(I might need the stress ball
)
It appears many team still need time to tune details (bigger or smaller) on their robots. Team 469 makes no exception to the rule (as many have seen).
1114, 67, 201, 33, Frog Force, Martians and a couple others stood out for being able to get their already great robots operational fairly quickly and take the head of the tournament.
For now, great lakes highlights how crucial speed is for now. I have seldom seen any defensive placement of ringers/spoilers. Matches rather turn into big races where the winner is the one who can put the most ringers on.
Defense is sometimes efficient (815 managed to push 1114 a bit for example), but I did not see it turn the tide of a match.
Ramp has been ignored by most. This is due to ramp bot being too narrow/short/steep or other robots too low to the ground. The abundance of mechanum or omni drive doesn't help: those appear to be weak when it comes to climbing a ramp. There is still hope for those of us that rely on ramps: if defensive placement of ringers occurs, ramp might have more of an impact on score, counterbalancing the time it takes to get an alliance 12" high
Hope y'all understood what I've been trying to explain. One more day!
Francois.