Designs over the years.

[slijin]

Originally Posted by JVN

2011 - Most robots were very similar this year (imho) there were variances in execution, but most robots consisted of some twist on "tube grabber + elevation mechanism + minibot deployment." I think the most out of the box design was team 118 -- their system was unique compared to everyone else.

To add to this, 190 was one of the first teams to use a ramp that lined up with the pole to deploy their minibot, which allowed the minibot to start going up the pole with an initial velocity, as opposed to most other teams which plopped theirs onto the pole.

A number of teams, among them 148 and 772, also independently pioneered the "magnet" minibot that would become dominant by CMP; whereas most minibots would physically clamp onto the pole and then climb, theirs used magnets to stick to it, and thin rubber-lined axles to drive them up.

The idea to strip the TETRIX motors of their gearbox just grew on CD as people discussed it; I don't recall any single person/team that was singlehandedly responsible for popularizing the idea.

[akoscielski3]

Originally Posted by slijin

To add to this, 1114 used a ramp that lined up with the pole to deploy their minibot, which allowed the minibot to start going up the pole with an initial velocity, as opposed to most other teams which plopped theirs onto the pole.

148 also pioneered the "magnet" minibot that would become dominant by CMP; whereas most minibots would physically clamp onto the pole and then climb, theirs used magnets to stick to it, and thin rubber-lined axles to drive them up.

The idea to strip the TETRIX motors of their gearbox just grew on CD as people discussed it; I don't recall any single person/team that was singlehandedly responsible for popularizing the idea.

Where did you get this from? MANY teams had magnets on their Original Minibot's. We had magnets on ours and we never saw 148's robot until after ours was made.

[Richard Wallace]

The first magnetically attached pencil-wheel pole zipper I saw was in a video posted by 1625.

[slijin]

Originally Posted by akoscielski3

Where did you get this from? MANY teams had magnets on their Original Minibot's. We had magnets on ours and we never saw 148's robot until after ours was made.

Sorry about that - most of the teams with this kind of minibot (us included) had only developed it after seeing 148's. Edited my post

[Chris is me]

Calling it a "magnet minibot" is probably not not the best way to describe that general "class" of minibots as several teams used PVC clamps, lexan, etc to hold their minibots on instead. The best term is probably "direct drive minibot".

From what I could observe that season, by ship day the general consensus of competitive designs was either the double supported, C-channel minibot many of us know and love, or a slightly angled cantilevered design known to many as "BackpackMan". BackpackMan worked great, but it was a bit slower and most importantly couldn't be ramp deployed, so it wasn't quite at the top level of designs. (Despite this, one of the instances of BPMan did appear in the final match on Einstein, if I'm not mistaken...)

As for unique and effective designs, 1519's Speed Racer remains one of my favorite robots of all time. Its offensive performance in the offseason is easily comparable to 90% of hurdlers. It'll forever remain an amazing example of the power of simplicity matched with effective execution.

[waialua359]

The 254/968 2008 robot was a very unique hybrid lift/throw robot that was well engineered. I still marvel at the engineering behind that robot from up close.
Very impressed also with Hot's 2012 robot as JVN has mentioned.

[AllenGregoryIV]

Originally Posted by waialua359

Very impressed also with Hot's 2012 robot as JVN has mentioned.

It's amazing how far out of the box a team can be while doing the same thing as everyone else.

For those that haven't read the tech notes they posted please do it's fascinating to see a glimpse of their design process.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/2649

[Lil' Lavery]

1523's catapult in 2006 instantly came to mind for me.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/22906
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlwqXk1vG9s
http://www.thebluealliance.com/match/2006gal_qm41

272's electromagnetic clasping mechanism for their launcher in 2008.
http://www.thebluealliance.com/match/2008pa_f1m2 (yellow robot)
Also note, that 341 dropping the ball and having it roll across the line at the end of the match was the margin for victory. Absolutely nuts match, one of the best of 2008.

1731 had a slew of interesting features in 2008. They were one of only a few teams who acquired the ball without any active mechanism (25 being the other that comes to mind). Their launcher provided mostly vertical momentum, and they relied upon their drivebase's forward momentum to hurdle the ball over the overpass. Their hybrid mode signalling device wasn't an IR transmitter, but rather a series of different colored lights that their robot would detect. One of my favorite bots of all time, and one of the best to not win a regional (2x finalist).
http://www.thebluealliance.com/match/2008oh_f1m1 (red alliance with yellow bumpers)

The Enginerds have had a few really creative bots, but their 2010 one was really neat. They had their rear mimic the actual hanging bar in order to suspend their teammates, as well as their mid-season adjustment to their ball deflector that allowed it to function while hanging.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/35831
http://www.thebluealliance.com/match/2010gl_qm88


First brain dump of unique robots complete. Will try and remember more of my favorites later.

[Hallry]

Even though I wasn't around back then, I want to throw in my $0.02 for 2008:

1st penny: Team 148's Tumbleweed - A very unique design, which ended up winning the World Championships with 1114 and 217. Instead of trying to play all parts of the game (Overdrive), they focused on a single aspect of it, and excelled greatly. With a distinct nonagonal base, they mainly circled the field, racking up a large number of points.
More info: http://www.robowranglers148.com/2008.html

2nd penny: Team 1519's Fezzik/Speedracer - An even more distinguished design. Like 118, they chose on a singular part of the challenge to focus on, but did it twice. Splinting their team in two, the younger team members built a small, fast 'lapping' robot like Tumbleweed, while the seniors created a 'hurdler' robot to manipulate the balls with. The 'lapper' was named SpeedRacer, while the 'hurdler' was called Fezzik. They designed their robot to easily change configurations, but unfortunately, FIRST ruled that they were in fact two separate robots, and that the team could only compete with one. After using SpeedRacer in the practice matches at GSR, they ultimately decided to use Fezzik in the competition, and ended up as Semi-Finalists. Luckily, in offseason events, they were able to use both configurations, and even got to enter their robot in both designs as two different bots.
More information: http://www.mechanicalmayhem.org/teamhistory08.asp