Designs over the years.

[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