Reaching for the Top Row?

[Chris is me]

I'd say settle. There are only 6 spots on the top row - if you have alliance partners that can score on them, then they can probably manage 3 tubes each, or close enough to it. And if you can consistently dominate the middle and lower rows, you bet two good robots will pick you in the elims.

If you try the top and become a jack of all trades - but a master of none - you are a lot less appealing to an alliance captain. Do what you do well rather than do a lot of things badly.

[RyanN]

You also might not make your alliance partners very happy if you blocked their view.

We've decided to avoid the middle row all together and either aim for the top or the bottom.

[Stephen of REX]

Another route to go is to be a "delivery" bot. Have one proficient scorer hang out in the scoring zone, while the other two robots bring it tubes from the other side of the field could be a winning strategy.

[MrForbes]

Looks to us like you need about the same complexity to do the top row as you do the other rows...but the mecanism needs to be taller/longer.

We decided scoring on the top row is a high priority. There are a lot of ways to make a robot that can reach that high. Maybe look at some different arm ideas from other FIRST teams' past robots for inspiration.

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by squirrel

Looks to us like you need about the same complexity to do the top row as you do the other rows...but the mecanism needs to be taller/longer.

We decided scoring on the top row is a high priority. There are a lot of ways to make a robot that can reach that high. Maybe look at some different arm ideas from other FIRST teams' past robots for inspiration.

Scoring on the bottom and middle rows can be done with a single arm joint and no real expansion. Top row, nope.