[BJC]

So after week 1 regionals its pretty clear that ball control is just as or more important then actully kicking (see 910 for great example)...

It is also clear that many teams underestimated the importance of ball control.

Here is a list from the least to most effective ball controlers that I saw this week. (these are on average, there were of course teams that used each of these methods to great effect.)

1. Nothing: I was very suprised by the amount of teams that bothered to build a fully functioning kicker but did not consider a device to hold the ball in place in order to use them effectively. I am sure that these teams will have some sort of device at their next compitition

2. A single roller: This was what most teams had and was also probably the most diverse. The concept behind this being to spin the ball towards the robot fast enough that when backing up or turning the ball would follow, basicly the faster you could spin the ball the more effective you were. Many of the robots with this type of ball control had to move slowly to avoid having the ball roll away although there were several very effective ones that I saw.

3. A vacuum: I did not see very many vacuums this week. However I believe they proformed very well for the teams that choose to use them. The concept being to suck the ball to the robot by maximizing the surface area the vacuum(s) had on the ball, more surface equals more hold on the ball. With this device teams generally had to move up to the ball slowly to aquire it, but then had quite a bit of control over it once it was possessed.

4. A double roller (pincher): I did not see that many double rollers this week either. However, they are in my opinion the most effective of all the devices I have seen yet. The concept being to pinch the ball with one roller on top and a second roller on the bottem reducing the force of the ground against the ball to as close to zero as possible while still maintaining contact. The only problem with this method is that it tends to draw penalties for pulling the ball slightly off the ground especially around the goals and bumps. This means that the slighest bump from another robot may move the ball into an illegal position if this device is not designed exactly right.

What type did your team have?
How effective was it?

Please elaborate!