Low vs. High robot poll

[itsjustjon]

Now, what would be interesting is to have a poll asking what teams are sacrificing in exchange for low bar capabilities.

The low bar is definitely a great strategy, and with a good enough drivetrain, you can get over all of the drivetrain-centric defenses (categories B and D).

My prediction is that a lot of low bar robots will be the 3rd pick at many regionals, and if these bots are able to run boulders to a courtyard shooter bot, then you have a solid team right there.

Can't wait till LA to see what the rookies and the veterans do.

[Dan Petrovic]

Originally Posted by itsjustjon

My prediction is that a lot of low bar robots will be the 3rd pick at many regionals, and if these bots are able to run boulders to a courtyard shooter bot, then you have a solid team right there.

I do believe that almost all winning alliances will have low robots, but I don't believe that it will be that common for a second pick to be relegated to boulder delivery. You may see it at higher profile events like ones in Texas, California, or Michigan, but the rest of the country will likely need all hands on deck in order to get the Breach and Capture bonuses.

[Hgree56]

Originally Posted by Procolsaurus

The largest compromise for choosing the low bar is you cannot also have a tall shooter.

Our team is actually working on a way to over come that. We've had a few designs and CADs passed around that might actually allow us to do both.

[Procolsaurus]

Wow I am amazed that 3/4 of the respondents are actually going to go for the low bar. Perhaps this will make the tall robots more valuable during alliance selections since I would think you only need one short bot per alliance.
Or maybe they will have modular robots and will only use a short conformation when they need to.

[MrForbes]

It's pretty early in the week still...we haven't decided yet.

[GeeTwo]

Most shooter bots will want the low bar ability, as it's the quickest, most consistent way to get from the secret passage to the opponent's courtyard. Putting boulders in the tower is the one set of scoring without a pre-defined cap, so this will likely become important at mid-levels and critical at higher levels. If someone plays defense against you, sure, they'll go there first, but if you didn't have that as an option, they'd pick whatever was your fastest crossing.

[evanperryg]

Originally Posted by GeeTwo

Putting boulders in the tower is the one set of scoring without a pre-defined cap, so this will likely become important at mid-levels and critical at higher levels.

This is such an important aspect of this game, and I'm surprised it hasn't seen more discussion of its own, especially predictions on when the turning point between breach metagame and capture metagame will occur. Personally, and this does not necessarily reflect the design decisions of my team, (I'll talk about that some other time, when there's actually a robot to show) I think a hybrid carry robot will be the most powerful machine this season. A bot that can solo 4 defenses, and throw in a few tower shots when it's convenient, and do a fast climb (<8 sec from touching the batter to full hang). As proven by the Ri3D teams, a bot with a decent drivetrain should be able to handle the B and D defenses without a problem. So, if you're making a hybrid carry robot, I see no reason why you wouldn't design it to fit under the low bar. Doing this would allow for three easy defenses, speeding up cycle time, thereby improving your viability at the highest levels of play. Is it challenging? Yes. Is it impossible? No.

[MikLast]

Originally Posted by GeeTwo

Most shooter bots will want the low bar ability, as it's the quickest, most consistent way to get from the secret passage to the opponent's courtyard. Putting boulders in the tower is the one set of scoring without a pre-defined cap, so this will likely become important at mid-levels and critical at higher levels. If someone plays defense against you, sure, they'll go there first, but if you didn't have that as an option, they'd pick whatever was your fastest crossing.

This is why we went with going for the low bar. We plan to have a barrel that can be lower than the horizontal side of our robot to more easily fit through the bar. My only concern is Madisons post on what size you actually need to be to fit through the low bar, and if we can do it with the Rhino Treads. and the shooter mechanism.

[lovelj]

3824 elected to try low bar for a few reasons. Most of it is related to competing at Palmetto this year (week 0).

1/ it's easy to make a small robot big, it isn't easy to make a big robot small. E.g. If it doesn't work, we can adapt easily.
2/ defenses are critical. If we had to knock out all defenses on our own, low bar is easier and faster than category C (dealing with week 0)
3/ build season stops at the end of your last tournament. Starting low makes it easier to adapt from regional to regional (compact design and low CG)

Most importantly we are testing Newtons 4th Law: all 3824 Robots will weigh 121 lbs on the night of bag and tag.

It would be cool to repeat the poll at week 6 to see what happens. That all said, watch for 3824's tall robot in Palmetto.

[MrJohnston]

Originally Posted by Procolsaurus

Wow I am amazed that 3/4 of the respondents are actually going to go for the low bar. Perhaps this will make the tall robots more valuable during alliance selections since I would think you only need one short bot per alliance.
Or maybe they will have modular robots and will only use a short conformation when they need to.

I've never seen the results of these polls be particularly accurate.... They are more fun than anything.... 3/4 of the respondents claim they are looking at a low-bar robot currently... How many will decide it doesn't fit their needs? How many are on the same team? How many are answering falsely? How many will try to put one out and fail? Even if these answers are being given truthfully and fairly, do the respondents even accurately represent the FRC community? etc.

Yup, we are considering a low bot. However, we are still prototyping and trying to figure out what configuration will best meet our primary objectives.... We have had tall robots every year since 2010....