What robots will seed highest?

[pandamonium]

Just curious what robot styles the community thinks will be seed highest in qualification rounds.

[asid61]

This game is so broken that I'm placing very little stock in forklifts.
No size restrictions means that something really, really broken will happen. I'm just waiting for the Poof's reveal.

[Spoam]

Honestly extremely doubt anything game breaking will happen with size restrictions. I bet poofs will show up with a standard horseshoe-like stack robot; they're not known to overcomplicate things. That being said their robot will do everything, but they'll do it with the most mechanically simple/elegant design they can conceive.

[EricLeifermann]

Originally Posted by Spoam

Honestly extremely doubt anything game breaking will happen with size restrictions. I bet poofs will show up with a standard horseshoe stack robot, they're not known to overcomplicate things.

The beauty of 254 is that their complexity is hidden by the cleanliness of their robots. 254 is not going to just stack totes, they will do more than that.

This game is going to be won by the team that can do as much as possible without the aids of their alliance partners. The team that can stack totes and place bins on top the fastest is going to win. The trade off these teams are going to have to think about is whether to take the time to put a noodle in the bin or use that time to make another stack...

[PVCpirate]

The best stacking robot will seed the highest at an event. I don't know exactly what that robot will be able to do yet, but they'll be able to make some kind of stack, maybe with a bin, maybe with a noodle, totally solo. The bot will build higher and/or faster than any other at the event. I think we'll see at least one robot that has the ability to build a max height stack with a bin and noodle by itself, though they may not do it in a match.

[dodar]

Honestly, this year wont really be about picking the next highest seed; even though this will be the case at most regionals. Hidden gems will be scattered throughout the rankings. And those bots will be huge keys to winning regionals/districts and divisions.

[Tommy F.]

I'd say that in order to seed highest you will have to adapt to do whatever you need to do for their alliance.

The game during qualifications isn't about out-scoring your opponents anymore, it's about putting up the highest amount of points you can, consistently.

So it probably doesn't matter what you do, as long as you can score consistently and know you're not going to be sitting in a match doing nothing.

[XaulZan11]

Originally Posted by dodar

Hidden gems will be scattered throughout the rankings. And those bots will be huge keys to winning regionals/districts and divisions.

Isn't this the case every year?

[dodar]

Originally Posted by XaulZan11

Isn't this the case every year?

To an extent, yes. But since this year you have multiple game pieces, specialized robots could be more prevalent this year and they might not be able to rank high because they need the good teammates to be fully capable.

In most years, the "hidden gems" were robots that were really good at what the high rank could do but just had a bad run during quals.

[Jacob Bendicksen]

Originally Posted by XaulZan11

Isn't this the case every year?

Yes, but I think it'll be more so this year. Some robots won't be ranked well because they had alliances that didn't work well together in quals, but with the right alliance members, they'll be able to rack up huge amounts of points.

Successful playoff alliances will have three complementary robots, not three robots that all do the same thing. If one robot can do everything, but isn't a world-class do-it-all bot, it'll do well in quals, since it can carry alliances. However, once it reaches the playoffs, it'll run into specialist alliances that don't have overlap, just three robots that complement each other, and those specialist alliances will be the ones to reach the finals.

EDIT: ninja'd by dodar, I agree with what he said.

[Jay O'Donnell]

I don't think its about what you do, but how well you do it.

[artdutra04]

I strongly disagree with "Crazy Robot That Does Everything".

This year more than any other, a jack of all trades is master of none.

[Thromgord]

Originally Posted by Jay O'Donnell

I don't think its about what you do, but how well you do it.

Agreed. That being said, I think that the highest-scoring robots will be those who can:

>consistently, quickly stack totes (perhaps with a recycle bin on top),

>have a design that is relatively simple and works well with other robots,

>have reasonably good autonomous capability, and

>have good drivers with plenty of experience.

But then again, that's pretty much my thoughts for any year. I don't think that teams should strive for a robot that can do everything, unless they are positive that they can do everything very well. Otherwise, it is best to concentrate on stacking totes and recycle bins, or perhaps putting a noodle on top of a stack.

I predict that one of the easiest ways to be chosen by an alliance at finals is to have a robot that is very good at putting noodles on top of recycle bins. There don't seem to be too many teams capable of doing this, and it would be reasonably simple to do. The point bonus would likely be attractive enough for alliances to pick a team that puts noodles on top of bins, but only if they had the system perfected.

Just my $0.02.

[Dunngeon]

Originally Posted by Thromgord

I predict that one of the easiest ways to be chosen by an alliance at finals is to have a robot that is very good at putting noodles on top of recycle bins. There don't seem to be too many teams capable of doing this, and it would be reasonably simple to do. The point bonus would likely be attractive enough for alliances to pick a team that puts noodles on top of bins, but only if they had the system perfected.

Just my $0.02.

Given how easy it is to human load the noodles is the solo noodle robot really going to be necessary? I'd imagine a bin robot that could drive to the human player station would fill the noodle role as well.

[Mike Marandola]

Originally Posted by artdutra04

I strongly disagree with "Crazy Robot That Does Everything".

This year more than any other, a jack of all trades is master of none.

I took "Crazy Robot That Does Everything" to mean a robot with a three tote auto and can quickly stack both totes and bins in teleop. I know scoring litter would be everything but I don't see that happening much.