Hey! Your robot looks like mine!

[itskeLz]

I dont know about the rest of you guys, but I've noticed a real strong recurring theme developing here for Triple Play. This is my first time getting on Chief Delphi for this building season and about 80% of the robots have the exact same chassis and lift mechanism: the lowride drive train, with high backbone and arm extending as a right triangle hypotenuse. It seems that it's going to be the most popular design and perhaps the most susceptible to damage. If anyone believes this is true, please explain to me why this is so and if you have done anything to try to counter the exact same design.
Thanks!!

[Yan Wang]

I think you think this because this is the first time you've been on Chief Delphi. You'll find right away once the regionals start that the robots that are built by the teams who don't post pics are amazing and contain mechanisms that make you slap your forehead, asking "Why didn't I think of that?"

You ain't seen nothing yet!

[ghansel]

Team 19 has nothing close to a right triangle hypotenuse... boy are you all going to be surprised.

Hope to see you at the nationals!

[russell]

I designed our arm today! It was fun. I am glad we are so ahead of schedule.....

[itskeLz]

Actually, this isn't my first time on Chief Delphi ever. I haven't really had the time to keep up with all the forums and such this year so far, but I looked through the picture gallery, and happened to notice a somewhat recurring theme. I guess no one else saw all those pictures....so that's not true then? Oops! sorry yalls!

[Ianworld]

I think there are a large number of similarities. For example almost every team that has posted a picture is going with 6 wheel drive. This large number of 6 wheel drive robots here is really sending a quick shockwave through the FIRST world. A couple of the local rookie teams in our region have even started to modify their robot to allow it to have 6 wheels. (not to mention its so easy to do with the kit chassis and its dropped center hole.)

Also everybody is lifting a Tetra. There may be many ways to do it, but there are only a couple simple proving methods, and those will be commonly used. My team has something while similar in ability is quite different from what i've seen so far. Hopefully i'll get a picture of it up so far. It probably isn't even better than the standard right triangle extending, rotating, thingamajig, but it is simple and effective in its own ways.

We do have our own unique system though. Many teams will, its these other unique abilties that will seperate teams on the field.

[Denman]

Originally Posted by russell

I designed our arm today! It was fun. I am glad we are so ahead of schedule.....

lol
Its odd, we are ahead of schedule too.... we have something built before the last 2 days...

[Jaine Perotti]

While by no means is it true that ALL robots will look EXACTLY alike, I have been noticing "trends" similar to those already posted.

I think that the similarities in robot design will create a need for effective strategies - more than in the past (or at least the past few years). If robots are similar in design, how are you going to be able to beat your opponent? By simply outsmarting them!

I wonder if this was designed into this year's game intentionally, in an effort to shift FIRST teams' focus away from making an unstoppable robot design, to the development of an unstoppable strategy. This might be a way that FIRST is trying to level the playing field, because you don't need money or big sponsors to come up with a good strategy. In the past, if you had lots of resources for your team, winning wasn't quite as difficult (although it was still quite a challenge!) as it may have been for others - simply because you could spend more time on making a beautifully machined, perfectly functioning robot. By no means am I saying that it was impossible for the "underdog" teams to build a competitive robot under the game structure of the past, but I think the "underdogs" may have a better chance of winning now that the playing field has been somewhat leveled this year - in terms of getting a good, basic robot up and running.

The reason why this year's game will have a lot of similar robot designs is this simple fact: there is only one major way to score points - lifting and stacking tetras. While there are others, such as knocking down the hanging tetras, and getting the end-zone bonus, the way to win this game is by racking up high points totals with the stacked tetras. With only one highly effective method of scoring, most robots will have similar (with slight variations of course) methods of getting those tetras up in the air.

Of course, I may be completely wrong about all this, but it is still interesting to think about. Maybe FIRST didn't intend to do this as an effort to reduce the polarization between "have" and "have not" teams. But if they are, I think it will be interesting to see if their emphasis on strategy will help to level the playing field, and make the title "super bowl of smarts" more accurate.

-- Jaine

[Fixen]

You'll quickly find that teams don't post everything. In fact, out of the approximate 1500 teams in this competition, only say...200 posted their pictures.

Some people love to hold their vanity back and surprise people later.

[pyroslev]

One team, if you stretch their design a little in your mind, looks somewhat like ours.

I also find it odd that a fair majority of the veteran teams, 5+ years, and some who always do a shock and awe robot are some of the few that are actually BUILDING their robot without the little kit frame they sent us.

A lot of teams are taking the "easy" method. For those few, easy is not in their vocabulary.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by Fixen

You'll quickly find that teams don't post everything. In fact, out of the approximate 1500 teams in this competition, only say...200 posted their pictures.

Some people love to hold their vanity back and surprise people later.

I think it's more a case of that they're too busy to notice that their overly eager teammate is posting a picture of the robot on some messageboard.

[Fixen]

Originally Posted by pyroslev

One team, if you stretch their design a little in your mind, looks somewhat like ours.

I also find it odd that a fair majority of the veteran teams, 5+ years, and some who always do a shock and awe robot are some of the few that are actually BUILDING their robot without the little kit frame they sent us.

A lot of teams are taking the "easy" method. For those few, easy is not in their vocabulary.

True. Well, that applies only to vets anyway, because they know how to lay down the basics. After that, they'll have time to make the surprise.

[team222badbrad]

1500 teams? actually that number is around 1000...

Do not go by team numbers...

There are many gaps between the numbers!

[Mr. Ivey]

I can say from being in FIRST for 5 years, the differences in robots will blow your mind. Only once have I seen two robots that look alike on CD, or anywhere, period, but that's another story. Leave it there... Even if many teams do pick to use the kit frame, so what the frame will be similar, and the motors may be similar with the new gearbox from FIRST. And yeah, I kind of have the feeling that a 6 wheel system is the new "shift on the fly gearbox". It's like it's a new fad in FIRST, but that's how you know something new is around the corner, that some team is going to do something that just makes you go "GOLLY GE WHIZZERS! That's about the most incredable thing ever!"
Having things look alike, no, not really. Getting blown away by how many different ways teams do the same thing with the same part, in an elegant, yet simple way. Happens at about every pit.
ivey

[Eugenia Gabrielov]

I think these stylistic differences will come through early in competition, but not until then. While last year there were specific hanging bots, or ball bots that didn't hang, or all of the above, teams had to manipulate a few different types of objects.

However, this year's object is a tetra. The goals don't really move, you can't hang on the center goal, so the playing field is leveled as far as object functionality goes. What will set teams apart is their ability to manuever and their strategy. These design processes will change as the competition season moves along, simply becasue teams will start seeing how the game is handled and add unique touches accordingly.

Otherwise, suspense is fun
- Genia