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Re: Shooters
Based on what I saw in Portland, grabbing the ball quickly and reliably is more important than hurdling quickly. The team from Hawaii (368) could approach the ball at basically full speed and just vacuum it up then pause slightly to hurdle. They were, imho, the most dangerous robot on the floor at that tournament. Any time they spent stopping to hurdle was compensated for the fact that they didn't need to stop to grab the ball. Team 100 could suck the ball right off the overpass, meaning they didn't need to compete for a ball at the start of most matches, and could suck it up off the floor almost as well as 368. Most shooters had to stop to grab the ball.... with the occasional exception of 472 who completed the "shoot bounce grab" routine without even slowing down at least once... and to a loud round of applause.
That said, there were only three real "shooter" bots out of 55 machines at the competion... us, 472, and 360... all of whom were in the elminations, 472 right up to the end. Just because you can shoot doesn't mean you CAN'T grab the ball... you just sacrice a bit of time doing it relative to a great lifter.
A shooter like 1114, however, appears to shift the balance by combining the speed of pickup of a good lifter with the speed of hurdling of a good shooter.
Darn sneaky Simbotics folks. They are doing it again!
Jason
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