Predictions Championship 2015: Tesla

[Looking Forward]

Tips:
Without many proven canburglars in the subdivision, teams that can both score and snatch cans will be in high demand. 2137 and 340 both fit that description. Depending on who adds devices to acquire cans in autonomous and how fast they are, there's a chance that GRR and TORC can go very early in alliance selection simply because their hooks will be in such high demand. However, the division is very deep with human player scoring machines, and it will be difficult for either team to outshine many of their competitors in that aspect. TORC is the more established scoring machine of the pair, with a pair of district wins and an alliance captaincy at MSC to their credit. They spent most of the season using a tape-measure based single grabber, but upgraded it to a hook based design capable of grabbing two totes within the first couple seconds of autonomous. Neither team cangrabs at a pace that would be competitive on Einstein, but simply providing additional cans will be a premium on Tesla.

A number of Missouri teams had great seasons this year, and two of the best are represented on Tesla. Both 1658 and 1806 can put up triple max stacks in a good match. SWAT won Oklahoma after a finals trip at GKC, and are a little more consistent at putting up the third column of totes even if they lack some stack stability. The Tech Heads won their first ever event at their only regional of the season, just down the road from the Edward Jones Dome at Chaifetz Arena. While much of Missouri's firepower is concentrated around Kansas City, 1658 represents the best chance for a hometown hero to keep some hardware along the Mississippi.

The Utah regional turned out to be the sleeper powerhouse event of the season, and a finals trip by 2122 helped propel their star upwards. They followed that up with a dominant outing at Arizona West, topping 200 points three times during the playoffs and consistently putting up three stacks from the feeder station. Team Tators has had elimination outings at Championship and IRI in the past, but had largely been overlooked by many in the FRC community. They have a chance to root themselves firmly in the FRC psyche in a wide open Tesla division this year.

Without a doubt, 3824 has the best robot in their history so far. RVA RoHAWKtics captained the #1 alliances to banners at both Smoky Mountain and Palmetto. At Knoxville they managed to complete and score a third full stack in multiple matches, and are definitely one of the better human player stackers out there. However, Tesla is a rough draw for human player stackers, since there's so many that compete at about the same level. 3824 lacks the autonomous and canburgling features to separate themselves from the crowd at this point, but they do have the ability to enlarge or cap other teams' stacks, which could be useful for maximizing the value of middle tier alliance partners. That doesn't always do much good if they don't have more recycling containers to play with. If they want to play more than a couple matches on Saturday morning, they're going to need to ensure their alliance has an edge in the can wars.

Dark Horse:
It took fourteen years and seven trips to the finals, but 1403 finally walked away as an event champion this season. Cougar Robotics won the Bridgewater-Raritan district event with their three time GM Industrial Design award winning human player stacker. They upgraded from five highs to maxed out stacks at MAR Championship and reached the semi-finals on the 3rd alliance. While they're not going to blow any of the other corner stackers away in the division, they're consistent play should have them in the thick of things and let them see their first championship elimination round action since their rookie season.

Sleeper:
Hyperion took a big leap forward between the first and second event, as they worked out the kinks of their machine and their drive crew learned how to handle it. 3360 hopes to take a similar leap forward once more heading into St. Louis. They're one of only a few teams on Tesla that specialize at mining the landfill, but they may be able to boost their output by working with a tethered ramp. With the quantity of capable human loaders in this division, expect to see 3360 working midfield in many matches and in the playoffs, though. They have a beautifully engineered machine and play a scarce role, so on the right alliance they could be dangerous.

Locks:
The Roboteers got a taste of Einstein in 2014, and are looking to make it two years in a row after winning Rock City and Central Illinois as the top seed. In a field loaded with corner loaders, the Roboteers are the most proven landfill robot of the bunch, capable of two 36 point stacks. More importantly still, they make those stacks with the center cans, enabling their partners access to the starting containers and raising their point potential. Combined with their autonomous and coopertition ability, that will give them a massive leg up during qualifications. However, they're reaching arm isn't going to win any autonomous can races, so 2481 is still going to need some assistance in the canburgling department if they plan on making a deep run. Still, they should be in a great position to ensure they can make the type of alliance they want to.

624 went from never winning more than one regional in a season to capturing three in 2015. CRyptonite has the most convincing resume of any of the human loaders in the division, and they back it up with a reliable 20 point autonomous that yields them the highest average autonomous score coming into Tesla. While a number of other human player loaders are within spitting distance of them, 2015 looks like CRyptonite's best chance yet of reaching the division finals (or more).