Most Innovative Teams

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by TEE

2008: 217 for their... what to call it... claw? Simple, but arguably one of the most effective systems. Also, 27 for the way they picked up the ball (and earlier in the season, I believe they knocked off both of their track balls in autonomous)

2009: 1114 could either shoot straight into an opposing trailer or over the top of an opposing robot into that robot's trailer, at the same speed with a turreted shooter. Also, both 70 and 494 could score all 7 balls in autonomous. 67 for their double-shooter.

2010: 469... need I explain? 33 for their drive train and hanging. 1114 for their hanging- does anyone know how they lifted so fast?!

Using all four drive motors. I believe them and us were the only teams who did it; they actually did it in matches, we only ever did it on the practice field as we were more focused on getting ball control working.

[TEE]

Yeah, that deserves the title of "most innovative" =]

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by TEE

2009: 1114 could either shoot straight into an opposing trailer or over the top of an opposing robot into that robot's trailer, at the same speed with a turreted shooter. Also, both 70 and 494 could score all 7 balls in autonomous. 67 for their double-shooter.

217 and 228 also had this. 1114 tended to use it a lot more than 217 did, though, and 228 wasn't really at a level high enough to demonstrate it.

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

Using all four drive motors. I believe them and us were the only teams who did it; they actually did it in matches, we only ever did it on the practice field as we were more focused on getting ball control working.

Poofs did it or some variant of it too. They also did it in 2004.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

Poofs did it or some variant of it too. They also did it in 2004.

They only used two motors for their hanging motion.

[The Cyborg]

79 this year also had a really cool and quick hanging mechanism, sometimes they even went much higher than was necessary (it was cool to see that) .

78's rolling hanger mechanism was also very innovative.

71 had in incredibly innovative robot back in 2004! The only robot I have seen to simultaneously hang AND score a 2x ball. Very nice!
They also had a pretty innovative bot back in 2005. They were able to carry multiple tetras similar to 469.

I think the most innovative robot I have ever seen so far was, obviously, 469's robot this year. I don't think I have ever seen a robot in action that could successfully "break the game" like 469 could. I didn't even think it was possible! They had an incredible machine that had the entire FIRST nation baffled as to how they could compete against such an awesome robot.

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by Chris Hibner

How about team 45 from 1999-2002 and their innovations in bringing gear shifting to FIRST. That eventually led to AndyMark, which I'm sure everyone has heard of.

Other good ones:

67 in 1998: the first omni wheel in FIRST.

47 in 1998: the first swerve drive system.

27 in 2002: the first Archimedes Screw ball storer/sorter that I saw.

111 in 2001: the first help-your-partners ramp-bot to be successful.

All of these robots, along with 236 in 2002 (also were one of the pioneers of the archimedes screw ball management systems), 45 in multiple years for pioneering the "roller claw," 111 in 2003 for their autonomous, and 357 in 2005 (?) for pioneering the use of mecanum drives in FIRST.

Many of the robots mentioned in this had cool robots that aren't typical, but not all of them were incredibly innovative. Power take-offs and gas springs for hanging existed in 2004, though most of the lineage of these devices is lost to time for most teams (so with the exceptions of a few, many of the devices re-emergence in 2010 was due to a new set of innovations). Some of the other innovations mentioned are really cool, but not as concrete in terms of impact. For instance, the greater usage of complex linkages in FIRST bots is one of the cooler sets of mechanical innovations these days, but can be attributed to a number of teams (217, 229, 1565, 1625, etc.) and doesn't always hold true from year-to-year. Random unorthodox mechanisms, while they may be cool, aren't always the most innovative. And "game breaking" strategies is really 71's calling card, regardless of how close 469 came this year.

And on another note, how about 254 and 60 for their pioneering of the concept of inter-team collaboration?

Originally Posted by Chris is me

I'm going to give it to 1625 here... 6 wheel swerve is essentially "the best of both worlds" and doesn't require complicated programming or chaining just to get a zero point turn like most swerve drives. It's also not that much heavier and eliminates the need for transmissions; all reductions are done with chain and a gear reduction on the module. I wanted to see 1625 swerve in front of 469 this year...

I don't think that "most" swerve drives require either of those things to accomplish a zero-point turn, or certainly not to any greater extent than 1625. The variants in-line with 118's style of swerve drive might, but there are plenty of varieties that do not.

[Akash Rastogi]

60 for starting (?) the sleek and efficient cantilevered "West Coast" drive and 254 and 968 for perfecting their process and implementation of the drive year to year.

Also definitely the introduction of the linkage arms and popularization by teams like 217 229

Who was the first team to modify DeWalts for FRC use?
.

[Joe Ross]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

45 in 2004 for pioneering the "roller claw,"

You might notice something interesting about 45 in 1998.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

Many of the robots mentioned in this had cool robots that aren't typical, but not all of them were incredibly innovative.

Agreed, I was tempted to post a definition of innovative in this thread...

[akeisic]

Most innovative? Off the top of my head a couple of robots stand out in my mind...(and going back a little)

2000: Team 47: Swerve drive. I can't say for sure, but they might have been the first team to use a swerve drive. The rest of the robot was spectacular - and I don't think they ever used their "jaw" feature in competition. I'm still impressed by this robot!

2000: Team 25: The cherry picker robot. While I never saw the robot up close, you knew no one else built anything like it.

2001: Team 267: The only team to LIFT a goal. They may not have had enormous success that year, but those goals were heavy! See the pictures I posted.

2002: Team 71: The walker robot. This is the robot that forced the rule about metal contact with the carpet. Starting from vertical, the robot flopped, grabbed 3 goals and then "walked" to victory. I think it's the only walker FIRST bot built.
...
2008: Team 1114: I don't think most people can even imagine the robot they designed. No other team manipulated the ball the way they did.

2009: Team 148: The way they picked up the balls, stored them and ejected them was amazing - amazingly simple too! While they weren't the only bot of the type, they perfected the design.

2010: Team 469: Duh!

[EricH]

1997: 71 had a detaching mechanism that dominated the game, with the help of the rest of the robot. (The next year, no detaching mechanisms intentionally became part of the rules.)

NBD: I believe that was 47, not sure of the year. (It was before Dr. Joe posted the whitepaper, though.)

With regards to 71 in 2004, 190 in that same year had the capability to steal the doubler from their opponent's goal and place it on their own, while hanging, while blocking the entire bar. I don't recall that they ever actually did it in competition, though, at least while I was watching. Two other teams also tried for the steal, but one scrapped it entirely and one switched to a simple descorer device.

[TEE]

Originally Posted by akeisic

Most innovative? Off the top of my head a couple of robots stand out in my mind...(and going back a little)


2002: Team 71: The walker robot. This is the robot that forced the rule about metal contact with the carpet. Starting from vertical, the robot flopped, grabbed 3 goals and then "walked" to victory. I think it's the only walker FIRST bot built.

I saw a video of that, and I'd have to say that qualifies- so amazing ^_^

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by JesseK

2007 (drive train): 254/968's introduction of the ultra-light transmission with teflon-impregnated 7068 aluminum gears. 2-3 lbs (?) for a reliable shifting transmission is unheard of.

It was a little over a pound, 2-3 lbs is really not that uncommon for the same style 2 speed.

[Don Wright]

Actually...after thinking a little more about this, I would like to revise my answer slightly.

To me, while there are many great teams and great robots in FIRST, or great innovative ways to play the game, but if I think of innovation, it is things I see that will forever change the way I think about solutions to robot features.

Maybe these mentions weren't the first or only time for these solutions, but they were the first time for me.

This narrows my answers a bit:

111 in 2003: My first swerve (crab) drive robot.
67 in 2004: My first flop bot.
1114 in 2008: using a transmission dog gear and transmission to wind up and hold with a quick fire release.
25 in 2010: their fan suction ball manipulator. We spent sooo much time with our self-centering rollers and I wonder if something like this would have worked for us. So, from now on if there is a need to grab and hold onto one ball, we will think of this suction type device.

[Rob]

Most of the responses here have focused on technical aspects of robots, but I am going to "shift gears" a bit.

From my standpoint teams 365 and 1902 have shown innovative methods of team organization and structure that offer great advantages. The 501(c)3 independent non-profit organization structure is an innovative way to run a team.

Both of those teams were very inspirational to 78 in creating our 4-H club based organization. We owe our unique structure to them and the teams like them who have followed this path.

Rob