[mzitz2k]

Every year a team from Hammond, Indiana finds a way to build a BEAST of a robot (pun intended). We have all seen three weeks of competition, yet no sign of Team 71. So, I thought it would be fun to guess as to what robot they will be building this year.

Here are my thoughts-

First possibility:
They build a machine that does the usual - everything! They will have a funnel on a arm, much like TechnoKats' (Team 45's) design. They will be able to feed their human player quickly, then grab a big ball and cap the nearly full stationary goal. After they cap, they will be able to uncap their opponent's stationary goal because it will only take them about 15-20 seconds to hang. This small amount of time to hang is fair because they will be able to grab the bar and hang from the carpet. Bottom line: Lots of small balls will be scored and doubled, they will have some defense, and an extremely smart and fast hanging device.

Second possbility:
They will build a machine that is similar to Team 190. I think they will have a five arm system - yes five, independent arms! One arm will grab the bar in autonomous, the second and the third arms will defend the rest of the bar, the fourth arm will be able to cap and uncap their stationary goal, and the fifth arm will be able to cap and uncap the opponents stationary goal. Bottom line: They will get on the bar very fast, hang, defend, uncap, and cap the respective goals.

Whatever 71 does, plan on the machine being very consistent and having anti-tipping mechanisms due to last year's robot's tipping problems.

Well, this is just what has been bumbling in my head for the past three weeks, what about yours?