Best Robot Ever(again)

[Karthik]

Okay, here it is, Karthik's top 10 FIRST robots since 1998. I've put a lot of time and thought into this over the past couple days. (Mainly because I have three finals this weekend, and I needed an excuse to procrastinate)

The criteria I looked at when coming up with this list was:

• Ability to control the game
• How far apart they were from the rest of the field
• Technological innovations
• The "Wow" factor -- Did this robot make jaws drop.

T10. Team 71 & Team 16, 1999

These teams did everything. They moved that puck around as if they were Gretzky, they raised their floppies into the air with ease, and they always got off the ground. There were some amazing robots in '99 (45, 111, 1), but these two stick out in my mind.

8. Teams 60/254, 2004

Yes, I'm listing them as one entry. I feel bad placing them this low on the list, because I spent most of the 2004 season talking about how I though this was the best robot in FIRST history. But after looking at all the other robots out there, I couldn't move them up. This more has to do with the lack of a control strategy in the 2004 game, rather than any inherent weakness in the 60/254 bot. This robot blazed through autonomous mode, could herd balls, manipulate the big ball like no other, and hand with relative ease. The most agile non-strafing robot I've ever seen. Watch the video of the poofs at Silicon Valley. They owned that regional. They made everything they did look so simple. A lot like the #6 robot on this list. On an unrelated note, I swear Team 60 was cursed this year. If you look at how they lost in Colorado and Nationals, you'll see what I mean.

7. Team 111, 2003

There weren't a huge variety of strategies in 2003, and one of the main ones went like this. Knock down the stacks, get to the top of the ramp and defend. Teams who played this strategy usually ended up on top of the ramp after about 1:00. But one team was consistently getting up there in 15 seconds, during autonomous mode. How? With StangPS. In my opinion, the coolest technological innovation in FIRST history. Before each match, they told the robot where they wanted it to go, and it went their. Every time. It was a thing of beauty to watch. Add this amazing controls innovations to a typically flawless Wildstang mechanical design, and you have the robot of the 2003 season.

6. Team 47, 2000

To this day, I'm still shocked that this robot didn't win a national championship. The robot did everything so smoothly and fluidly. The strafing setup was amazing. (It served as the inspiration for 1114's 2004 SimSwerve design) Score, descore, score. It was fun to watch. I thought they were a lock for a championship (much like 1998, see #2 on this list), but it was broken weld (correct me if I'm wrong) that held them back this year.

T4. Team 60, 2002 & Team 469, 2002

The 2002 game was a strange one. The playing field was simple, and the game was sort of simple as well. It was simple in that a well designed robot could control most matches. So you saw a lot of robots who tried to do the same thing, like grab two goals. Well, lots of teams tried, but some teams did a better job than others. There were two teams who were completely dominant at the two goal strategy. Teams 60 and 469. Team 60 won two regionals, and a division at nationals. The only team that knocked them off was the #3 team on this list. 469 won two regionals as well. The only reason they didn't win their division at nats, was because 121 kind of just stopped moving just short of their endzone. These two teams were example of teams who were basically unbeatable unless something went wrong, or if they faced each other.

3. Team 71, 2002

I placed team 71 ahead of 469 and 60 for a couple of reasons. 1. 71 won a national championship. 2. The the three goal strategy was more dominating than the two goal strategy. 3. They creativity in this design was unmatched, and actually cause FIRST to change the rules in future seasons. The idea of using file cards as traction devices was brilliant. This made the Beatty Machine a virtually unstoppable force. There was no moving them, as they would slowly inch to wards their destination.

2. Team 47, 1998

This robot just slightly edges out 71, 60 & 469 entries from 2002. This robot has special meaning to me, because it really got me hooked on FIRST (along with 111's entry from the same year). Me and a few teammates spent our last spring break of high school road tripping to GLR, to scout and watch. It was the first FIRST event for all of us. The first match I saw was with team 47. I saw their robot drive forward, but then it did something strange... it went sideways. Crab steer! I was shocked, I didn't know that was possible. As far as I know, this was the first time any FIRST team had employed strafing. Add in the fact that they had a massive joined telescoping arm, and I was stunned. Team 47 took home three regional championships that year, and looked like a lock at EPCOT. Unfortunately they fell victim to the dreaded 2 on 1 strategy, that still makes me somewhat queasy. (But that's a story for another thread)


1. Team 71, 2001

The most dominant robot in FIRST history. They were champions and the number #1 seed at every official event they attended (2 Regionals, National). But what's more impressive is the manner in which they did it. No one ever came close to them. In Western Michigan, they were the #1 seed by 40% (They're average score was 1.4 times greater than 2nd place!!!). In Illinois they were ahead of second place by 30%. And at the championships, they were on top by 37%. These are not normal gaps. Their dominance was unreal. Heading to Nationals, it was pretty much understood that Beatty was going to win, barring something miraculous happening. Beatty found a way to put a up a huge score, and perfected it. Great strategy, great design, great execution.