Quote:
Originally Posted by Molten
I recall team 48 had a pretty amazing defense robot a few years back. They had a powerful drive that could push just about any robot they wanted and a second gear for high speed maneuverability. It was clear they had no intentions of scoring as there wasn't the slightest hint of a manipulator on it. Truly great drive trains require alot of focus, and alot of weight. Anything put into a half-baked manipulator is taking away from your defensive capabilities. I agree that a great defensive robot+good manipulator=offensive powerhouse. I just don't agree that offensive powerhouse-good manipulator=great defensive robot. If a team were to have enough resources to fully devote themselves to both a manipulator and a drive and figure out the perfect balance of weight between them, it'd be amazing. I just don't see many teams that have that many students or mentors or time to do all that. Sometimes, it comes down to priorities and I just think people need to be clear to choose a priority rather then try for more then they can handle.
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I would agree that 48 was an awesome defender in 2007. Them and 703 that year were the two best defensive robots I've seen. I could be wrong, but I think that 48 planned to have a tube manipulator but didn't get it done due to weight. I do know that was the case for 703 (I think there is a picture of them on CD with the beginning of their tube manipulator). I also think that 2007 was a little different as teams could earn points being ramps without touching any tube.
My point is that you rarely see a team that just planned to be a box bot be an amazing defender as its usally a traditionally good team that stuggles with their manipulator. 171 at Wisconsin was a perfect example of this last year. Although they planned to be a scorer, their kicker and lifter weren't quite perfected so they were smart enough to adapt and play to their strength, which was defense. Their strong 6 wheel drive shut down Wildstang in the semifinals. They did drastically improve their scoring, but they won a regional because their smart drivers and strong drivetrain allowed them to play fantastic defense.