[MCC] Minimum Competitive Concept 2014

[josesantos]

Originally Posted by Kevin Sheridan

I thought that the frame was COTS too but honestly it doesn't matter. A kit bot drive train with their driver would have done just as good. Their decision to remove the top part of the bot that wasn't working at LA was an example of great outside of the box thinking and a gutsy call. They showed that the minimum design to be a competitive team this year involved more match strategy and quick thinking rather than robot design (and they were a finalist at Las Vegas after they got the top half working).

Thanks for the kind words. I'm very proud of what our team was able to accomplish given the circumstances, though frankly it was pretty shocking finding all this out from the other side of the state. (Alumni problems, I suppose. )
To set the record straight regarding our drive train: It was supposed to be a COTS VersaChassis WCD (much like Team Copioli's), but due to extended shipping delays we had to machine the tubing ourselves and lathe out some spacers to use #35 sprockets/chain instead of belts/pulleys.

[Lil' Lavery]

In all honestly, the MCC for most events in 2014 would simply be great drivers and the ability to receive from the human player.

When 1712 prioritized our design, the ability to pass significantly outranked the ability to truss (which outranked the ability to score in the high goal). During our subsequent design and brainstorming processes, we didn't arrive at a shooter/intake geometry that would allow us to have the level of passing ability we desired before our downselect, so we opted not to shoot. In the end, that ended up generally working in our favor. We arrived at a single-intake design with a significant area to catch the ball (particularly useful for inbounding, but occasionally for catching trusses as well) driven by a 6-CIM 6WD with versa wheels. We were selected at all three of our events, including MAR Championship. Being able to score easily in the 1-pt goal was definitely a benefit as well (we quite often were the finisher on our alliances, including in two of our elimination alliances), and a consistent 16 point autonomous was quite useful.

[Sohaib]

We built a robot that could inbound, and pass back to the human player and a goalie pole. Much different approach than 5136, we didn't have a pick-up, and could only get a ball by means of a human player. We also had a goalie pole, and would probably have been much more competitive had we heard of Cheesy Vision before championships.

The unfortunate problem for us was the parts for our inbound mechanism didn't come in until before championship.