Yeah- what exactly is meant by 'best'?

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Posted by colleen.   [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]


Coach on team #246, a FIRST-aholic, from John D. O'Byrant High School/Boston Latin Academy and NSTAR/Boston University/UTC/Raytheon/MassPEP.

Posted on 6/6/2000 9:01 PM MST



In this talk about 'best' robot and 'top tens'.. please no one get offended by the lists..

to me.. when i name robots in my 'top ten' it's not just particularly the robot that can do it all, do it the fastest, etc.. the best robots are the Quality robots.. simply, they do what they are built to do with efficiency..

efficiency = repeatability... being able to do what you do well, over and over again, despite who your partner is..

with alliances the way they are, there are many teams who seeded high because they had many good partners.. however, there are a good bunch that did well and proved the quality of their 'bots whether or not their partner was 'good' or even on the field.. those are the robots i think are top ten material..

you build a robot to perform a certain task.. and you go out their every match and complete that task to the highest of your ability.. quality robot.. 'best' robot.. those make the top ten on my list..

'nother thing.. sure it's true that you tend to 'notice' teams from your area more.. after all, they are close by, often your friend teams.. and that's true of any area (midwest, northeast, mid-atlantic, etc..).. but i really don't think people pick teams based on that.. or that counts anyone out.. i spent 4 years on a team with an -extensive- strategy setup.. they track every team in every match they play.. and know details on every team based on that (including scouting other regionals.. i myself went to 2 chicago regionals and the first one in Texas).. consequently... our alliance choices last year were from NH and NJ.. and this year, their partners were as well.. not based on state or area but on quality of robot and compliance as a partner...

i know some teams that choose partners based on who their sponsor is or the like.. but respectably enough most teams try and pick the robot best suited to partner with them.. unfortunately, not all of us, no matter where we are from, are best suited for any of those top 16 teams.. it's the 'unfairness' built into the game..

someone's gotta lose..

.. but good thing we're in FIRST and their are no losers ;-)

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Posted by Patrick Seeney.

Student on team #469, Las Guerrillas, from Oakland Robotics and Lawrence Technological University and Magna Seating Systems, Nachi and Kuka Robotics.

Posted on 6/6/2000 9:58 PM MST


In Reply to: Yeah- what exactly is meant by 'best'? posted by colleen on 6/6/2000 9:01 PM MST:



I agree totally. SOme teams have built their reputation and being a dependable team over and over again, so i can see why they would be ranked in the top 10. People pick that for many reasons, as the people that did post 'their' top 10 robots, gave reasons for it.
However, to say these are the best robots at these activities, with out an explanation can be hurtful to some of these teams that may have been better or worse that many of these teams that people recognize.
So it is difficult to say, this robot is the best offensive robot, or this robot is the best ally. FIRST can be a game of odds, the odds of who your partner is, whether or not they will work or not. Your robot is judged based on performance, and if some say, well they were only good because of good allies. Well that also says they were a good ally with a good strategy.
Every team has the capability of being the best robot, however they do not always get recognized as so.

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Posted by Andy Grady.   [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]


Coach on team #42, P.A.R.T.S, from Alvirne High School and Daniel Webster College.

Posted on 6/7/2000 3:25 PM MST


In Reply to: Yeah- what exactly is meant by 'best'? posted by colleen on 6/6/2000 9:01 PM MST:



When I put out the initial top ten list, i had stated that the top ten robots on my list were basically the robots that turned my head the most, by no means did i mean that one robot was better than another. In my eyes, there really is no best robot, because the variety of robots and styles differ so much. So like i said, when reading these top tens you should remember that its not how good your robot is or how well you did, its how much fun you had at the competitions.