Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJohnston
Everybody has their opinions about what it takes to reach Einstein each year. Many teams make that their annual goal. Most don't make it. A few make it regularly. We often refer to those teams "elite." Each year we can't wait to see what sort of " robotic genius" teams like the Cheesy Poofs produce.
Two years ago, 948 made it to St. Louis for the first time ever - in its 11th year. We then had a very strong run through Archimedes, losing only one or two matches and earning an alliance captaincy. Of course, we met the Poofs in the quarter-finals and watch the rest of the event from the bleachers...We had a fantastic year and now realize we *can* compete at the highest levels. This year, our eyes are set on Einstein again... We are not "elite," but would like to develop our team so that we can annually compete at an elite level.
I know there are many teams out there much like ours. So, I'd like to pose the question:
What do folks think it takes to to annually compete at this level? What should clubs like mine do in order to accomplish this?
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I brought the OP back to the top again to refocus the discussion. I think the keys are 1) Be reliable and consistent at the task. You almost never see 254 or 1114 fail in a match. The first corollary is to problem solve quickly and efficiently; the second is to institute check lists to avoid the obvious failures (which cost us in 2013.) 2) Identify the highest value added tasks beyond the primary offensive tasks. Every top team can run the auto routine at the highest level in a Regional. Again, being reliable at that task is key. 3) Look for niche roles with high value and how that will fit with the strongest robots.
948 had a great full court shooter in 2013 that was among the most consistent at the task. I think consistency was the issue that kept 948 from going to the next level. In comparison, 1983 was quite as spectacular a scorer, but was more consistent and got 2nd in Curie that year. If we didn't both have ground pick ups, we might have allied that year.