2015 FIM Livonia

[BenGuy]

Hello, I'm a driver for team 3641, The Flying Toasters. Any other teams out there that are going to be at Livonia? Also, what teams do you think will do the best? General talk of FIM Livonia 2015 below.

[IceStorm]

Team 5046 - Jacked up Jackets will be at Livonia.

I however will not be with them, as I mentor both an FTC and FRC team and will be at the FTC North Super Regional with my FTC team. First time since I've been mentoring that I will miss a competition.

I know the students on our team came back from our first event and have been working to make some improvements, can't wait to see what we are capable of at Livonia.

I hope that we do well and make our way to states even if I won't be able to be at Livonia to help or support them.

[FIMAlumni]

Livonia looks to be one of the toughest FIM districts this year. Usual big name teams at the event include 27, 51, 67, 217, 548, 2145, 3641. All of these teams have competed in at least 1 event already and should put on quite a show in Livonia. The should be a mini-preview of the state championship!

[Tungrus]

Our friends are hopping in from Novi.

[zsm150]

Originally Posted by Tungrus

Our friends are hopping in from Novi.

With a few slight modifications...#4cimstealin...#sixcimhypetrain... #notapemeasurehere

[Bryce Paputa]

Originally Posted by zsm150

With a few slight modifications

Few? Slight? Somebody has been spending too much time noodle throwing.

[GCarnes]

Team 5150 the Hornets are gonna be there from Kearsley. Made a lot of improvements since the Kettering district.

[Tungrus]

Originally Posted by zsm150

With a few slight modifications...#4cimstealin...#sixcimhypetrain... #notapemeasurehere

Originally Posted by GCarnes

Team 5150 the Hornets are gonna be there from Kearsley. Made a lot of improvements since the Kettering district.

..so let the marketing bring... and scouts get your scouting sheets now!

Good luck to you all!

[BenGuy]

Originally Posted by Bryce Paputa

Few? Slight? Somebody has been spending too much time noodle throwing.

Everyone has spent too much time noodle throwing and not enough time practicing in my opinion! We have run into so many noodle and been prevented from coopertition many times from noodles being in the way.

Look forward to a new and improved 3641 robot too at Livonia!

[BenGuy]

Originally Posted by zsm150

With a few slight modifications...#4cimstealin...#sixcimhypetrain... #notapemeasurehere

6 CIM hypetrain?? That will be interesting to see.

[orangelight]

548 will have some more carbon than at Southfield

[BenGuy]

Originally Posted by orangelight

548 will have some more carbon than at Southfield

You guys want to give us some of that Carbon? We could use some...

[Hot_Copper_Frog]

I'm certainly looking forward to spending quality competition time with 5756 REC'in Crew from Detroit, who took home Rookie Inspiration at the Woodhaven district. They're an awesome group!

Also, I'll toss in the obligatory #sixcimhypetrain or whatever it is the kids are saying these days.

[FIMAlumni]

As this is an extremely competitive event I thought I would do a write up on some of the top 5 ranked teams coming into this event!Rankings based on teams only playing 1 event.

67 "The HOT Team": Ranked 3rd out of teams playing only 1 event, the Hot team has already won Waterford and will look for a second blue banner. This robot features a very fast 5 tote stacks from the HP, coupled with a utility arm RC grabber, and topped off with a 20 pt auto. Rumors from other threads claim 6 stacks are coming, but the ability to Co-op may be sacrificed.

4362 "Gems": Ranked 7th, the Gems will also be looking for a second blue banner after winning the Howell District. Another HP loader, the gems create stacks of 4 while topping with a bin. This team doesn't seem to get mentioned a lot, but they were a very solid and consistent team at their first event.

217 "Thunder Chickens:" Ranked 9th, Waterford Finalists the chickens are another HP feeder, seeming able to make a stack of 6* and cap a stack of 5. The chickens played very smart in the Waterford eliminations, working together to maximize all 3 robots on their alliance. 217 always seems to improve throughout the seasons, I expect a much fast robot and a more experienced drive team.
*didn't see it in the videos I watched but the design looks promising

27 "Team Rush:" Ranked 10th, the most experienced team on this list, Team Rush were quarter finalists at the Northern Lights Regional and Finalists at Woodhaven. 27 is a RC specialist, getting 2 from the step in auto and capping stacks of 5 in eliminations. 27 is not a strong tote stacker, but paired with the right alliance is capable of big points. Expect Rush's seeding to depend more heavily on matchups, and either select or be picked by a strong stacker.

548 "Robostangs:"Ranked 11th, South-field Finalists and another HP loader, stacking 4 then topping with a fifth and RC. The Robostangs had an impressive improvement during the hour between Quals and Eliminations. Another team player, 548 was the stacker in their alliance producing a max of 3 stacks of 4. Previously stated "548 will have some more carbon than at Southfield" my best guesses are either a tethered ramp to speed up HP loading or canburglers.

All 5 teams favor the HP, expect a lot of landfill bots to fill the second half of alliance selection. All teams on the list have already proven they can make 3 stacks, meaning the top 3 alliances at least will be fighting for the step RCs. Expect teams with canburglers to be picked early and often during alliance selections. Good luck to all teams competing!

Side note: 5708 has yet to compete this season and will be debuting at Livonia as a 100% unknown they could shake things up.

[Mike Schreiber]

Originally Posted by FIMAlumni

67 "The HOT Team": Ranked 3rd out of teams playing only 1 event, the Hot team has already won Waterford and will look for a second blue banner. This robot features a very fast 5 tote stacks from the HP, coupled with a utility arm RC grabber, and topped off with a 20 pt auto. Rumors from other threads claim 6 stacks are coming, but the ability to Co-op may be sacrificed.

I can confirm the rumors from the thread he's referring to. We will be running 6 stacks and have removed our co-op mechanism that we didn't have the weight/time to get working at Waterford. As Adam stated, if there is a situation where we need to place a bin on the step it is possible with our can grabbing arm; however, it is much slower and therefore in most circumstances it is more beneficial for us to be making/capping stacks.