The practice matches... Well, in many ways they were sad to watch, but it helps me to remember that the practice matches are never as impressive as the qualifiers and finals.
My general take on the practice matches was that essentially all teams are hurdlers (only a handful designed differently) and that most of these still have a long way to go before reaching their potential. Also the matches seemed much more "slow-paced" than I anticipated. Part of it might be that you have a hard time traveling faster than the slowest bot on the track or part of it might be the relatively quiet music.
However, I think that only says that average-sized robots with tank drive have a harder time racking up the laps.
Most of the robots that impressed me today are from teams we expected it from; 121 (Rhode Warriors), 126 (Gael Force), 175 (Buzz Robotics)... Although that certainly isn't to say there weren't any other proficient hurdlers. For robots that were not designed to hurdle 58 (Riot Crew) and 1519 (Mechanical Mayhem) both come to mind. 58 is a full size robot capable of cleanly collecting the ball and reliably driving around the track to score the 4 pt. lap, I didn't time its laps, but it rarely had to pause. 1519's speed racer (Mach 6) was demonstrating its aversion to balls by shunning all things spherical. Once it earned 24 pts. in auto by driving past 6 lines, before (spectacularly) colliding with one of those pesky walls... Also, as a note, 190 managed to keep their potential Ace robot up their sleeves (it didn't see a practice match...)
So, to restate, the practice matches here in Manchester were interesting to watch, but I found them slightly more slow-paced and with fewer operational hurdlers than I had hoped for... I'm eager to see/compete in the next two days' matches!
Nathan
Head Scout
Mechanical Mayhem #1519