[MichaelBick]

Regardless of type of shooter, there were patterns of thought process that lead teams to consistent, optimized shooting mechanisms.

Every consistent shooter had an optimized shot trajectory. There were two different camps here. One camp set the peak of their shot's parabola at the top of the goal, taking advantage of the vertical goal to maximize the sweet spot of their shot. In fact, many teams had a single, workable shot from the outworks all the way to right in front of the batter. The other camp, including teams like 971 and 987, were able to adjust their shot angle using vision targeting. This camp then used flat shot trajectories, decreasing the impact of exit velocity consistency on shot accuracy.

Additionally, many teams in both camps maximized their release height in order to circumvent the threat of blockers and further maximize their trajectory's sweet spot.

The next variable that posed a threat to consistency was ball variation. As balls were used on the field they became more compressible. Catapults elegantly avoided this variable by never compressing the ball. For the flywheel shooters, minimizing compression also decreased energy transferred to the ball. Thus, competitive flywheel shooters counteracted this with higher wheel surface velocities, more power, and larger contact patches on their wheels. Flywheel shooters also relied on sensor feedback in order to accurately control their wheel velocity. While my team did not extensively prototype the two wheel shooter design, I would also conjecture that the single wheel designs were more consistent because they had less variables to control.

Catapults on the other hand still had a slew of problems to contend with in order to get consistent exit velocities. Pneumatic catapults had to deal with airflow, limited by their solenoids, regulators, pneumatic tubing, and fittings. From talking with some pneumatic catapult teams, I heard that many used high-flow solenoids in conjunction with air tanks after the regulator. Spring powered catapults had to deal with spring wear and consistent release/pull-back points. My team ended up finding success with high-quality extension springs.

Lastly, alignment time was critical in this game, given that teams could only hold one ball. Both camera and flashlight alignment was proliferate, and some teams used turrets to great success, which could align fast and accurately.