what kind of robot will win?

[jonathan lall]

Robots don't win championships. Alliances do.

[Steve W]

I believe that the alliance that doesn't break down before all elims are completed. I have seen great alliances lose when 1, 2 or all 3 break down during final matches.

[Bcahn836]

Originally Posted by jonathan lall

Robots don't win championships. Alliances do.

Good point.

[Lisa Perez]

Defense is definitely going to play a very integral part at nationals. Seeing this, I believe that any kind of robot with maneuverable, stable, and speedy chassis will win. Even though other teams may have plenty of capabilities, a robot with a chassis that embodies all the above qualities will be able to stop attempts at points.

[JakeGallagher]

I think a robot that can defend well will be on the winning alliance.

[Billfred]

It's the championship. You've gotta come with AT LEAST herding and capping OR hanging. Get all three, and it'll be hot.

But it's also going to be the slickest driving. I see lots of robots running D to keep other teams away from 2X balls and the bar. Perhaps even some ball stealing.

[Steve Howland]

Originally Posted by Billfred

It's the championship. You've gotta come with AT LEAST herding and capping OR hanging. Get all three, and it'll be hot.

Paragon's bot tried to do all three at the NJ regional, and we never could complete everything successfully. We were seeded very low at the end of the qualifications, but we did better once we gave up on hanging.

We collect around 6 small balls and feed them quickly to our human players, which are very good. We always are able to cap with just a little time left and the proceeded to block other teams from capping/hanging.

We won the UTC regional by concentrating on ball collecting while our alliance partners went for the hang. (Thanks 716 and 230!) We worked well together and hope to be with 716 (in our division) in Atlanta.

-Diobsidian

[Bcahn836]

Just focus on what your robot and drivers do best. We uncap the small goal, hold on to the 2X ball and herd, our HP fills that small goal with the three 5pt balls and our alliances three 5pt balls plus what we collect and then cap it. At the same time our alliance does what ever they do best.

It may not be the best strategy but this is what we came up with in the design process and we stick to it.

[Specialagentjim]

Personally, I think it will be a combination of a Collector robot and a Capper/hanger.

I'm envisioning a team that:
Robot A- Collects and distributes balls between human players on alliance and fills stationary goal
Robot B- Caps goal
Robot A- Finshes dropping off balls for alliance HPs to fill stationary goal
Robot A- Moves to Hang if the ability is present / Defend against hangers
Robot B- Hangs

Something like that.

On the defensive note: We've played some great D when our robot has had things break. I find its a good strategy when you've got a good alliance partner and your going against a team that has one good robot and one not-so-good robot. You defend against the good one, then it becomes your alliance partner vs. theirs. Not always the best situation in the world for all matches, but when that match comes around where that works, it sure does work!

[George A.]

The winning alliance will be comprised of these three robots:

Robot A: Reliable/solid hanger. Sole purpose is to get on the bar and get 50 pts.

Robot B: Reliable/solid hanger. Sole purpose is to get on the bar and get 50 pts.

Robot C: Capper/ Hanger. This robot will get one (or two) 2x balls, and herd small balls to their HP. Then when goal (or goals) are close to being full they cap and then make a run for the bar.

This scenario seems to be perfect because every round your alliance should have one robot on the bar for 50 pts, and another robot being able to take care of the balls/goals. Get 2 bots on bar+ 10 balls in goal (6 from HP and 4? from herding)+2x ball on goal=200 pts. Pretty hard to be beaten.

[Joe Ross]

Originally Posted by M.O.R.T.

The winning alliance will be comprised of these three robots:

Robot A: Reliable/solid hanger. Sole purpose is to get on the bar and get 50 pts.

Robot B: Reliable/solid hanger. Sole purpose is to get on the bar and get 50 pts.

Robot C: Capper/ Hanger. This robot will get one (or two) 2x balls, and herd small balls to their HP. Then when goal (or goals) are close to being full they cap and then make a run for the bar.

Here is how you beat this alliance. Have a robot with a strong and fast drive train that can disrupt Robot C. If robot C can't get the balls to the player station or get to either goal to cap, they can't score very many points. Meanwhile, while Robot A is hanging, the second robot scores points unimpeded. Even if this second robot isn't as good as robot C, they can probably score more points unimpeded then Robot C can impeded. Then they go hang at the end of the match, while the first robot continues to harass robot C.

[George A.]

I can see where your coming from Joe, but the way i see it is, if the capper is good enough to be in the finals or what have you, they should be able to put up with some badgering from the other team. Secondly even if their herding/capping strategy doesn't work out, they can always hang themselves, giving the allaince a max of 130 pts...and by my calculations one would need 13 small balls + the 2x ball in their goal to tie, granted this is possible, but it is dificult with other robots playing defense.

[MikeDubreuil]

My bet would be on a team made of someone like 90 and 175.

90 is able to dominate the bar. Hanging is extremely important. If you don't have at least 1 robot hanging, you don't have a prayer at winning. 90 is able to grab the bar, and keep others from not hanging. With 1 robot hanging and blocking 2 opponents from hanging, the value of that is 150 points.

175- You have to be able to handle the small balls. They have an elegent system to reliably grab small balls and deliver them to the player station. They also have the ablily to grab a large ball and cap a goal.

A small ball hearder and a dominating bar hanger will bring home the trophey.

[Specialagentjim]

I didn't clarify this earlier, so I'll do it now.

I think the winning alliacne will be

Robot A: Solid Capper and Hanger

Robot B: Solid Capper and Hanger

Robot C: Collector


Robots A and B will switch off with C being in every match. C will complete is blockable tasks in autonmous, thus negating most blocks unless a team wants to get really ambitious in auton coding.

Robots A and B will be similar, but will be put in to match up against the oppononet bots.

Some team numbers I think would make an excellent alliance: 27(A), 93(C), 108(B)

I've heard many a laugh about 108 this year, but we've had our hard times and their behind us now. Atlanta's a whole new competition, and as such your going to see a whole new 108. Masters of the 2x and hanger extrodianare, at your service

[Zzyzx]

Originally Posted by Specialagentjim

Robot A: Solid Capper and Hanger

Robot B: Solid Capper and Hanger

Robot C: Collector

This is about the winning combonation that our alliance had in the Pacific Northwest Regionals, only our team was a Capper/Collector and the other two teams were Designated Hangers. We rotated the Hangers depending on the opposing allience and we made sure that the hangers hung as soon as possible. While people were worring about the top, we would get 5-12 small balls in the large goal and cap it, giving us around 50-120 points just from the small balls!