Defense Robots

[Firgreen]

Hi!

I have been trying to filter through data in order to look for common trends among defensive robots and I want to confirm my findings. If you have seen a chiefly defensive robot in your competition, could you comment below, as well as what their mechanism was for defense?

Thanks!

[logank013]

I won't say their main intent for their robot is defense because it probably isn't but team 447 has been playing great defense these last 2 weeks. Now in qualifications, they've been showing off their good low goal shooter, but the last two weeks in eliminations, they've shown that they can cause some defensive damage.

[Amit3339]

At the playoff matches of the Israeli Regional Team 4744 'The ninjas' had a net stretched on the side of their robot. It wasn't complicated to build but it did the work!
I'm hoping we will upload full field-view soon so you could see the effectiveness of this mechanism

[sagrossm]

From what I've seen and assume, teams aren't making specific mechanisms for defense. A fast, sturdy robot that can quickly block robots paths or knock them out of their alignment for shooting high seems to be what is needed for good defense. I believe if you can achieve that then you will have a solid defensive robot.

[evanperryg]

Team 3061 played excellent defense against 16 and 3310 during Rock City quarterfinals. The didn't have a blocker, and wouldn't have needed one.

[smcmahon]

2656 had a bolt-on shot-blocking-net that we deployed for two matches at Greater Pittsburgh. We made sure to be inspected with it installed, and then removed it for the matches we wanted to remain Low Bar capable.

It didn't get to block any shots really, but it was plenty tall enough that it could have. It was fun to watch!

Here's a video of Q81, the second and final time we sent out the net.

[NShep98]

Our robot was not designed to play defense, but our climber arm is a decent goal-blocker, and we have a fast robot with above-average length to really get in the way of opponents. If you watch our later WPI matches, you can see us following alongside an enemy robot to cause as much trouble as possible for them to get to their preferred position.

[cgmorse19]

I don't have a lot of specific teams that play great defence except 330 but i took note that many of the teams like ours and 330's usually have a good defence when they have a west coast 6 sim drive base

[M217]

Originally Posted by cgmorse19

I don't have a lot of specific teams that play great defence except 330 but i took note that many of the teams like ours and 330's usually have a good defence when they have a west coast 6 sim drive base

Agreed; a sturdy drive train with good traction is by far the most important mechanism for playing effective defense. The second-picked defense-bot is a trend that seems to be continuing and growing this year, and all the best ones are those with enough pushing strength and maneuverability to stop the opponent from scoring.

Our own second pick in Tech Valley, team 633, was a low robot incapable of blocking shots but they managed to defend very effectively by virtue of having skilled drivers and a lot of torque. Also, knowing the defense rules is certainly very important...

[IronicDeadBird]

Originally Posted by Firgreen

Hi!

I have been trying to filter through data in order to look for common trends among defensive robots and I want to confirm my findings. If you have seen a chiefly defensive robot in your competition, could you comment below, as well as what their mechanism was for defense?

Thanks!

What exactly are you looking for?

From my experience most defensive robots can be put into two categories.
Passive defenders who defend using something already on the robot in conjunction with the drive base.
Active defenders who have powered defensive structures.