Quote:
|
Originally Posted by dlavery
Hmmm... Sounds like a "throw-down in the making" between 254 and 47! Or, for one of the most amazing pairings ever, imagine 254 and 47 on the same alliance! The San Jose Regional should be quite an event!!!
-dave
|
Hey guys - all hope is not lost - the video of the finals is in much better shape then I thought originally, and I may get an archive of it up later today.
To summarize the Poof robot - it is extremely fast and manuverable. It was 8 and 1 in the qualifiers - the one match it lost was when it's ally fell over unassisted in front of one of the ball corrals. they scored about 80 ball points
(capped the goal) but lost to 2 hangers (one of them I think that was the only match they were successful hanging.) During their first qualifier, they were up againt a basket bot that was a very effective small ball handler - it's strategy was to wait under the ball drop. The Poofs usually trigger both ball drops, but didn't go for that on this match - they grabbed a big ball and put it right in their opponent's net - entirely shutting them down from scoring. Everyone just laughed and shook their heads. They have one technical problem to solve their hanging cable snapped several times during hoisting - the plan is to replace the 1200 lb test braided steel with kevlar or spiderwire. Up against a very capable alliance anchored by 945 (The Hulk) they just were faster, more manuverable, a better small ball handler about equal in big ball handling and less consistent as a hanger. Their autonomous mode worked about 75% of the time. I don't think they were ever penalized.
The robot is just a wonderful all-round competitor - I was worried about durablilty but it took a number of hard knocks with out any problem. They tend to avoid pushing and shoving matches with other robots. If one side of the bar is blocked they'll just circle to the other side - If both sides of the bar are blocked, they'll uncap the opponents goal.
For the record, I think the Poofs have won every regional they ever competed in except the 2003 Sacramento where they ended up as the finalists.