FIRST records

[BrendanB]

Originally Posted by Dan 1038

As far as dominant robots go, it is hard to argue against Team 1114, Simbotics, in 2008. Three regional championships and then the World Champions. Doesn't get much more dominant than that! Just check out Blue Alliance to see how dominent they were, we know as we ran into them twice during the season... Unfortunately for us!

Eh. This is an interesting topic. Yes 1114 was very good in 2008, but I wouldn't say that they were the best robot from that year (16, 67, and 330 immediately come to mind) and I would not call them dominant. I would say that dominant would be every tournament you went to you won without any loses and faced some really good teams in the process. Several teams that year were able to stop them with defense that season, if those teams hadn't played defense they would have won.

These are my thoughts on the matter, other people will have their opinions on these statements, but I don't believe that just because they won 3 regionals and a championship means that they are dominant robot. 1024 also won 3 regionals and made it to einstein as well.

1114- Good robot? Definitely a strong robot.

1114- Dominant? No, they were not the best on the field.

my $0.02

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by BrendanB

1114- Good robot? Definitely a strong robot.

1114- Dominant? No, they were not the best on the field.

my $0.02

I have to agree but only due to poor terminology. 1114 was not the best robot they were the best team. 1114 did not win because their robot was "made of pure win" they won because they knew how to play the game. They scouted, they practiced, they strategized, and they executed. Winning a match is not something a robot does, winning is a team effort that requires the cooperation of dozens of individuals.

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

I have to agree but only due to poor terminology. 1114 was not the best robot they were the best team. 1114 did not win because their robot was "made of pure win" they won because they knew how to play the game. They scouted, they practiced, they strategized, and they executed. Winning a match is not something a robot does, winning is a team effort that requires the cooperation of dozens of individuals.

I've got to ask, can you name a better 2008 robot? 1114 was in my mind the best robot / drive team combination, but I can't think of a robot better suited to playing Overdrive than 1114's robot.

Originally Posted by BrendanB

I would say that dominant would be every tournament you went to you won without any loses and faced some really good teams in the process. Several teams that year were able to stop them with defense that season, if those teams hadn't played defense they would have won.

7 losses all season isn't dominant? They won Midwest, a stacked event with 16 / 1024 / 33 / 111 / 71; went an entire regional without scoring under 100 points (GTR), undefeated in a VERY stacked division, and it took an unfortunate tipped teammate to give them their only loss in Atlanta. I fail to see how that's anything short of dominant. If anything, 1114 was one of the best at scoring THROUGH defense in 2008. I just don't get how you can look at their record and go "well they were good but not amazing"

Even Beatty 2002 lost matches.

[IndySam]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

If anything, 1114 was one of the best at scoring THROUGH defense in 2008. I just don't get how you can look at their record and go "well they were good but not amazing"

I'm with Chris. Most dominant robot I have seen in my six years of FIRST.

[Eugene Fang]

Originally Posted by IndySam

I'm with Chris. Most dominant robot I have seen in my six years of FIRST.

Agreed.

Their scoring in teleop might have been on par with about half a dozen teams out there, but the consistency of their auton was unmatched.

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

I've got to ask, can you name a better 2008 robot? 1114 was in my mind the best robot / drive team combination, but I can't think of a robot better suited to playing Overdrive than 1114's robot.

Better robot from 08? IMHO:

71, 254, 968, 217, & 1625

Originally Posted by IndySam

I'm with Chris. Most dominant robot I have seen in my six years of FIRST.

But like Andrew said, you couldn't beat the robot/driver/team combination, if you really think about it, Simbotics was the most dominant team in 2008. Its not about the robot, its how you use the robot that counts.

Again, in my opinion, telling someone that they have the most dominant TEAM is more of a compliment than just telling them they have a dominant robot.

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

But like Andrew said, you couldn't beat the robot/driver/team combination, if you really think about it, Simbotics was the most dominant team in 2008. Its not about the robot, its how you use the robot that counts.

I'm mostly speaking from a strictly "all other things equal" comparison (which I should have made to clear and I guess isn't very simple to accurately judge) in terms of the robot. Given 1114's drive team, strategy, scouting, pit crew, and... team, they could have won the Championship with several 2008 robots.

Anyway, back to records now, shall we? Can anyone contest Wildstang for most consecutive "trophy year"s?

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

I'm mostly speaking from a strictly "all other things equal" comparison (which I should have made to clear and I guess isn't very simple to accurately judge) in terms of the robot. Given 1114's drive team, strategy, scouting, pit crew, and... team, they could have won the Championship with several 2008 robots.

Anyway, back to records now, shall we? Can anyone contest Wildstang?

Which is exactly what we were saying.

[BrendanB]

Okay so you all have made some pretty good statements. Yes I will say that team 1114 was the dominant team not robot in 2008. We sat in front of them at IRI in 2008. Their scouts had these huge binders each and our team had a simple sheet of paper for each team the entire weekend, and it was very intimidating for us . 1114 has a very strong team altogether, but I will stand behind what I said that they had a good robot, not dominant.

@chris- Yes they had 7 losses all season, but that doesn't mean they are unstoppable. Midwest had some pretty good teams there, but they weren't scoring 120+ points a match. 111, 1625, and 16 brought a lot up against them but they did overcome it. Now as for GTR and Waterloo. Those are two regionals which (please these are my thoughts and feelings on these regionals from 2008, not all the time) had little competition against 1114. Together with 2056 anyone could bet that there would be little to no opposition against them. So those two regionals were easish wins, but they were still earned by them.

Just remember everyone, what I said is based on what I have seen both personally and online. Believe me, and my mother will vouch for me. 2008 I watched way too many videos than I probable should have, and those were the conclusions that I have come up with.

[Paul Copioli]

BrendanB,

You have a right to your opinion, but in my 10 years of FIRSTonly two robots come to mind with the word domination: 71 in 2001 and 1114 in 2008.

No one else was even close during the regular season. You can't make a judgment based on what you saw at IRI. I saw these guys all season and they dominated the field. On Galileo, they were unstoppable. Both 16 and 67 were against them in the finals on Einstein and we all know how that turned out. Pretty much any two robots from Galileo matched with 1114 would have made it out of that division. We called it the Simbot Lottery.

Paul

[James Dowd]

Originally Posted by Paul Copioli

You have a right to your opinion, but in my 10 years of FIRSTonly two robots come to mind with the word domination: 71 in 2001 and 1114 in 2008.
Paul

I actually sat out the 2008 season, so I can't comment on that, but almost a decade later, I'll never forget how dominant that 71 machine from 2001 was.

[Wayne TenBrink]

Regarding the most matches in a season: The Blue Alliance data includes the IRI. During the "regular season", HOT played 87 matches and the Thunder Chickens played 85. I believe that both attended other post-season competitions in addition to the IRI, so their "overall" totals would be more than what shows on TBA.

Regarding dominant robots: Team 71 in 2001 was long before my time in FRC, but the fact that so many people still talk about it says a lot. Team 1114 in 2008 was the most dominant I have seen. Both these robots were able to "dominate" because they had a strong organization and a unique design. Every year it seems that most robot designs can be lumped into certain "types". In 2008, there were a lot of good hurdlers, but the Simbot dominated because its simple and effective ball collector was't just the best of its "type" - it was the only one of it's type and it worked great! From what I hear, the same was true of Team 71's robot in 2001 - it was the only one of its "type" and it worked great. You can have an excellent machine, but its hard to dominate when it is just the best its "type". A lot of "unique" machines do poorly (we have the experience to prove that!). However, when you come up with the killer design that others missed, and your team behind knows how make the most of it, then you can truly dominate the field.

[XaulZan11]

Originally Posted by Wayne TenBrink

Both these robots were able to "dominate" because they had a strong organization and a unique design. Every year it seems that most robot designs can be lumped into certain "types". In 2008, there were a lot of good hurdlers, but the Simbot dominated because its simple and effective ball collector was't just the best of its "type" - it was the only one of it's type and it worked great! From what I hear, the same was true of Team 71's robot in 2001 - it was the only one of its "type" and it worked great. You can have an excellent machine, but its hard to dominate when it is just the best its "type". A lot of "unique" machines do poorly (we have the experience to prove that!). However, when you come up with the killer design that others missed, and your team behind knows how make the most of it, then you can truly dominate the field.

What exactly made 1114's design 'one of a kind'? 503's robot was very similar overall. There pickup, which you mention, was very similar to 1625 (who had two rollers not one).

I contend that 1114 was not sucessful only because of their design. I'm sure you could have given 1114's design to every team at kickoff and only a very select few teams would be as good. 1114's attention to detail, drive for sucess, driver practice and stratedy was what made them different. Every time they had a match, you knew they would have the best strategy, get atleast 4 lines with 2 balls knocked down, and would get atleast 4 hurdles. Teams could have similar autonomous points or have the same amount of hurdles, but no team could do both of them nearly every single match. It wouldn't be fair for me to speak about any team before 2006, but since Aim High, there has been no team close to how dominate 1114 was in 2008.

[Arefin Bari]

I just wanted to throw it out there that it is a fact that 1114's robot was a simple robot (if you look at how it was built) and their drivers had a lot of practice time with it. Their drivers knew exactly how to drive that great robot perhaps making them a threat at each event they have attended in 2008.

... also someone pointed out earlier that they were dominant through the times when defense was played against them. I remember very well when I was standing right by the field and 330 went against 1114. 330 took 1114's trackball and kept it in a corner by the human player station and also trapped it in their robot with their mechanism. 1114's driver didn't hesitate to come around to suck that ball out of 330's mechanism. Now that's what I called a robot and a drive team that is unstoppable.

[JackN]

Originally Posted by XaulZan11

What exactly made 1114's design 'one of a kind'? 503's robot was very similar overall.

503 changed their design to what Simbotics was doing at GLR that season, their intial robot didn't really look like 1114.

As for how dominant 1114 was that season, they were one of the only teams that could run a lap in auto, remove both balls and then score 4-6 balls a match. As strong as I think 254, 233, 330, 67 and 16 were, none of them could do this consistently. Also 1114 beat the following teams on their way to winning the championship: 121, 176, 330, 195, 40, 1717, 254, 968, 233, 60, 67, and 16. Just think about how many good teams that is.