In the effort to make this thread interesting, I made a list which called out the robots which did similar functions to everyone else, but in unique ways. I'm not looking for teams who were innovative for the sake of innovation, but those who followed the "conventional" strategy but did it with a unique execution.
Here it goes:
2012 - Team 67 was way outside the box, while still accomplishing the same tasks as other elite teams.
2011 - Most robots were very similar this year (imho) there were variances in execution, but most robots consisted of some twist on "tube grabber + elevation mechanism + minibot deployment." I think the most out of the box design was team 118 -- their system was unique compared to everyone else.
2010 - While the immediate answer is 469... they were outside the box in terms of strategy. In the spirit of this list, I'm going to look for a more traditional "grab, kick, cross, hang" robot who did it in a unique way. I think 67's hanger mechanism deserves to be a part of this list. I was also extremely impressed with 25's ball grabbing "wind tunnel." Those two subsystems were fairly unique, and incredibly effective.
2009 - There was a lot of design convergence this season, and as a result I think a lot of the unique ideas at the start of the season were very prominent by the end of the season. I know 45's fan made a big impact at the week 1 DC regional -- and they were the first "fanbot" that I remember from that season. (Note: this is not a cue for everyone to post in this thread saying "We had a fanbot too!" Please just recognize that in my mind 45's was the most well known.) I was also a big fan of 330's really unique "we're dragging a trailer so we're able to do something weird" drivetrain.
2008 - This one is tough. MY "obvious" answer is 1771, since their suction-cup ball grabber was an absolutely perfect example of: "well... the picture looks cool, but there's no way that thing actually works well, let me just check some video... wait a second, this thing is pretty darn awesome!" There were lots of robots with arm ball grabbers, but none that looked anything like 217. There were lots of examples of roller+throwers, but NONE that worked anything like 1114. 1625's "ratchet linkage" also deserves a special mention. Why deal with release mechanisms?
2007 - Lots of very similar robots. The 1114 "transformer" robot was pretty darn cool in my mind. I loved how their ramp unfolded, and how easily they were able to lift 2 because of it. 217's arm that year was just ridiculous. I have no idea what they were thinking.
Definitely a unique implementation of the "grab tube, lift tube" design.
2006 - Another tough one. Lots of very similar robots. 25's design was a fairly unique execution that a lot of people (myself intended) turned their nose up at. "Can you believe they made XXXX tradeoff?" Their system didn't look like what I would have defined as a "good system layout." Turned out, they made some really smart tradeoffs, and had a fantastic machine... I also liked 233, since in my mind this was the first "really successful" upwards spiral ball feed mechanism in FRC.
2005 - How about 71 holding 400 tetras at a time, and dumping them 2 at a time? How about 33 storing a 2nd tetra in their base and breaking it out at key moments (such as when they needed to knock off MY alliance). Hrmmm... how about 980's crazy arm which was incredible useful for autonomous mode? 233's ambidextrous robot? 118's... well... their weird two armed, no front, turreted... swerve-driving... THING.
2004 - 71's PVC swiss army knife. 469's refrigerator + giant claw of death. 45's "we're going to build the best arm that has ever been built" robot Katsklaw. 254 & 60's genre-defining 2-jointed arm.
2003 - No.
2002 - Beatty's walker. Unlike anything else. There were a few 3 goal robots, but none looked like this.
2001 - Beatty again. Just watch the
video.
2000 - 25's "clawgame" robot looked like NOTHING else, and performed in a way that I still don't believe. While I think 47-2000 was one of the best robots of all time, I think 25 was one of the most unique.
Okay... so that sums up my time in FRC; that was a fun trip down memory lane.
Time for turkey. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
-John