What is the best robot EVER in FIRST?

[Kit Gerhart]

Originally posted by Karthik
I think most people were shocked that none of 16, 47 and 111 made to the quarter finals. All three teams ran into some horrible luck.

As one of the coaches with Team 45 that year, I remember what happened to Team 16 very well. We were in a match with them and a third team, the identity of which I don't remember. With a few seconds remaining, the human player from the third team threw a ball that knocked one of 16's balls from scoring position. That gave us the win that put us in the quarter finals, and we ended up winning the Big Event that year.

To this day, I don't know if the ball was deliberately intended to descore team 16, of if it was intended for "any opponent" on the field. It is certainly possible that Team 16, Bomb Squad was deliberately targeted because they were a "favorite," while at that time, we TechnoKats were pretty much an unknown team.

[Greg Mills]

One of the most memorable matches ever occurred in '98 at the Houston regional. Team 16 vs 47 in the finals. We waxed them in the first match but the Chief came back for two heart stopping hard fought wins to take the title. We were headed for a showdown at nationals but fell victim to the "two on one" matches and fell before the rematch could materialize.

Greg

[Andy Grady]

my top 5 best robots ever...

5. Beatty in 2001 - Self explanitory...they just couldn't lose.

4. 177 (The Bobcats) in 1998 - This was by far the best robot that didn't win a competition. It was fast, had a revolutionary ball pickup, and their driver was probably the best I have ever seen.

3. Chief Delphi, 2000 - Probably the most amazing machine ever built. It could do nearly everything and was a complete force everytime it was on the field.

2. Tigerbolt, 1996 - For its time, it was amazing. Lightning fast and it scored a perfect round just about EVERY ROUND! Just amazing.

1. Beatty 1997 - This was the most dominating robot ever. 3 seconds...thats all it took and the match was over. I remember watching in amazement, as most teams were just getting over to the human player by the time Beatty had the goal capped with 3 tubes on it. To this day, I still don't know if I could ever come up with the correct strategy to beat that robot, it was just too good.

[Deej]

Dude....Aztechs in 1999.....they had that 8 wheel drive system that glided right over the puck in the first few seconds of the match...for those who don' tknow, they had a 4 wheel main drive system, with 4 more wheels on rotating arms above the main wheels, when they got near the puck, rotated the arms down and in one simple (probably not that easy to control) they just drove over it....absolutely a beautiful robot....chaos from i think 2000, where they were able to steal from the troughs with ease, 60 from last year, and i was most definately impressed with wildstang this year, especially when they cleared out three of the four stacks in autonmous mode in their semifinal win!

[Andy Grady]

The Aztech 1999 robot did slip my mind. Just to show you how sweet this robot was, in 1999 at River Rage, the Aztechs went up against team 95. That year team 95 tipped the puck at a near 45° angle. In the round where the Aztechs and 95 faced off, the Aztechs got on top of the puck then 95 started tipping the puck trying to remove them from it. Instead of toppling over or sliding off like most robots did, the Aztechs used their articulating wheel system to keep them perpendicular to the ground at all times! It was amazing to see the puck tipped about 45° and the Aztechs sitting on top of it, with a basket full of floppies 8ft in the air...no harm no foul. As for 2000, CHAOS as well as Raider Robotics that year would be among my top teams also. I don't remember many teams who forced you to dramatically change strategy around them as much as these two teams, because they were so dangerous with picking balls out of the goals.

[Karthik]

Originally posted by Greg Mills
One of the most memorable matches ever occurred in '98 at the Houston regional. Team 16 vs 47 in the finals. We waxed them in the first match but the Chief came back for two heart stopping hard fought wins to take the title. We were headed for a showdown at nationals but fell victim to the "two on one" matches and fell before the rematch could materialize.

Greg

If I recall correctly, team 47 also fell victim to the "two on one" strategy that year as well.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

As a response to Brian Beatty's request here is a picture of Wildstang 97. There are also other pictures, recently added at http://www.wildstang.org/ Look under history and our robots.
You will see that our lift is almost fully extended to a working height of 14 feet I think it was. The basket holds 4 toroids and actually rotates over the top of the structure. That allowed us to pick up and align tubes over the PVC pipe, then grab and lift, drive over to the pyramid. (which rotated BTW) Then the claw would rotate up and over all other robots who were positioning on top. During one match, the refs had to borrow a ladder from the janitors to check to see if all the tubes counted. They had to be centered over an imaginary line that ran up through the center of the pyramid and we were so high the refs couldn't tell from the ground. Thanks Brian, I only saw this play at Midwest, it was before my travel days.
Apparently is was also in the days before permanent team numbers because it looks like the number 81 is on the side. I like 111 better, it's easier to remember. Don't look for battery or control system, you won't find them. This was still in the days of Tekin controllers and portable drill batteries plugged into a drill handle for power. One battery per side, chain drive to tank, no ground clearance, lot's of human player action, 1 vs 1 vs 1.

[Chris Hibner]

I must agree that WildStang's 1997 robot was my favorite, with Chief Delphi's 2000 entry a close 2nd.

Brian: You said that it was amazing that WildStang could extend that tall when it had to start out under 4 feet tall. I could've swore that the height restriction for that year was 3 feet, not 4.

Also for Andy Grady: I must agree that Beatty's 2001 was an amazing robot, and one of the best of all time. However, to say that they couldn't lose is not exactly true. In fact, they DID lose in a post-season invitational. That was a happy moment for me, so I'll never forget it (not happy that they lost, but happy that we were able to beat them).

Al: Permanent numbers started with the 1998 season. We would be team 162 if we didn't take a new number (we changed schools) in 1999.

One last one: I actually like Beatty's 1999 entry as one of my favorites. That robot did everything that year. I was shocked when they lost in the elims at nationals.

-Chris

[P.J. Baker]

I'm attaching this picture of the '98 Bobcat. I was not part of the team that year, but did get to see Doug and Jessie drive it a lot the following year when I joined the team.

I've often felt that this machine gets overlooked in these discussions (except by Andy Grady). That year 177 took the Quality awards at NH and EPCOT as well as the #1 seed at EPCOT. Unfortunately, they too fell victim to the 2 v. 1 aspect of the early elimination rounds.

As far as my personal favorites from the years I've been doing this, I'd go with:

CD 2000 - incredibly complete and fun to watch
Beatty 2001 - by far the best of the small handfull that figured out how to beat the game that year
Bobcat 2001 - I'm biased, but this was the most versatile ball machine out there and incredibly simple to boot.
Wildstang 2003 - extremely well suited for the game. If you understand a little bit about how their automode works, you are even more amazed. While I'm very happy for Tommy and the gang at 190, I was stunned the 111 did not go home with the Leadership in Controls award.

[Fighters]

2003: Team #365

[anish]

By far my favorite bot!

[Spikey]

Um the Delphi bot from 2000 was not all that, At Rutgers our Robot Spike 3 beat it hands down, we were faster, more powerful, and we could hang form the bar. We could steal the oppents black ball before anyone else could"En Fuego" manuver. Team 25 and Team 175 Buzz might remember us teamed with you guys at Rutgers and we won. 25 had the crane bot that year and we delivered the ball to the trough while 25 picked off any balls that the other teams got.
I'm sure anyone from the 2000 season that went to Drexell or Rutgers can remember that. I can get some pics if you like.

[Tom Schindler]

Originally posted by Deej
Dude....Aztechs in 1999.....they had that 8 wheel drive system that glided right over the puck in the first few seconds of the match...for those who don' tknow, they had a 4 wheel main drive system, with 4 more wheels on rotating arms above the main wheels, when they got near the puck, rotated the arms down and in one simple (probably not that easy to control) they just drove over it....absolutely a beautiful robot....chaos from i think 2000, where they were able to steal from the troughs with ease, 60 from last year, and i was most definately impressed with wildstang this year, especially when they cleared out three of the four stacks in autonmous mode in their semifinal win!

A few pics of aztecs that year - i loved their bot also!

[Joe Matt]

Only one bot deserves this title:

Beaty 2002


One word: wow. I did what MOE and Sparky 3 couldn't do and did it well.

[ssjcell]

Originally posted by Spikey
Um the Delphi bot from 2000 was not all that, At Rutgers our Robot Spike 3 beat it hands down, we were faster, more powerful, and we could hang form the bar. We could steal the oppents black ball before anyone else could"En Fuego" manuver. Team 25 and Team 175 Buzz might remember us teamed with you guys at Rutgers and we won. 25 had the crane bot that year and we delivered the ball to the trough while 25 picked off any balls that the other teams got.
I'm sure anyone from the 2000 season that went to Drexell or Rutgers can remember that. I can get some pics if you like.

ya i definatly agree with you there, while nice, ididnt think CD 2000 was all that powerful.
Our alliance that year was a definate powerhouse, one of my fav alliances ever infact, being paired with buzz and your robot was awesome, that single competition turned our whole "losing/loser" team around.
anyways, you guys were defiantly stronger than CD that year, also i remember a little grasshopper that seemed to give the CD guys some trouble out on the field, in all honest watching them go against each other was hillarious, the outcome was even better.

[D.Fahringer]

That has to be the Team 177 Arm Claw bot of 2001, fast, powerful, and long reaching. It could allow a robot that could not
balance a goal to do it easily because it could reach all the way with it's goal until the ramp tipped to the other side allowing the partner to just push one up and the bobcat would balance both!

[Jonathan M.]

16 (Baxter Bomb Squad) 2002 was a great bot. It could handle balls like no bodies buisness. Few other bots that year worked with them as well. It was just a great robot.

[Adam Krajewski]

By years, I'd go with...
2003: WildStang (111) for the hands-down best autonomous mode and the reigning King of the Hill.
2002: Beatty (71) for the second year in a row, they figured out exactly how to win the game.
2001: Beatty (71) for a design that perfectly won the game.
2000: ChiefDelphi (47) for the most impressive piece of engineering I've seen on a FIRST robot.
1999: OSMTech (27) for the fastest puck climber.
1998: Baxter Bomb Squad (16) for the best ball manipulation.

2000 was my favorite year, as far as robots go. Amazing machines from teams 1, 16, 25, 64, 67, 71, 111, 175, 190 and more.

My favorite robot that I've had the pleasure to work on was the 1999 Truck Town Terror (68) machine, despite her nasty habit of destroying drill motors and speed controllers as quickly as we could put them on.

Adam

[Etbitmydog]

My pick (OK so I am a little prejudice!) is Wildstang 2000

Arr.. I must agree! I saw that robot and it's ridiculous. I've never seen something pick up balls like that. It was cool!

[Brian Beatty]

To Al S. ( 111) Thanks for the great picture!!!! I forgot that you were #81 that year.

For Chris Hibner-- the height for 1997 was 4'; The 1996
restriction was only 3'

As for Chief 2000, in my top 5---brilliant

Another 2 bots to look at; 1994 Tower of Power-- Sunny Delight vs. Ingersoll Rand. Those two robots fill out my top 5. The tape of their match still gives me goosebumps to watch.

Tigerbolt 1996 In myTop 10. The finals with E-systems went three rounds with the final round decided by a tie-breaker. Most exciting finals ever.

Sincerely,

Brian Beatty

[Jesse177]

Thanks PJ and Andy. I am Jesse from team 177, and I was a driver from 96 to 99, and I coached from 00 to 01.

I would have to say my favorites are:

01' 177 We could balance 2 off the ramp with help, score balls on both sides of ramp while we were on one side, under bar... Our drivers were great. Also team I liked team 126 with their team members. They were a great team to work with. We won the NE regional with them

00' 131 was a quick, and how 177 could hang quickly and defend the goal.

99' team 56, Robe Extreme and Quincy's floppy harvester. At the Rumble at the Rock this year, we proved to be pretty rugged.

98' 177 Yes, I am partial, but we did catch a ball in the air in our last match in NE against 47 and scored it in the last few seconds to make the final score a tie. We lost by a tie breaker. And as PJ said, we did win quality awards at both the NE regional and nationals. I also liked how 67 could score from either side of their machine.

97' Beatty. Talk about scoring fast. We finished 4th with our team 59 ring wrangler in the nationals

96' Nashua had good drivers. Hexcaliber looked impressive, and we were the Hexersist. Tigerbolt was definitely the team to beat

Yes, I know my picks are a little too partial to my own team, but hey, everyone loves their team.

[Rob Colatutto]

my favorite idea for a 2001 bot has to be 111's mobile bridge robot. a very amazing robot that was able to balance the bridge while letting other robots drive over it

[Jake177]

Originally posted by D.Fahringer
That has to be the Team 177 Arm Claw bot of 2001, fast, powerful, and long reaching. It could allow a robot that could not
balance a goal to do it easily because it could reach all the way with it's goal until the ramp tipped to the other side allowing the partner to just push one up and the bobcat would balance both!

I know that I'm more than a little bit biased, but I apreciated every minute of video that I took of that bot. Of course, what's a good bot without good drivers (Tommy and Eric). I definately think that one of the things that really worked against us at Nationals was that (no offense) there wasn't really a team in our division that could put the other goal onto the bridge without being on it themselves. But I'm not complaining (UTC Regional Winner, Design Award (UTC Regional), Galileo Winner). One last thing that has still puzzled me to this day. At Nationals that year, team 38 won the design award (and I'm not saying that they didn't deserve it), but they were also at the UTC Regional, and we were the ones that the judges gave it to.

[Mike Rush]

64 in 2000, was one of the best ever. Even Woody remarked to me after a match that we made the game look too easy. I thought that was a pretty good review.....

[crispyc]

I have to say that although I have only been involved since 2001, that team 60 from last year (2002) is my favorite bot of all time. I was the human player on team 144 last year, and when we got the number one seed in the curie division, we had the awesome privilege of inviting them to our alliance, and they sure lived up to their name. We didn't lose a single match through the division brackets, only to be put out by Beatty in two close matches in the first rounds of the final four. Man, those are some sweet memories...

You think that since Beatty beat us I would give them the props of having the better bot. Although I do agree that it was another awesome robot, I guess I was a little partial to my alliance teammate

Oh, and, not to mention.. the previous year team 144 was beaten by the beatty alliance in the finals at florida!

Needless to say I'm not a huge beatty fan.. but I am, since its all in good fun.

[WakeZero]

Originally posted by crispyc
I was the human player on team 144 last year, and when we got the number one seed in the curie division, we had the awesome privilege of inviting them to our alliance, and they sure lived up to their name. We didn't lose a single match through the division brackets, only to be put out by Beatty in two close matches in the first rounds of the final four. Man, those are some sweet memories...

Lol, they not only lived up to their name... they put it in the FIRST Hall of Fame forever in my mind. I was driver for your other alliance partner that year (64 The Gila Monsters) and I have every second of that last match etched into my brain.

Semifinal 2: Match 2 (Clash of the Titans is what I call it):

60 (Kingman) speeds into two goals and latches on, a few seconds later crashing into 71 (Beatty) at very high speeds thanks to a little push by 64 (Gila Monsters).

While the giants fight for dominance of the two goals now interlocked between them, 173 (Rage) rushes over and grabs onto the other goal. As 173 is about to go scoop up some balls, 64 swerves around 60 and 71 in one fluid motion to pin 173 up against the rail. 173 tries to get around but 64 keeps strafing back and forth keeping them pinned either against the rail or the two giants who are motionless as both are still interlocked. All three goals and robots are in the 60 and 64 zone, and the pushing match continues.

25 seconds, 24, 23 and then the dreaded 22. I will never forget seeing the light of 64s robot going dead. Not sparing anytime, Rage pushes by 64 and puts the goal in their scoring zone. With almost no time left they spit out their tape measure and it lands perfectly in their end zone.

The buzzer sounds, and the match is over. Everyone waits anxiously to find out the score:

60 and 64: 31 pts (2 goals)
71 and 173: 32 pts (1 goal)

One ball decided the entire match, as a tie went to the winner who had the most goals that year.

Both alliances cried, one for joy and one for their hardwork coming down to a sad but beautiful end. It was a match I will never forget, and it is also what fuels my desire to one day hold the Championship trophy that the team I am on has earned

Anyway, a little biased too... but that is why I love 60 so much

71 will always hold my respect as well, but that is more in a "I want to beat you" kind of way

[crispyc]

Man you remember it just as clearly as I do... was one of the most tense matches I've ever watched. I at first thought we had won it, because I didn't see the tongue that they unrolled into their robot zone. Thoughts of what could have been ran through my head for weeks afterwards, but I can't be disappointed to get as far as we got.

I'm glad i finally found someone on here to share this experience with!!! Makes me feel all warm inside thinking about it.

And yeah, I'd also too like to hold the national champ trophy

[Pat Roche]

I must say that one bot that should be recognized indefinately is the 2002 bot from team 95. They had the quickest ball pickup mechanism AND dump system i have ever seen. Within 10 seconds one row of balls could be picked up. One word...simply amazing.

-Pat

I think that the best robots would be 2002 team 71 , 2003 wildstang for totally dominating the ramp and 1999 technokats with the big arm that would swing around (for a second i thoguht it was like battlbe bots or sumthin, that arm was amazing) and have good defense skills

[Kyle Love]

Okay folks, my pick for the favorite robot this time goes all the way back to the beginning. The 1992 Technokats robot. Call me crazy but it looks cool I think. Even though this sounds a bit prejudice. If you haven't got a chance to see it in person it's normally at our competitions. It is really small and can easily be carried by one person. Tell me what all you guys' think about it if you have seen it. Hopefully, someday, we can compete with it in a retro match. Go to here for a pic.

-Kyle