Make your Champs predictions!

[JesseK]

Originally Posted by MrForbes

We have a robot like that....I figure we have a 50-50 chance of getting into elims, and a 1 in 8 chance of winning division, if we get to play.

Totally agree, for an average cycler.

My only prediction:
The teams who up their game to rise above the pack will have a better shot -- yet the stats won't lie, and reliability will be huge. It also may come down to luck of the draw, as many alliances across the divisions will want 'full backs' or purely defensive robots.

Getting a taste of elims last year has made all the difference in our team's tenacity this year.

It's all about how honest a team is with themselves, and then figuring out a plan to move themselves up:

• Honest starting point: we've only done 2 cycles on a field due to jams -- but the driver is capable of doing more, because he's done more in practice with a simpler bot
• I've been searching for a 36T 20DP 0.502" hex broached gear just to save ourselves 3 seconds of match time over 4 cycles, which should give us that last cycle as we decide to hang. I could do 40:44 instead of 36:48, but I'm worried we'd lose critical turning agility at speed.
• Fixing the shooter jams should give us 2 extra cycles.
• Putting a more powerful motor on our launcher to reduce time between shots should give us an extra cycle.
• Shooting from the corner would allow alliance partners who depend on the rear-center of the pyramid to do as they please without interference -- so an average cycler-team could practice that as much as possible. Reduced time of travel may also give an extra 3-4 seconds in the match. Corner shooting from the unprotected side also has a tendency to draw in some penalties from the other alliance.