FRC 2013 "Best Designs" Log

[LeelandS]

Hello once again Chief Delphi!

Now that the 2013 FIRST Championships have passed, I'm going to try and continue the chronicling of what people think are the best robot designs for the given year. Here is a link to the first edition of what I hope to become a long standing tradition: 2012 Edition.

I'm a little shaky on some details for how this log will turn out, so I'm hoping a lot of interaction from the CD community will help round out the edges! In addition to designs, I'm also looking to see if anyone has any categories they think should be added!

And without further adieu, the FRC 2013 "Best Designs Log"
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Drives:
Honestly, I have no clue what to start with here. Open to suggestions from the community on where to start!

Ball Acquiring System:
Vacuum Style Floor Pickup, as seen by 33,1538,2054, 2056 and others
-This floor pick-up variant consisted of a series of rollers around an opening in the robot's mechanism that would suck in discs as soon as they came in contact with it.
-Floor pick-ups are always advantageous in FRC; however, the apparent difficulty of picking up discs had most teams opting out of it, in lout of a solely feeder fed robot. The Vacuum Floor pick up was a fast system that allowed teams to reduce their shooting cycle time by acquiring discs from around the pyramid. And, most importantly, gave a team access to impressive 5-disc autonomous, and the even more dominant, 7-disc autonomous.

Disc Scoring System:
Circular Shooter, as seen by 610, 118, 180 and others
-This variation of the wheeled shooter consists of a single wheel surrounded by a curved path. The disc enter the path, and is swing around by wheel, giving it greater contact time with the wheel as opposed to a linear shooter. This allowed the disc to build up greater speed before being shot.
-Because the Circular Shooter design only required a single wheel to power (whereas most linear shooters use 2+), the design was just as effective when shooting, but required relatively fewer resources.

Linear Path Shooter, as seen by 2791, 399 and many, many others
-The linear shooter is similar to the curved path shooter, except its path is straightened out. Commonly using 2 wheels (though 1 wheel, 3 wheel, and belt driven variations have been seen) in a linear path, using the first one to accelerate the disc before the second one brings it up to top speed and fires it out.
-The linear path shooter is somewhat simpler in nature, being just a straight path for the disc to follow.

Climbing Mechanism:

Passive Slid Hangers, as seen by 2587, 1716, 868 and many others
-A very simple design, these slanted slides sat at the height of the 1st bar, allowing a robot to simply drive into the bar for a quick 10pts. No power, no mechanism. As long as the drive system worked, the robot could be good for 10pts.
-The best solution is the simplest one that works, right? Well, let's be honest. Climbing for 30 points is hard. Many teams had plans to do it. Only a few succeeded. So, some chose (some were forced) to implement this simple design, as a fallback. Simple, reliable, effective. Does it get much better?

THE BIG CLAW, as seen by 67, 1114 and others
-The big claw was used by several teams this year, with 67 and 1114 standing out among them. The big claw is as it is named; a big claw that shoots out from the robots body, grabs hold of a rung, and lifts it up to the 20, then the 30 point mark. An impressive engineering feat to be sure.
Info on 1114's Robot: Simbot B.A. Baracus
-The claw was such an effective design because, when engineered properly, as 1114 and 67 often do, it offered an amazing fast climb and, just as important, put the robot in an optimal position to dump 4 alliance disks into the pyramid goal for an extra 20 points.
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The rules are simple! If you feel a design that is not up here should be up here, say so! Tell us what design it us, what teams did it (if you have video or pictures, that would be fantastic) and explain why you think it deserves to be on the list!

Enjoy,
Leeland