Who is going to be on Einstein?

[Siri]

Originally Posted by MrJohnston

I would expect that they key to making it to Einstein is to have three robots that each do a couple of things very, very well and whose abilities complement one-another. Moreover, they must have very good drivers and coaches who can make changes quickly. Plus, they must have a strategy coach who understands the strenghts and weakensses of both teams can can exploit them.

My money's on this ^^

[Jaxom]

Originally Posted by Rangel(kf7fdb)

I see a winning alliance at championships having three particular robots:
1)
7 Disk autonomous
Shoots fast and accurately
50 Point endgame

Not that I've seen every robot in FRC, but...who the heck does all of this? I've not heard of any robot that does both 7-auto and climb-and-dump.

[Jared Russell]

After seeing all of the "nothing but offense" posts, I can't wait to pair up with a Full Court Shooter in St. Louis!

I will dissent with the braintrust and say that at least one Einstein alliance will have a robot that plays a primarily defensive role in eliminations (albeit one that can score in auto and climb for 10+...prerequisites for playing on Saturday afternoon at CMP this year).

[Bongle]

The defensive question is easy: can you pick a robot that can consistently prevent more points than it can score?

Let's say the 3rd robot will be a 40-50pt/match robot, with 28 of those points being 3 discs + a 10pt hang that you're going to get anyway. So that means the choice between telling this robot to defend or not comes down to whether you think the robot can stop an enemy from scoring 22 points in 2 minutes, while not fouling itself. I think that's right on the limit - that's slowing someone down to the tune of 2 cycles, or blocking/delaying 7-8 shots from a FCS. You'd need good scouting about your opponent's average score rate to figure out if a defend/offend decision is working out.

If the 3rd robot is a 60-70pt/match robot, then the decision becomes much harder.

Also, points per match is another tough metric to use: if, between the other two robots, you actually score all the discs, then your 3rd robot's 60-70pt/match credentials mean nothing.

[Peter Matteson]

Originally Posted by Bongle

The defensive question is easy: can you pick a robot that can consistently prevent more points than it can score?

If you can't block a full court 3pt shooter with one of your robots you will lose. Beyond that the rest of your post applies.

[Lil' Lavery]

A team sponsored by UTC will be on Einstein.

[MrForbes]

Originally Posted by Jaxom

Not that I've seen every robot in FRC, but...who the heck does all of this? I've not heard of any robot that does both 7-auto and climb-and-dump.

Get to work programming, Rangel!

[Bdf809]

Originally Posted by Jaxom

Not that I've seen every robot in FRC, but...who the heck does all of this? I've not heard of any robot that does both 7-auto and climb-and-dump.

You would be correct. From what I've seen, the only robots with a 7 disk auto that can do more than a 10 pt hang are you (1986) and 254. Neither of these robots have a dumper.

[Siri]

Originally Posted by Bdf809

You would be correct. From what I've seen, the only robots with a 7 disk auto that can do more than a 10 pt hang are you (1986) and 254. Neither of these robots have a dumper.

842? But I think they only do 3 colored discs.

Regardless, not very common. I'd venture you're more likely to get a decent 30 point climb as a second pick than a 7 disc auto + 50 point end game at draft location.

[Herbblood]

I'd think all of the three robots needs at least 3 disc in 3 pt goal in auto. Then you need two fast, versatile robots that shoot accurately into the 3pt goal then 1 robot that can play defense, but if needed is able to shoot. Then all three robots will have a quick less than 5 sec 10 pt hang.

To all those going full offense, 1 player of defense could change the game, at least at my regional a lot of games were due to good defense.

[rtomp]

Originally Posted by Herbblood

To all those going full offense, 1 player of defense could change the game, at least at my regional a lot of games were due to good defense.

Yup

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by rtomp

Yup

I think this might be my favorite 1st post ever.

[JB987]

Originally Posted by Bdf809

You would be correct. From what I've seen, the only robots with a 7 disk auto that can do more than a 10 pt hang are you (1986) and 254. Neither of these robots have a dumper.

254 has not yet demonstrated a 7 disk auto...a 5 disk, yes.

[thefro526]

Originally Posted by Peter Matteson

If you can't block a full court 3pt shooter with one of your robots you will lose. Beyond that the rest of your post applies.

'Blocking' an FCS in the traditional sense** would imply that you would even allow that FCS to get to the point where they would need to be 'blocked'...

**With a wall or similar 'tall' disc stopping thing.

[dodar]

Originally Posted by Herbblood

To all those going full offense, 1 player of defense could change the game, at least at my regional a lot of games were due to good defense.

Well you have to look at it like this, imagine this Championship alliance: 2056, 1806, 1902.(I know, this would never happen at Champs but still to my point) If you stop 2056, you still have 1806 and 1902; stop 1902, you still have 2056 and 1806; stop 1806, you still have 2056 and 1902.

The point I was trying to make was that if you have a capable corner loader/ground pickup(it changes depending on what your AC/1st pick is), you turn the match into a 2v2 try and outscore us match.

Whereas, you have 2056, 1806, 2789(as of this last week of competition) you shut down(I know you cannt because they are 2056 but you know what I mean) 2056 or 1806, you turn the match into a 1v1 or 1v2 match which makes it much harder to win.

Having that one extra capable scorer eases the sting of having one of your major scorers abilities dampened by a defender.