that thing, not only was it a flip bot (started on its end and fell over) but it also "walked" per say! Most amazing bot I have seen

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I'd have to say Team 60's 2002 robot and 190's in 2004 (I realize I am now a 190 mentor, but that robot has been one of my all time favorites since I first saw it in summer 04)

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I'm going to re-iterate the nomination for 71's 2002 robot. That has to be the best robot, ever!

I liked 65's 2003 robot, 217's 2003 robot, and 111's 2003 robot. StangPS was just plain amazing... seriously, go check it out on 111's website.

190's 2004 robot was amazing simply because it could get on the bar in auton.

2005 had so many good robots and I never saw Pink's bot.

2006, there was a lack of robots that AMAZED me for some reason. However, 469 stood out of the crowd.

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In every video I have ever seen, Team 71's 2002 robot looks completely dominate. It just blows my mind in terms of sweetness. But I was not around then, and the robots that I have seen that blow my mind are these

2005
233-This was the best robot that year. They did nothing wrong. Their speed, scoring ability and autonomous were amazing. Them not winning the championship that year was jaw dropping. The robot was truly unbelievable.

2006
25-The robot was a perfect machine. Never has any robot so dominantly played at regionals. Even Hammond didn't win two regionals in 02. The 25 bot was so good and effective at scoring that they went 36-0. Think about that, let it sink in. They won 36 straight matches. No one could do this ever again. This robot shocked me when I first got a chance to see it up close. It blew my mind

2007
1114-This was by far their best robot, even better than 06. They lost two qualifying matches all year. In a year that you could only win with two good partners, they beat everybody by themselves. I think they could out hang anyone in any match. No one could adequately defend them, thanks to their amazing quickness and strong drive train.

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

My favorites in the past 6 years.

2002: 71, 180
2003: 111, 175
2004: 45
2005: 217, 233
2006: 25, 217
2007: 148, 1114

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ChiefDelphi in 2000

That's my favorite.


AB

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i have to say 25's 2006 robot a record of up to 36-0 is amazing

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i wasn't around before 2003, so i cant really testify about any of the early games, but

The year was 2003, the robot was tie dye. WILDSTANG! I am willing to suggest that that robot was the best one ever.

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I can only personally speak about 2006 and 2007, but in 2006 I nominate 25 and the alliance of 254/968 as the two most dominant design I've seen. The 25 design was almost flawless, with it's huge hopper, great turret, and outstanding driving. 254 and 968 had an even bigger hopper, also featured ground loading, and were absolutley amazing once they positioned (and later proved they can score even without their position).
For 2007, I say that 1114 and 330 had the best hybrids out there, followed by the 254/968 tandem. All four had the ability to put up massive scores by themselves, with or without defense, and all could also lift. As for ramp orientd bots, the machine out of 190 had the best engineered ramps I've seen. In fact, from my limited FIRST expeienced, those are probably the best engineerd FIRST components I have seen.

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For the record they also lost a match in the quarter finals that year.

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If this question was on a test, it would be the easiest by far.

71 in 2001.

See these threads for my rationale.

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60 in '02. I was amazed when i saw that robot.
71 in '02 for obvious reasons
254/968 06' just the effectiveness and the elegance of them is amazing

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Here's my algorithm for answering:
1) Go to IRI 2007, and watch all the matches.
2) Look at the field at the end of the last match.
3) The best FIRST robot ever so far will be there, and you won't need to ask which one it is.

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

I don't think it is such an easy question. Certainly, 71 is probably the most SUCCESSFUL robot in the history of FIRST, but that doesn't necessarily mean it is the "best." I wasn't around in 2001 but you mention that because of the way the game was set up if 71 got going you couldn't defend it, or maybe I misunderstand what you meant. But that would seem to me to imply that 71 did as well as it did atleast partially because of that particular game setup. When you look at a game like the past two years a good defensive robot, or even a decent one, could take what everyone previously considered the "best" bot at a regional and take them from scoring hundreds of points to only scoring one or two. So it would stand to reason that any robot that can score a couple hundred while being heavily defended must be absolutely amazing.

I've only been around two years but only a few robots seem to meet this criteria. The Feds last year almost never missed the target, even when being defended.(atleast at WMR and GLR) And this year both 1114 and 330 could score 5+ tubes even while being heavily defended. That definitely pushes those three teams up there on my list. But the thing is these teams might not all win every single one of their matches because of the aforementioned heavy defense.

Not to say 71 didn't have an amazing bot in 2001, I really wouldn't know since I wasn't around, I'm just saying you have to think about more then just how many awards a bot has won when considering which is the best.

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Not everyone here knows what's so special about Beatty's 2002 robot. I'll do a quick explaination of it right now.

Basically, it was a flop-bot. It had a very quick drive system that was driven by two skyway wheels in the back. It had two arms that unfolded to grab onto the two goals on the sides of the field, and one grabber in the front to grab onto the middle goal. So, already, we know that this BEAST can grab all three goals. Not a common thing this year.

When it grabs onto these goals, it pulls the two side ones closer to avoid breaking those PVC arms, and the front of the robot drops down onto it's "crawling" mechanism. The robot then slowly, but quite surely, moved it's way to the zone with all three goals. The robot almost guaranteed that alliance 30 points while the other alliance could only get 20 points by having both robots in their endzone.

You can watch one of their matches right here.

It's pretty much impossible to stop the BEAST once it started crawling across the field.

You can also watch one of the only ways Beatty could be defeated here..

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

Very true. Let me expand on my reasoning. Yes, Beatty brought home all the trophies in 2001, but this isn't why I consider them the best of all time.

Team 71 was utterly dominant in 2001. There was no way anyone could beat them, unless 71 were to make a mistake. In the elimination rounds, they never did. Now, in the 2001 game, you didn't have to deal with defense. The only way to beat a team was to form a better alliance than them. No one was able to do this. At no point during the 2001 season, did I ever feel Beatty was close to being challenged.

The 2001 game was a pure engineering design challenge. Beatty simply out smarted and out engineered every one. Just thinking about that robot and it's dominance makes my spine tingle.

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In my six years of FIRST the one bot that made me just shake my hed in amazement was the 2004 robot from HOT. That thing was an offensive monster.

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Part of what made the 2001 Beatty 'bot so special was the fact that there was no opposition. It was your average score that mattered. And Team Hammond was at least 30% higher than everyone else at every single event they went to. In essence that means, they were 130% better than the second best bot that year. Very few teams in FIRST history, if any other, can say that with definitive proof. 71 out-engineered everyone.
But....I ranked their 2002 bot ahead of their 2001 bot. Why? Because of what you said, it did have to interact against incredibly well engineered machines....and it still DOMINATED.

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

My favorite ever was Tigerbolt in 1996.

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My first choice is Beatty from 2002, but enough people have commented on that one, so I'll choose some other robots, too.

I think WildStang from last year may have been the best robot of all time, certainly of last year. I know 25 went 36-0, but you know who gave 25 its first defeat? WildStang. This robot could do everything better than any other robot. It had arguably the best autonomous mode last year. It could pick up off the ground like a champ. It could get on the ramp (and ramp shoot!). It could play defense. But the most impressive feature was the turret. The robot could be moving horizontally across the field and and the turret would stay constantly pointed at the goal, balls always pouring in. 25 may have beaten 111 in the Newton Finals last year, but WildStang put up an amazing fight.

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FIRST could really throw a kink in the whole "Drive Train Arms Race" by switching back to 4v0 for a year.

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if i was to say my number one favorite robot of all time, it would not be any robot from 2004, i hated that game, just my opinion dont get mad. but i would have to say 25 or 16 from 2003. they were devistatingly good. i know i spelled that workd completly wrong but i dont care, haha. if you had a chance to watch either of those those teams thatyear, or have the pleasure of having video of them, you will see, how good they were. 16 got up that ramp soooo fast, ask 71 from midwest, they can tell ya how fast they were (if you dont know, 16 was so fast, they knocked over 71 in auto mode when 71 put their arm up there to knock over the tower of boxes. 71 was the best robot to do that that year...a.k.a like 1.5 seconds) they were awesome. 25 that year was a defencive beast. they could push anyone off the top of that ramp or any where on that field. they were awesome. i think teams like that get lost becuase of how well other great teams did that year. we should look at other teams..here are some(haha):

2002: 308 469 66
2003: 16 25 292
2004: 494 1241 648
2005: 383 537 1701
2006: 222 121 47(at iri)
2007: 503 79(haha galilieo #8 alliance) 1015 903 648

those are teams that should get brought up there, it is because of teams like that that those great teams could be great. great teams cant win it all by them selves any more. i think thats who we should be looking at, now im not saying that 71, 111, 25 from those years arent great, trust me when i say that u i think they are, but we also need to look at who helped them along they way.

just a thought i had inmy head, nothing to start a fight about.
haha

steve "the stevie" alvarado

edit:i took a team off of that list becuase, evidently, i was boasting. its no big deal, people know who they are. haha and remember every one...they are just dots. :)

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

2002-71 (didn't see it in person, but saw video)
2003-111
2004-494
2005-1402, 179, 103
2006-25 or the triplets,
2007-330, 1114,

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

Oh man..

2000: 25, 131
2001: 71. Most "dominant" robot I've seen during my time.
2002: 71 again. But I'll pay my respects to 60 (beautiful engineering), and 469.
2003: 25.
2004: 45.
2005: 173.
2006: 25 drove the best. 1114 was the best.
2007: 1114.

The best robot I've ever seen? Not counting driver, or etc? 60 from 2002, or 45 from 2004.

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

My picks...

2001- 71
2002- 71/60
2003- 111
2004- 45
2005- 67
2006- 25
2007- 330/1114

Overall- 71 from 2001

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

To add my year by year picks (in order, because i'm that bored)

1998 - 47, 111, 16, 177, 67
1999 - 111, 71, 45, 16, 68
2000 - 47, 111, 126, 25, 308
2001 - 71, 254, 111, 45, 177
2002 - 71, 60, 469, 173, 111
2003 - 111, 25, 16, 67, 469
2004 - 254, 60, 45, 67, 71
2005 - 254, 67, 71, 217, 229
2006 - 25, 469, 111, 254, 217
2007 - 330, 148, 233, 469, 254

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

Seeing as how this is the only year that I've been to Nats and seen the cream of the crop...


'07: 1902, 25, 190, 100, 254


Those are the 5 that stand out in my mind at the moment.

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Yearly: that I've been to Atlanta
'05: 233, 330, 67, 69, 22
'06: 254/968, 25, 217, 233, 1114
'07: 330, 1114, 233, 968/254, 190

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How can you have 22 for '05, but not 254?

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So far from my three years of going to nats:

05 - 330, 22, 233
06 - 968, 217, 1114
07 - 330, 1114, 254

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Didn't personally see enough of the poofs that year =P, both bots were quite similiar anyway

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Let's see--2 continuous-turn pots on the drive and 1 10-turn pot for the arm, plus a gyro and (I think) 1-2 accelerometers. I think you mean no vision sensors.:p (Well, and no other really cool sensors.)

I think that the best robot overall is the one that works the way it is designed to. To further separate that is almost pointless, though I'll add that the best one is the one that inspires the most people.

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Hah. Far from it.

I'll do from the years I was in FIRST 03-07.

03: 111, their design and programming for the year was perfect. They were light years ahead of anyone else with some of the stuff they were putting out.
04: 67, a true offensive powerhouse. They put up over 200 points in a match by themselves. No one could play defense against them because they were a giant wedge, it was genius.
04: 254, another team that could put up tremendous numbers, it amazed me they didn't go any farther at Nationals.
05: 330, another wedge implemented robot. They had drop down wedges that when you would try to push them out of the way, they would push you out of the way. It was great.
06: 1114, you couldn't push them and they would just bury home shot after shot. PLUS, they were smarter than you. 99.9% of the time, they had you dominated on strategy,although it was always pretty simple.
07: 330, it was my favorite design this year. Efficient ramps, and efficient capping abilities. Their strategy and drivers proved to be great again as they were in 05.

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2000- 47 and 67 /We have looked at these designs every year before we start building.

2001- 71 Best Robot I have seen

2002- 71

2003- "Dude where's my car" I can't remimber much from this year.

2004- 980

2005- Bad year for me

2006- Possibly 71 at IRI

2007- 330

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

From what i heard and what ive seen then i would have to say that 111 in '03 is the best, but i also like the look of 71 in '01

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

2003 (Stack Attack) was my rookie year, the 980 robot that year, "Yoda", had an incredible amount of engineering in it; mostly associated with the "saber" - the 13-foot long telescoping arm that would get a gasp from the crowd a few seconds into the match. Cyber Blue and Team Hammond also attacked the stack with arms, but there was something ominous about the long sweeping pole from 980 that got your attention. It was scary. Here's blast from the past (2003 Arizona regional):
980 and 234: arm vs arm

In 2004, we had an autonomous mode that got us the 2x ball very consistently and a "software-assisted" driving sequence to get up onto the platform for hanging, but amongst the mentors, Yoda is our favorite.

Thanks for putting our robot on this list of very distinguished machines. I was most impressed by 111 in 2003 - I did a double-take on their "teaser photo" with the robot perched on the top of the ramp. Their Championship performance in Houston was truly remarkable - drivers and machine were outstanding.

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I agree. That robot would go from "in the box" to GIGANTIC in the first few seconds of the match, and then just dominate the rest of the round.

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Hmmm... perhaps we need to discriminate between the "Best" robot... and the "Greatest" robot of all time FIRST action. The Best Robot could be defined as the robot that was the most outstandingly dominant robot at the game it was designed to play, while the Greatest Robot would be the one that had the most lasting impact or influence and that inspired the most excitement and passion amongst those watching.

I can't help but think that someone... somewhere... brought the first mecanum drive machine to a FIRST competition... or the first two (or three or four) speed gearbox... and used those techniques to achieve competitive success.

I know that one of my all time favorites was 1241's rookie machine in 2004 that would position itself underneath the rack holding the balls, and then open up and catch 80% or so of them as they fell, deliver them to the human player and then... once the goal was filled up... cap it with the doubling ball.

In all-time FIRST action, no... not the best robot, perhaps... but as we were rookies that year too it really opened my eyes to the number of different ways that you could play the game (especially when an opponent stuffed a doubling ball into their hopper, blocking them from catching the balls). It has probably had as much of a lasting inspiration or influence on me as any other machine. (Although 33 was pretty darn good that year, too.)

Jason

P.S. As for the comment that 1114 "only lost two qualifying matches this year" earlier in the thread.... one of those was when their radio suffered an inexplicable glitch leaving them dead-on-the-carpet for over half the match.

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

My best list, from 2001 to present--

2001: 71, 254
2002 60, 71, 469, 173, 121, 16
2003: 111, 25, 469
2004: 254, 60, 45, 469, 33
2005: 67, 254, 217, 56, 330
2006: 1114, 469, 217, 111
2007: 330, 1114, 233, 148

Normally I wouldn't list my own team, but prior to joining 254 in 2006 they would have held the same position(s) on my list as they do now.

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I can't believe there hasn't been a single vote for 1114 in 2004. I know it wasn't the most dominant robot of the year, but it definately has my vote for the biggest "cool factor".

ps
I also have to agree with cheifdelphi 2000, and 71 in 2001.

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i was going to put them up there on my "if it wasnt for these teams" post but i only wanted to put up a couple teams per year. i could list all of the ones i think were like that but it would be a very long list.

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That robot was definitely awesome, but i dont think it can take "best robot ever"....


Ive got to give it to Beatty of '02..

I choose not to give it to Beatty of '01 because Beatty of '02 competed against other robots (not saying what 71 did in 01 was not impressive).

What impressed me most about Beatty of '02 was not their robot (not that their machine was flawed, which it was nearly flawless)..but how they so perfectly heard the game and predicted winning was in the goals.

Its a very bold move to say ok, we want our robot to move 30 feet....the entire match, but we're gonna do it so perfectly no one can stop us.

Their strategy combined with amazing engineering wins them best robot ever in my eyes...71 in '02

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Not to take anything away from Beatty--I completely agree with your analysis, and they're my second or third favorite robot ever, but it's worth noting that 173 bailed them out on Einstein with balls, which was what ended up winning the championship.

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

thats why i say that 173 was the best robot that year.

i did like 47s bot that year too tho...not saying it was the best, but i liked it

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25's robot in 2006 was amazing. My team was in their alliance in new jersey and even though they were guarded the were still scoring. but in my mind the best was 56's robot in 2005. I've never seen anybody dominate as many matches single handedly as they did.

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Twice, I watched 121 beat 173.

Once at the UTC Regional, and once at Battlecry 3.

121's robot was better than 173's robot in 2002. (IMO, of course)

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

this is all opinion of course haha
121 always puts up a solid robot.

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If we're looking for the bots that have inspired the most people, there are a few that stand out.
Chief Delphi, with the first bot in FIRST with "omni-directional" motion with their swerve drive. The bots would be going at it, and all of a sudden 47 would start strafing. Amazing.
45's 2-speed dog shifter. I'm not sure if the Technokats were the first to use a dog shifter or a 2-speed in FIRST, but they inspired the most. Their transmission is the ancestor to most in FIRST today (most obviously the AndyMarks). They inspired generations of FIRSTers to design new multi-speed transmissions, and improve on upon their design. Even aside of the AM Shifters, descendant drives can still be found on robots today (such as the 4-speed cluster shifter of 1126, 379's 2-speed, and 716's drive).
857's kiwi-drive in 2002. The first vector-based system in FIRST, this 3-wheeled holonomic drive sent ripples through FIRST like few systems ever will. The popularity of holonomic and mecanum systems today can directly be linked to this bot.
Guess what, I'm gonna mention 45 again! Their roller claw way back in '98 demonstrated a quick and efficient way of manipulating single balls (and tubes, as proven in '07).

If we're going to count single events, I couldn't agree more. I (and many others) doubted Team Hammond going into IRI 2006. They proved that doubting 71 is ALWAYS a mistake. During the elimination matches, nobody put on a more dominating performance at an event packed with dominant teams. Some of the teams most frequently mentioned in this thread for the best robots in 2006 (25, 1114, and 217) lost to 71 during the eliminations (not to mention 494, 233, and 33).

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

I still go back to the Beatty robot from 1997. By far, more dominant than any other robot since...including the dominating 2001 Beatty robot.

Go back and look at the video (if you can find it)...

Beatty, stops at human player, turns around, caps, game over in 6 seconds. We timed it.

Name me a robot in the past 16 years that could win a match in 6 seconds? I think you'd be hard pressed to find one.

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

Could you describe what they did and what their strategy was?

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

In 1997, the main objective of the game was to take innertubes and hang them on a goal much similar to the one we had this year. The difference was you could get big points for scoring on the apex of the goal. Many teams would actually have a cap which you could load up with tubes and place on the apex. What Beatty did, was unfold, stop at the human player so the human player could place his whole stack on the cap. They then would turn around and cap the apex of the goal. Each tube on the cap would double the score. From there, they would score on the lower rungs to offset any teams who capped over the cap they had on the goal.

They were nearly unstoppable, though Delphi did get to them in one round.

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

I don't know about the best, but my favorites are

2003- 980- I loved this robot, it had so many awesome features, like the 13 foot arm, the lift that also turned into "wings" for knocking over boxes, and an awesome wheel switching transmission
2004- 330- awesome, easily my favorite Beach Bot, they did a good job thinking out of the box, and the robot was very well designed
2005- 22/254/968- beautiful, very well designed robots
2006- 254/968- very effective top goal scorer
2007- 75- I only saw them saw them play one match, but their robot is beautiful, and very well engineered

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

2004 - 60/254
2005 - 22/254
2006 - 254/968
2007 - 254/968

See any patterns?




Beyond best *robot*, there is best *driver*. There are a lot of robots out there that would be middle-of-the-pack if not for outstanding driving. 330 in both 2005 and 2007 comes to mind.

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as for 1997...ut oh, here comes the neg reps, i see them now but oh well...there were 3 great robots...71 47 65. and hey...that was the championship at nationals that year. beatty won matches in 6 seconds, 65 in 7 and 47 in 8..at least thats what i heard from people that were there.

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I remember the tiger on the side. Cool working and looking machine!

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#1) HOT in 2000.

The robot was awesome; could basically do forward and backward flips, and was very aesthetically pleasing. I went out of my way to watch every match that they were a part of and was amazed every time

#2) I'll agree with Andy Baker: Chief Delphi, also in 2000
It was the beginning of dominant crab drives...so smooth

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A few more votes:

1997: 71 was truely amazing scoring faster and higher than most of us imagined possible.

1999: Our robot was pretty good that year ;)

2002: 173 was harvesting balls so fast it was nearly impossible to keep up with them.

2006: I know they had some troubles in their regionals but 296 built a super bot and came through on the big field with some excellent partners: 217 and the best third pick of the year 522.

2007: The best year for alliances, no single robot dominated eleimination matches this year. Very Exciting for all of us.

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I agree there...but I guess thats why you have partners. In the event theyre very solid strategy didnt work out, they had a great partner (173) to pick up the slack.

I just think about their overall strategy and am amazed everytime. They saw right through the balls and said if we get the goals, whats the point of balls.

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

95 harvested balls faster than anyone could have imagined :cool:

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

beatty in 2002.

"I hate to say it's over folks but there ain't much hope"

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

I would have to say the HOT BOT from either '04 or '05. They were just dominant at what they did.

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

Unless they went up against spam of course.....

Thats what is driving me nuts about this thread 2002 beatty was a darned good robot but if I remember correctly Fluffy kind of showed him who was boss.

Now granted they didn't win it all, but it was an impressive show none the less.

2002 was a good year, but a bad game. However my personal favorite of all time does come out of that year in team 60. The way they lifted up those two goals and spun them around was one of the most beautiful and inspiring piece of engineering I've seen this side of FIRST in years.

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

Beatty 02 Dominated a Season, coming as close to solving a head to head game as i believe is possible.

Spam 02 dominated a match...

In my mind there’s a slight difference.

Not to take anything away from spam 02 through however; between the Wildstang spatula, and the owning of the Beast on the biggest stage possible, they go down in my mind of one of the best teams from that year.


Chris

PS My vote for the robot in this thread Karthik Style


2000 - 25, 47, 111, 131, 126
2001 - 71, 254, 60, 177, 308
2002 - 71, 60, 308, 121, 111
2003 - 111, 25, 469, 494, 118 (67, 1114 wrong strategy but impressive anyway)
2004 - 45, 67, 254/60, 494,233
2005 - 67, 217, 254, 330, 71
2006 - 25, 1114, 111, 254/968, 469
2007 - 1114, 330, 254/968, 71,

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

The 2005 Tech Fusion robot was, in my opinion, the best. I remember that year in buckeye, it was incredible.

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

It's interesting that 10 people have voted for 1114 as the best robot of 2007, yet they got shut out of technical awards at the Greater Toronto Regional.

edit: maybe the judges didn't see the same robot i did...

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

they definitely deserved a few.

Re: Best Robot Ever 92-07 edition
 

I'm surprised there's any debate over the most dominant robot in FIRST history: IMHO, The 71 bot in 2001 was by far the best ever. No bot in the world could beat it - the only way it could lose was if they made a mistake or had a malfunction, otherwise everyone else was playing for second. Heck, 254 and 111 were considered by many to have the 2nd and 3rd most dominant robots that year, and even paired together with 33 at the Championship in 2001 they couldn't match 71. Must be tough for Beatty to have to struggle through the debate of which robot was the most dominant ever - the 71 bot in 97, the 71 bot in 01 or the 71 bot in 02. Kind of a no lose situation if there ever was one. :)

For 2002 - I'm surprised many forgot the Team 60 robot. Once 60 got some glitches worked out at the first regional, they could not be moved when they latched onto the goals (even 2 on 1, and it didn't matter how/where teams pushed them). If my memory is correct (I don't have the video), even with a broken arm they had the Beatty alliance beat in the Championship semifinals except that their partner lost power heading back to the home zone and didn't get the 10 point bonus. But both 71 and 60 were clearly amazing robots in 2002, so it's splitting hairs either way.

Anyway, attempting a list of the 10 best robots of all time:

71 - 2001
60 - 2002
47 - 2000
111 - 2003
60 & 254 - 2004
Triplets - 2006
71 - 2002

I give up - it's hard to finish any top 10 list. In addition to the teams above, which many would list as having top 5 robots in probably 3-5 different years, any "top 10 of all-time" list seems incomplete to me without teams 330, 45 and 25 included - multiple years with amazing robots. So I'll reserve my last 3 spots for those three teams - though there are many other incredible teams & robots certainly right there with all those listed above.

I can't comment on any year before 1998, which was my first. But I will add that the four "teams" that clearly stood out the most for me in the early years as having the biggest impact on FIRST and the most inspiring/intimidating robots to us "newbies" (at least in my case) were 45, 47, 71 and 111. I credit those veteran teams (and a number of others) with raising the FIRST "bar" in a way that motivated hundreds of teams to improve their own programs.