[pafwl]

I have been doing this for 10 years. Early on (years ago) it was the real good robots that won because they were able to dominate the game. I can tell you it was less fun than it is now.

But once Dean, Woodie and Dave thought about alliances the entire picture changed. The idea is to allow teams that may not have the greatest robot a chance. Some teams who built great robots complained that it was not right. Remember one thing FIRST does not care who wins. They want you aout there trying as hard as you can all the way to the end. So in that sense it works.

Once FIRST started to supply transmissions and frames then everyone could at least move. Then things got tougher for technically better robots. Now with 3 alliances it made it even more interesting but I believe better.

Ringer, Lifter or Both
We tried to put on a lifter. We worked on it from the beginning of the build. We had it almost working in the pits at PNWR. We got to the inspections station to get weighed and were 127 lbs. We then realized her we are pretty good at ringging, jettison the lifter. This was decided by the lifter guys BTW. Our tactics changed.

The Game
We played all the prilims trying to win. You are partnered with capable and less capable robots. We were trying all different ideas because there were so many good defensive robots.

The Finals
We were very lucky to get picked up by 997. Their final pick was 1087. Our scout data showed that 997 was a good lifter. In fact it was the same design we tried. 1087 had some good rounds so we were pretty happy. In the finals teams came after us but 977 ran around in their end preventing them for putting up rings. They left 1078 alone. 1087 then used their 2 days of experience to put up ring after ring. If teams went after 1087 we put up rings. Then in the last 45-30 seconds the endgame kicked in. Everyone left us alone to go get lifted. That let us put up rings.

Lifter Design
997 the lifter was designed with a low platform. Get on it and they pick you up. Since they use pneumatics you have the entire round to get on and they can lift after the buzzer. Huge advantage.


In my opinion it was the fact the we had 2 good ringers and a good pneumatic lifter that did it. None of us dominated in any of our rounds but together it was like hurding cats. Too much going on.

The point is try to bring something to the table. Be good at what you attempt to do. Develop a plan, learn new tactics. If something does not work like pushing robots, drop it and try something else.

In the end its all good. Many thanks to 997 and 1087.