Predictions for Championship

[Tom Bottiglieri]

What are everyones predictions for who will take home the ever wanted title of 2004 FIRST National Champion?

There are some criteria to this question though..

1) Have you been to a regional with this team?
2) How are they as alliance partners?
3) How are they as Opponents?
4) What do you think is special about this team that would help them to victory?
5) Any Special Circumstances

My Answer...

My pick for national champs would have to be my local favorite this year, 716

1) We have been to 2 regionals with 716, NJ and UTC. They did amazingly great in NJ, and really well at UTC.
2) They are by far our favorite team to be allianced with. They are very open to different strategies, and can apapt very well to what your robot does. Also, they have the COOLEST/NICEST drive team ever.
3) 716 puts up a fight in every match... just look at their #3 seed in NJ
4) Theyre hanging arm is so great. They can hang in seconds and do it every time. They are extremely fast and can power over any robot (i believe i saw a pic of their tranny on here) Also, the are able to push robots OFF the top platform while hanging.
5) Well, this year has been great for CT teams. Mens UCONN winning the championship. Women are going to win it tonight. I think this good luck spree will spread to a FIRST team as well.

[Collin Fultz]

Looking over the list of qualifiers for National Chairman's Award...this year I can guarantee it will go to a very deserving team...no matter who wins.

Good Luck Everybody.

[Todd Derbyshire]

I'm not sure what exact time will win the championships this year but I know have a good hunch on how it will be won. I believe the alliance that will win will be an alliance comprised of one partner hanging and blocking the bar while the other alliance partner caps and then hangs. Got any ideas of who those people are??

[Pin Man]

Originally Posted by Todd Derbyshire

I'm not sure what exact time will win the championships this year but I know have a good hunch on how it will be won. I believe the alliance that will win will be an alliance comprised of one partner hanging and blocking the bar while the other alliance partner caps and then hangs. Got any ideas of who those people are??

88 can do all that!!!!!!

But other than that I love 1114's robot... They have a great robot... They need a team that has a great scouting program to win though because I'm not sure if they have one or not...

I heard someone say that 111 can hang in auto mode!?!?! That is really just amazing... Truly is...

[Karthik]

Originally Posted by Pin Man

But other than that I love 1114's robot... They have a great robot... They need a team that has a great scouting program to win though because I'm not sure if they have one or not...

Thanks for the kind words. We actually do have a very useful Palm scouting database. It keeps track of all the information you could possibly want. I've found it to be a great tool when it comes to match preparation and alliance picking. If anyone's interested I could put some screenshots together.

[Pin Man]

Originally Posted by Karthik

Thanks for the kind words. We actually do have a very useful Palm scouting database. It keeps track of all the information you could possibly want. I've found it to be a great tool when it comes to match preparation and alliance picking. If anyone's interested I could put some screenshots together.

That's cool... We have one but are having trouble getting it to sync into the lap tops... don't know what to do right now but we'll figure it out before nationals...

[Bharat Nain]

Originally Posted by Karthik

Thanks for the kind words. We actually do have a very useful Palm scouting database. It keeps track of all the information you could possibly want. I've found it to be a great tool when it comes to match preparation and alliance picking. If anyone's interested I could put some screenshots together.

I would like to know more about your scouting system. I've always wondered what Palm scouting is like

[ngreen]

I like 16 this year. I watched them at SLR.
They do everything faster than any team I've seen so far. They have good knowlege of strategy and are consistent in what they do. And they have been in two winning alliances so far. I see a third coming. They are just too good to count out. They are great as alliance partners. In St. Louis every elim match they played they won. They can do enough things well and FAST enough that they are a hard opponent. I mean de-cap a 2x ball and hang in the 20 second range fast.

[Aaron]

yeah i ahve to agree 16 is a great bot, i'm not sure if they will win nationals but i bet a team like it sure will.
The winning alliance will have two hangers and be able to control the 2x balls other than that its pretty much up to driver compitance.

Good luck to all!!!!!!!!!!!!!


P.S. i'm sensing an underdog win this year

[Yan Wang]

My prediction for winner is my favorite robot: Buzz9 by Team 33 the Killer Bees... There is a reason they were my first pick in Canada.

Their robot proves that small balls can win over any hangers. Getting 100+ points by themselves by small balls is just amazing. Now they can also HANG, adding another 50 points to that total. The way they pick up balls and the skill of their human player (whooooooo) is so amazing that it will be a shame if they don't at least win their division.

I wish 639 could come watch, but we're not coming to Championships this year.

[Brandon Holley]

I haven't seen anyone mention 71, 111,47, or if i might say 11. 71 caps while hanging. 111 hangs in autonomous mode. And from what i hear 47 caps quick and hangs quick. I don't want to brag but i have seen over 160 robots from our 3 regionals and of those i'd say we are in the top 3 robots there. I maybe wouldn't pick us to win, but division...very possible

[Matt_Kaplan1902]

I'm gonna go with team 233.

1) Have you been to a regional with this team?
2) How are they as alliance partners?
3) How are they as Opponents?
4) What do you think is special about this team that would help them to victory?
5) Any Special Circumstances

1) I saw them at the Central FL regional. Their radio broke in the last match of the finals, otherwise I think they would have won it.
2) Never was paired with them but hope to be in ATL
3) They never give up on a match. They can easily remove the 2x ball from any goal.
4) They can hang extremely fast and have great drivers.
5) Nothing I haven't already said.

[Figment]

I agree, my vote is for team 233 for the same reasons. They are very well prepared for nats and should put up a good fight against any opponent though winning won't come easy; the competition is fierce at nats and anything can happen.

[Jake177]

Another 3rd winning type was one which most of us unfortunately overlooked completely. It is the bot that stays below the ball drop and "nets" all the small balls.

We can consistantly catch more than half the ball drop, and I know we aren't the only team with a net.

All you do is cap the net and they are done for the match so I dont think that type of bot will go far. unless...they can also pick up the balls

This happened to us once in Philly (there is a picture in the photo gallery). But we can pick up small balls from the floor, one of our engineers claims that if we were to pick up enough, our convery system is strong enough to pop a 2x ball out of our basket.

You do not need a good ball robot to win. If you have two strong robot that one stops the ball robot and two stop the other robot from hanging.

Just because you're a ball bot, doesn't mean you have a weak drive train. We have a 2-speed shift on the fly drivetrain, so we can choose between speed and power. In the 16 matches we played at Philly, I believe we were only pushed out from under the ball drop once. We also managed to push 272 (the #1 seed) around and keep them from hanging when we faced them in the semi-finals.

[Tom Bottiglieri]

Originally Posted by MORT~11

I haven't seen anyone mention 71, 111,47, or if i might say 11. 71 caps while hanging. 111 hangs in autonomous mode. And from what i hear 47 caps quick and hangs quick. I don't want to brag but i have seen over 160 robots from our 3 regionals and of those i'd say we are in the top 3 robots there. I maybe wouldn't pick us to win, but division...very possible

not to burst your bubble, but i believe you were ranked like 40th in NJ...