MSC Top Bots Preview

[FIMAlumni]

With MSC this week, I thought I would highlight some of the top talent* coming to Grand Rapids this week. I will discuss four teams in this post and follow it up with two more posts highlighting 3 other teams in the next 2 days.

67:The HOT Team. FIM Rank 5. The HOT Team is the original Michigan Power house. 67 is 6 for 6 on reaching the MSC finals and is striving to make it 7 for 7. In 2015, HOT has 2 district wins at Waterford and Livonia. The robot is an impressive beast. Boasting a 3 tote stack auton, six stacking from the HP station, and a RC arm capable of picking up a can in any orientation or off the step, 67 is a force to recon with. With a few new tricks up their sleeve for MSC, 67 will be looking for their a third blue banner on the year.

Current Achilles Heel: Dropping RCs while placing stacks

Impressive match: Q52: Livonia

503: Frog Force. FIM Rank 126. My dark horse of the event, 503 has continuously improved throughout their season. Finishing QF at Standish, SF at Waterford, and F at Livonia, 503 is hungry for a victory. Boasting a fast stacker and capper from the HP station, 503 is well above average scoring points. However, the "secret sauce" to their robot is their 4 Cim powered canburglars. Only loosing twice due to a programming error, 503 grabs 2 RCs in about a third of a second and is just waiting to have a rematch. 503 has some major improvements of their own debuting at MSC, a new claw and ramp will be unleashed.

Current Achilles Heel: Solo scoring potential

Impressive match:F1: Livonia

2137: TORC. FIM Rank 1. Two time winner at Waterford and West Michigan and Bedford SF, 2137 is no stranger to winning or pressure situations. Sporting two fast canburglars and a fast HP 6 stack. 2137's impressive canburglars sport clear blockers to stop other teams from hooking into the top with them. As long as they reach the top first(usually should due to the speed) they will win the RCs. Team TORC is almost always good for 2 bins in auto, 2 capped 6 stacks, and a few extra totes.

Current Achilles Heel: Releasing canburglar bins.

Impressive match:QF6 Livonia

2054: Tech Vikes: FIM Rank 22. Two Time winner at Kentwood and Escanaba and SF at West Michigan. 2054 is the sole FIM member of the #28pointauton club. Showing off a reveal video before their first district, 2054 has been tuning this impressive auton through three competitions and has it down. However, the Tech Vikes are not a one trick pony. After auton 2054 utilizes a ramp to create stacks of 6 with RCs. The tech Vikes have just about perfected their auton and ramp loading. I'm excited to see what they have to show off this Thursday.

Achilles Heal: The third bin in auto.

Impressive match: F2 Escanaba
*These robots are my personal top 10 going to MSC.