Who has the best small ball capabilities?

[Terminator6]

Originally Posted by Andy A.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned 95 yet. Maybe I am a little biased being a former student, but still...

I havn't seen any team manage to combine the speed, rollers and plywood that 95 keeps putting out. Once their driver tamed the beast, watching matches was acutally fun again! Those folks in Lebanon just know how to pick up balls like no one else, IMHO.

-Andy A.

95 was definitely a good robot and very well made, and made on the same lines as 33, with a good gatherer....i think they deserve credit for a good job esp at Palmetto with that 8th seed in the finals, however because they did not make an appearance at nationals they seem to have slipped everyones minds...

[TD78]

33 is without a doubt at the top of this list. Their design was simple and effective. They could zoom around the field with ease and even incorporated a hanging device into an already super robot. Sturdy, strong, reliable: everything you could ask for in a robot.

[Paul H]

Originally Posted by Pin Man

I'd have to go with 33 and the team that made it to the finals (possibly won it)... The robot with the multiplier grabber with 4 prongs... I have no idea the number though...

Thanks for the props, the bot you're thinking of is 469.

[Alex Pelan]

I liked the push out side panels of MOE for herding. Also, all of the other robots that had flare-out side panels. The good basket teams were 93 and 469.

[Yan Wang]

33 hands down... not only were they as fast as 45 or 571's mechanisms (granted that 571 could really shoot those balls out fast), they could wait under the ball drop to get 3-6 balls and they had AN AMAZING DRIVETRAIN which was dominating for a small ball manipulator. You could play defense, but they were stronger. 45 and 571 get mad props due to their 2x ball abilities though.

[Jeff Waegelin]

So many great ball bots, I can't name them all. My top 5, in no particular order: 469, 33, 45, 1241, 571. 469 gets props for making it so far, and their ability to get huge scores every time, as do 45 and 571. As far as sheer ball gathering capability goes, noone held a candle to 33... their ball mechanism was simply awesome. Finally, 1241 was the best catcher I saw, and gets extra points for doing it as a rookie. I expect good things out of them in the future.

[Dan Richardson]

A lot of great ones mentioned but also 1083, didn't make nationals, but they were amasing, omni-drive with ball collector. And there human player was a sniper. In like 18 matches I saw.. he missed like 3 balls total, it was a rare occasion when they wouldn't get a full stationary goal.

[OneAngryDaisy]

I'd have to say that 33 is the best pure small ball gatherer, but I loved 45's design, as well as 177 (who had a extremely strong drivetrain) and the hybrid bots- 303, 469, fot they could both suck up and cap with ease.

I just realized that ALL of the bots that I sawcaught the balls had trouble getting them out except for one- and I saw a lot, 93, 1403, etc- the one bot that could get every ball out every time was 177, the part of their bot that extended out to catch balls was very powerful and just crushed the balls back until the vacuum caught them.

[Solace]

Originally Posted by Yan Wang

33 hands down... not only were they as fast as 45 or 571's mechanisms (granted that 571 could really shoot those balls out fast), they could wait under the ball drop to get 3-6 balls and they had AN AMAZING DRIVETRAIN which was dominating for a small ball manipulator. You could play defense, but they were stronger. 45 and 571 get mad props due to their 2x ball abilities though.

yeah, 33 and 45 were cool, but could THEY pick up the 10 point balls from the tee and put them in the big goal with the robot? HMMM? no? granted its illegal, but it was still fun to do on the practice field.

for those who've never seen us

besides, shooting the balls out fast only helps when they don't bounce out (an annoying problem at times). it is pretty cool to see the robot dump a load of balls from mid-field though (i don't have a movie, i'll post one if i find one)

my personal favorite ballbot would have to be 45. A high capacity hopper and an amazing capping arm made minced meat of the competition (including us). If we do end up going to IRI this year, I wanna see another 571 + 45 match (the twins, as Joel Johnson would call them)

[Michael Leicht]

i am just wondering about the ways of small balls and how other teams held there small balls together. like our robot the balls raise up and down out the back part but did any other robot go in one side and out the other and if so can i see a pic of it? thanks

[Marc P.]

Our team used a hoop-ish system, where the balls are driven in by sand belts powered by a window motor, then locked into individual hoops. Each ball pushed the previous ball up and out into the next hoop. The balls were locked in by steel bands, each tightened by a cam. Balls were pushed out by running the system in reverse, gravity would push each hoop down into the belts. It worked out rather well in competition, even though we didn't use it too much. Most of our strategies involved capping and hanging, neither of which worked as well as our ball sucker...

Here's our file photo

I'll try to get some screen grabs of it's use in competition.

[team222badbrad]

303 is rockin. Not only can they tow the goal under the ball drop then can quickly take the multiplier off and place it on either goal. They can also hold 2 multiplier balls. They also can suck balls off the floor quickly.

[OneAngryDaisy]

Originally Posted by Solace

yeah, 33 and 45 were cool, but could THEY pick up the 10 point balls from the tee and put them in the big goal with the robot? HMMM? no? granted its illegal, but it was still fun to do on the practice field.

illegal???

[Solace]

last i checked, the robots aren't allowed to score small balls by themselves

[Scott Shaw 237]

I would have to say 33, 303 THE FRIDGE!, 45, and 175 were some of the best small ball manipulators i have seen. Also 571 was also very effective and picking up those small balls.