pic: Team 1114 - Simplicity in Design

[Jonathan Norris]

As I said earlier in the year before I even saw this bot that it is by far the simplest bot i've seen from 1114. Now that I've had time to look at the details of this bot I've had a couple "why the heck didn't I think of that" moments.

Originally Posted by Jonathan Norris

when you compare this year's bot to every other bot they have produce it is by far the simplest bot they have ever built, no amazing box stacker, no platform climbing crab drive with hanging arm, no double jointed arm, no tank drive poof ball shooter, and no folding ramp with a 4-bar arm that fit within 4" (or something ridiculous like that). I would say their '06 bot was fairly simple, but when you look at their mechanism this year its what, a single joint with a roller manipulator and a 'punch' kicker (its pretty simple mechanism), I would say their bot is a very simple solution to this year's game. When you compare it to what a lot of the other 'top' teams came out with looks fairly darn simple to me, maybe its just the machining quality that makes it look more complex then it is.

I am still surprised that no one came up with a similar concept, the closest i've really seen is 1625 (and their great bot is still far more complicated). Some bots use similar pick up, but very few teams use the pokie type of launcher that fits so well with this design.