Quote:
Originally Posted by dtengineering
Hmmm... perhaps we need to discriminate between the "Best" robot... and the "Greatest" robot of all time FIRST action. The Best Robot could be defined as the robot that was the most outstandingly dominant robot at the game it was designed to play, while the Greatest Robot would be the one that had the most lasting impact or influence and that inspired the most excitement and passion amongst those watching.
I can't help but think that someone... somewhere... brought the first mecanum drive machine to a FIRST competition... or the first two (or three or four) speed gearbox... and used those techniques to achieve competitive success.
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If we're looking for the bots that have inspired the most people, there are a few that stand out.
Chief Delphi, with the first bot in FIRST with "omni-directional" motion with their swerve drive. The bots would be going at it, and all of a sudden 47 would start strafing. Amazing.
45's 2-speed dog shifter. I'm not sure if the Technokats were the first to use a dog shifter or a 2-speed in FIRST, but they inspired the most. Their transmission is the ancestor to most in FIRST today (most obviously the AndyMarks). They inspired generations of FIRSTers to design new multi-speed transmissions, and improve on upon their design. Even aside of the AM Shifters, descendant drives can still be found on robots today (such as the 4-speed cluster shifter of 1126, 379's 2-speed, and 716's drive).
857's kiwi-drive in 2002. The first vector-based system in FIRST, this 3-wheeled holonomic drive sent ripples through FIRST like few systems ever will. The popularity of holonomic and mecanum systems today can directly be linked to this bot.
Guess what, I'm gonna mention 45 again! Their roller claw way back in '98 demonstrated a quick and efficient way of manipulating single balls (and tubes, as proven in '07).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Ritchie
2006- Possibly 71 at IRI
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If we're going to count single events, I couldn't agree more. I (and many others) doubted Team Hammond going into IRI 2006. They proved that doubting 71 is ALWAYS a mistake. During the elimination matches, nobody put on a more dominating performance at an event packed with dominant teams. Some of the teams most frequently mentioned in this thread for the best robots in 2006 (25, 1114, and 217) lost to 71 during the eliminations (not to mention 494, 233, and 33).