Shooters vs Arms

[MrForbes]

Eric, I guess you haven't seen how easy it is to self load a launcher with just a simple moving arm sticking out the front of it?



.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by squirrel

Eric, I guess you haven't seen how easy it is to self load a launcher with just a simple moving arm sticking out the front of it?



.

I realize that (I've seen 118's video), but it might be more efficient if the launcher didn't move and had two arm robots supporting it--similar to 2006's "Atom Bomb" strategy. Twice the rate of fire sound good to you?

[Swampdude]

It's always true how you execute your design is the deciding factor as to how successful it will be. However 118 showed how easy it is to make a great launcher. We contemplated copying that when we saw it. It would have been easy to do (the launcher anyway). I'll bet a number of teams did. Why not?
However, all things being equal, this simply is the most efficient solution, mainly because of the clothesline factor. When executed properly you can't score faster with a mechanism that goes above the overpass for a period of time during the score. So how you get the ball off the ground becomes important, but no reason a shooter can't use the same mechanism an arm can.
Yes there will be plenty of arms scoring faster than shooters, but that will be because of execution or techniques. But if done right I can't see how even the best arm (anything that goes above the overpass) could score faster than the best shooter.

[Jonathan Norris]

Personally the best robots this year will be a combination of both, we will see robots that can knock down, pickup, place, and shoot the ball. I am willing to bet that a couple of the top teams will build a bot that can do all of the above extremely effectively, hey we haven't seen 71, 111, 67, 254, 233, 1114 ect. yet!

[SteveGPage]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Norris

Personally the best robots this year will be a combination of both, we will see robots that can knock down, pickup, place, and shoot the ball. I am willing to bet that a couple of the top teams will build a bot that can do all of the above extremely effectively, hey we haven't seen 71, 111, 67, 254, 233, 1114 ect. yet!

Team 836 has designed our bot to do just that. All the various components work quite well, and tonight we will start the extensive integration testing to see how effectively they all will work together.

[Michael Corsetto]

I think a third classification should be added to this thread...

Throwers.

[cwood]

just for discussion purposes hat if said shooter were capable of knocking a rather large mentor off his feet from the opposite side of the field, what would be your plan to easily block it. without getting you robot destroyed

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by cwood

just for discussion purposes hat if said shooter were capable of knocking a rather large mentor off his feet from the opposite side of the field, what would be your plan to easily block it. without getting you robot destroyed

Blocking a ball is a completely legit strategy.....but you better bet the team blocking is taking a risk by attempting to "stuff" you. Doesn't mean they can't do it though.

[cwood]

Originally Posted by Brandon Holley

Blocking a ball is a completely legit strategy.....but you better bet the team blocking is taking a risk by attempting to "stuff" you. Doesn't mean they can't do it though.

well they could probaly do it once and the ball could leave the robot from above 5 feet so i believe that what ever is used to block the ball will end up dangling from the robot so i believe it will happen once until teams see the results

[Kellen Hill]

Well,

1. Shooters can have mechanisms to knock the ball down. I know my team does and,

2. A hurdle at the end of the game rather than setting it back on the overpass is just as good, you just miss out on a couple points.

I think effective shooters will dominate this years game.

[cwood]

Thank you hill i believe that will be the case as well

[SgtMillhouse648]

I personally feel that a combination of both a shooter and arm are vital to this year's game. Shooters are fast at some things, and absolutely horrible at others etc. placing on top of overpass. Arms are the same way. They both have their pros and cons, and to work to the best of their abilities, must work together to score the maximum number of points. We have an arm this year, but have come up with a way to score more points than the average arm....wait and see.......

[Sam N.]

Originally Posted by hill

Well,

1. Shooters can have mechanisms to knock the ball down. I know my team does and,

2. A hurdle at the end of the game rather than setting it back on the overpass is just as good, you just miss out on a couple points.

I think effective shooters will dominate this years game.

I disagree,

My team has built a shooter but I think that well-built lifters will provide major competition.

A well-built, fast, and coordinated lifter will be just as powerful as a shooter in my opinion. Some teams have already proved this with their videos they have released.

Sam N.

[Kellen Hill]

Originally Posted by Sam N.

I disagree,

My team has built a shooter but I think that well-built lifters will provide major competition.

Sam N.

I agree with you, and think that they will provide lots of competition. It is just my opinion that I think "effective" shooters will dominate the game.

[Uberbots]

Originally Posted by hill

I think effective shooters will dominate this years game.

I wouldnt be so quick to state that if i were you (=
in the end, the only major advantage that a shooter has over a lifter is that they dont need to stop in order to score. However, like lifters, they also have a range of scoring positions. For example, for a lifter to score, it will typically need to be right in front of the overpass before releasing the ball so that it can go over. With a shooter, if it is too close the ball will hit the underside of the overpass, and if it is too far away it might not go over altogether.