Quote:
Originally Posted by Monochron
Assuming a 3 Gear auto, that is only scoring 9 Gears in Teleop. World class teams can probably pull off a 3 Gear auto, and powerhouse teams could probably do 9-10 Gears in Teleop.
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I could believe that a specialized, purpose built robot centered around the task, to the moderate or extreme detriment of every other aspect of the game potentially including teleop gear ability, could be built to place three gears in auto, picking the second two off of nonmobile partners' bumpers. It would brush up against the limits of the pilot's ability to place them, as well as a generous interpretation of the edges of the "throwing gears" rule, but I believe it's at least technically feasible.
I expect a team that underestimates the difficulty to attempt a robot centered around this, and I also believe that there are teams with the resources and ability to make this happen. I don't expect them to overlap, and I don't think we'll see it actually achieved. A team with the resources to pull this off is much better off building a "do everything" robot than an auto gear specialist. The point advantage is big, but not big enough to be game-breaking. If a 3 gear auto represented a chokehold or similar condition, I do think we'd see it.
I do think two gear autos are more likely, though they'll be pretty rare due to most powerhouses focusing on getting the fuel bonus in auto. Additionally, by high levels of play, reliable one gear autos will be common enough that spending time on this will become less worthwhile. I think a lot of high level alliances will end up scoring three gears in auto, but it will almost always come from three robots.