FRC Team Strengths

[Peyton Yeung]

I was just wondering what the various areas each team excels in.
For my team (45) I know we excel in strong and powerful drive trains as well as innovative new concepts and designs.
(45 made the ball drive, metal treads, etc)
So what is your teams greatest attribute?

[dag0620]

Do you want specifics with the robot and on-filed performance, or a strength in a teams over-all program? (I'm guessing the first option)

[Peyton Yeung]

Originally Posted by dag0620

Do you want specifics with the robot and on-filed performance, or a strength in a teams over-all program? (I'm guessing the first option)

Either will do but I was looking for the strengths a team has with robots and designs.

[BJC]

Originally Posted by Tubatroopa

I was just wondering what the various areas each team excels in.
For my team (45) I know we excel in strong and powerful drive trains as well as innovative new concepts and designs.
(45 made the ball drive, metal treads, etc)
So what is your teams greatest attribute?

I've always found various team's robot construction techniques create a certain identity for themselves- certainly they excel at their own way of building.

67- At least for the past couple years have been using mostly welded circular thin wall tubing for the top structures of their robot which gives them a certain look. It takes a very experienced welder to weld thinwall aluminum so its not that common, very hot.

469- Similarly uses almost only thin wall tubing for upper robot structures. Very interestingly, however, they weld very little (if any) of it, instead using sheet metal joints and rivets.

217, 148- both have robots made of mostly sheet metal never more than 1/8 thick. This results from IFI in Texas which has awesome sheet facilities with quick turn around time but which don't carry sheet in more than 1/8 thickness. Their lightening pattern results in their very unique look despite other teams who use sheet.

118- Also uses lots of cheesed sheet and CNCed parts. This results from their NASA partnership which allows them such cool tools. However, most of the stock material is rather thick, hence all the holes and their signature look.

254- Uses mostly welded box tubing which results from their sponsors. The box stick look very clean and very much cheesy poof.

All of these teams are very successful although their construction techiques are very different. What is the common factor? They use what they have readily available and make the best of it boiling their own construction technique down to a science. An exceptional idea? No. Exceptional results? Yes.

Edit: Thanks NickE, corrected.

[NickE]

Originally Posted by BJC

254- Uses mostly box tubing, never less than 1/8 which also results from their sponsors. They mill alot of that to reduce weight. The box stick look very clean and very much cheesy poof.

We actually use lots of tubing with thinner wall thicknesses; our recent robots have probably had more 1/16" wall than 1/8" wall tube.

[AlecMataloni]

We excel at making our robots nice and colorful.

[Hawiian Cadder]

we use more zip ties than anyone else. in 2010 we used 1400+, the weekend of ship.

this year, we used 2400+, although i think more than half of them were cut off and re-done.

we also used 700 machine screws in 2010 and 500-600 rivets this year.

if i were to give our robots an "attribute" it would be that we go way overboard on fasteners.

[yarden.saa]

my team excel at building the simpliest mechanisems that work, we try to simplfy things as much as possible.

[Chris is me]

I'm always up to brag about my team

We aim to excel at simplicity. It drives everything we do, from design to award submissions to team organization. Our team motto is “In character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity.” - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Along those lines, we aim for minimalism. In 2010 we weighed in at 105 pounds minimum, and in 2011 we were as low as 95 pounds. This is BEFORE deliberate lightening.

I think I'm the only person on the team who still remembers what it's like to be paranoid about weight. That's probably not a good thing. Maybe I'll just tell everyone on the team that the weight limit is 100 pounds next year.

[IndySam]

A few other Indiana teams:

71 - Amazing at always good at finding the "thing" that wins the game.

234 - Beautiful CAD and construction that's also functional and reliable.

1501- Monocoque construction that's always unique and practical.

[sgreco]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

I'm always up to brag about my team

Me too (even though my team doesn't have a whole lot to brag about competitively).

My team made cylindrical wheel modules for our swerve drive in 2009. It was probably the coolest subsystem we've ever built.

http://alarmrobotics.wikispaces.com/Swerve+Design+09

[dag0620]

Although it's never something we've set out to do, my teams many years has an interesting way of Identifying our robot. We've done crazy light arrays, cool banners or flags, and of course our 2010 Iconic wave that we had on top of the robot.

[lemiant]

Originally Posted by dag0620

Although it's never something we've set out to do, my teams many years has an interesting way of Identifying our robot. We've done crazy light arrays, cool banners or flags, and of course our 2010 Iconic wave that we had on top of the robot.

Those are absolutely gorgeous, how did you make them?

[Peyton Yeung]

I know 1501's machine is typically full of rivets

[Frenchie461]

461 is really good at being finalists