[archiver]

Posted by Lora Knepper.

Student on team #69, HYPER (Helping Youth Pursue Engineering & Robotics), from Quincy Public Schools and The Gillette Company.

Posted on 6/2/2000 12:18 AM MST


In Reply to: Top Ten Bots of 2000 posted by Andy Grady on 6/1/2000 9:18 PM MST:



There are too many teams I want to put down, so a top 10 is just not enough space!! But I'll try anyway...

10) Team 188- Blizzard, our Force from the North. I suppose I'm a bit biased on this one after these guys bailed us out as great allies at Rumble last year, but they had an overall impressive looking bot and a great team to talk to.

9) SPAM and Big Jimmy. Ahhh...the wedge bots! After playing with the original wedge from team 168 last year, I gained an even higher respect for what these little bots can do. They truly follow the Chief Delphi motto of 'Simplify' -- and lose nothing in the process.

8) Chief Delphi -- The name that gives me nightmares between shipping and the end of competition! A bot that makes my jaw drop is their trademark, and this year was not any different.

7) PARTS -- Team 42. Andy, I'm STILL trying to figure out how you designed that basket!! Maybe by next year I'll have a clue... Hey, the bot was neat to watch, and the team was incredible. My team loved the person dressed as the traffic cone... ;-)

6) Team 126, Nypro/Clinton. No matter the history between my team and theirs, this bot took high marks in my book. A great scorer and a fast machine, I was impressed everytime they took the field.

5) CHAOS -- Team 131. Speed and grace define the latest machine from CHAOS. I was in awe of them every time they took the field, and their team was always there cheering and just causing general chaos...competition wouldn't be the same without them.

4) RAGE -- Team 173. Partnered with BUZZ in New England, these guys sent my anxiety through the roof this year, but then, they always do even alone! Graceful and very very fast, I think playing them shortened my life span by about 2 years or so...

3) Sunseekers -- Team 237. All I can say is 'wow!' What a great little bot this machine was. After we tipped in the NE Regional, I remember watching them singlehandedly win the match against 2 very good opponants. No doubt that they were meant to win the Regional. Plus, this team had a table of spare parts to help out those in need.

2) Bobcat Robotics -- Team 177. Again, I'm prolly a bit biased, but who cares ;-) this is my top 10. I'm still waiting for Kirsten and Eric to swallow my bot into that monster basket one of these days. Hey, I hope you guys are 'gracious professionals' at BattleCry!!

1) B.O.R.G -- Team 483. As a driver of one of the few monkey bots out there, I saw this machine and fell in love. Though hampered by some problems, this machine was impressive in my eyes the few times I had the chance to see them on the field. I'm *still* trying to figure out how they pulled off the design they did, for they had none of the problems that plagued my team, namely 'tippyness' Hats off to you guys, I can't wait to see what comes out of your camp next year! --Monkeys all the way!

Lora