Best robot

didnt see anyone from the south either (UCF regional to be more specific)

while i agree that simple bots can be very successful in competition, more complex ones still outshine. A simple bot that is lightning fast does nothing against a team like 192 which shifts on the fly between custom gear ratios (one really fast, and one really strong). Also, I want to see a robot that can reliably beat out team 60. I don’t care how fast you are…the one way net of death combined with lightning speed and being immovable on the ramp is pretty bulletproof.

I think DanLevin247 put it best. Nobody here has seen -all- the teams. Let alone all the teams going to Nationals. Because of that, I don’t think anyone can really make an accurate judgement of who is best.
Sure, it’s very possible that one (or mor) of the teams already mentioned by be in the champion alliance this year, but then again, maybe not. (and yes, I know Gope asked not who would win, but that seems to be the air of responses)
There are a lot of really cool, effective, bots out there that often get screwed over by poor or unappealing alliance partners. Some teams have half their matches 2 v 1 and lose them all. Others have them 2 v 1 and win them all…

ā€œThe bestā€ is a relative term to begin with. The best design to do what? Stacker, KotH, sweeper, pretty-to-look-at?

As to the highest quality construction aspect? I believe that any team of students that poured their blood and sweat into the machine to get it to work right should be given high honors.
Many teams have machine shop made parts and professional welding. I’m not going to bring this into the engineer vs student debate, but I think if the students built it, they should get a bonus in comparison to a professionally built machine.

There’s my 2Ā¢, don’t spend it all in one place.

*Originally posted by ROJO *
**while i agree that simple bots can be very successful in competition, more complex ones still outshine. A simple bot that is lightning fast does nothing against a team like 192 which shifts on the fly between custom gear ratios (one really fast, and one really strong). Also, I want to see a robot that can reliably beat out team 60. I don’t care how fast you are…the one way net of death combined with lightning speed and being immovable on the ramp is pretty bulletproof. **

130 pounds surrounded by diamond plate armor.
13.6 feet per second.
A heckuvalotta force.
10 seconds is all thats needed to move an immovable object.

311 271 173 108 180

quote:

Originally posted by ROJO
while i agree that simple bots can be very successful in competition, more complex ones still outshine. A simple bot that is lightning fast does nothing against a team like 192 which shifts on the fly between custom gear ratios (one really fast, and one really strong). Also, I want to see a robot that can reliably beat out team 60. I don’t care how fast you are…the one way net of death combined with lightning speed and being immovable on the ramp is pretty bulletproof.

130 pounds surrounded by diamond plate armor.
13.6 feet per second.
A heckuvalotta force.
10 seconds is all thats needed to move an immovable object.

hrmm, well by the end of the LA regionals, 'bots were getting to 60. Going under its wings and pushing them from there, it’ll be a toughie but it prolly could be done. Man, too bad we didnt get our custom transmission in, 25 ft/sec in fast gear, heckuva lotta push in low, shift on the fly =(

25 ft/sec in fast gear, heckuva lotta push in low, shift on the fly =(

25 fps? Thats something I gotta see! Could you guys turn well, or did you risk blowing a transmission on the drills?

So far all I have seen is people voting for teams in their region of the country or themselves…

My opinion

I havent seen or heard about any truely dominant robots this year with a few exceptions. Some machines early in the year that started off pretty dominant that were beating out teams early were starting to be beaten in the later regionals by teams that have started to get their complex machines tweaked properly and strategies corrected. There are no truely dominant robots this year unlike teams like Hammond in 2001 and 2002 and Chief Delphi in 2000, who imho should have taken it all at the championships.

This is going to be the most interesting championships we have seen in a long time. About everyone has a decent shot of taking it all. I can’t wait to see this go down

I agree I have seen alot of teams that I thought would win some regionlas that were beaten.

has 180 been to any regionals outside of UCF?

*Originally posted by petek *
**Another favorite would have to be 384. Not as fast as 25, but just as well driven and I was really impressed that the students do all the work on it while the mentors gab with visitors. A really great bunch of people, who have also won a couple of regionals this year I believe. **

Thanks for the comment. I think 103 is really good too. I also like 639, 810, and 1082.

*Originally posted by ROJO *
[Also, I want to see a robot that can reliably beat out team 60. I don’t care how fast you are…the one way net of death combined with lightning speed and being immovable on the ramp is pretty bulletproof. [/b]

In one of the qualifying rounds at LA, 330 (Beach Bot) was able to push 60 off the ramp! They’ve got a fabulous machine, but they’re not totally immovable.

Just to get some of those northeast teams in there, from what ive seen so far from the regionals ive been to.

173 - Lightning fast, great autonmous mode and pusher

571 - Another deadly, lightning fast robot,

58 - Good autonomous mode and just knew how to win

176 - They do not lose the ramp…ever,definately the coolest autonomous mode ever! Shame they aren’t going to nats.

157 - Awsome autonomous mode…and they will always get up when knocked over! (very important quality)

Of course there are more…but those are some of my quick hit favorites.

Good Luck,
Andy Grady

I would have to agree with my buddy Joe on 103, I as well think they have a good bot. But as for the ā€œbestā€ robot, in my opinion, there will not be a ā€œbest robotā€. There will be a robot that goes out there and has reliability in what they do, and can preform like it is built to, but it will not do something as well as another bot. You can have a pushing bot, that will push with great power, and do its job, but the team that built it put an arm on it, and it became useless, a ā€œchopperā€ bot that swings an arm around, and it can do that fast and with good power, but if it gets hit just right, over it goes. I think there will be a best for stacking, pushing, and king of the hill, but not a best at both stacking a king of the hill or something like that. But I have not sceen all of the bots in action, so I’m not going to make a solid guess on this one.
ivey

from what I have seen, 365 and 73 are my favorites because of their efficient stacking mechanism

Unlike those here who forget that their team # shows on their message, I’ll tell you that I am from 696. There have been a lot of great bots this year, but I really like team 60’s and ours. I realize that this is biased, but we made such a great team when we were together. We also made a real nice match for eachother. I think that 60 is reliable and can shut the field down. That is cool, but our robot, HEATHER, just darts from place to place and causes trouble. Together, we make an unstoppable force to be reckoned with.

Best long shot bots (sit in starting area and hit stack)
71
148

Best King Of The Hill Bots
60
118

Best PURE Stackers
73
365
213

Best Plow Bots
16
25
121
And i dont’ know how they haven’t been mentioned yet but
236!

Chris
229

*Originally posted by Chris *
**Best long shot bots (sit in starting area and hit stack)
71
148
**

Add to that 980.

oh, yeah. Add 980. They were a topic of our strategy for many hours…so hard to counter.

Of the robots I’ve seen at 3 Regionals and heard about on various discussions, I think that the best robot in the field is made by team 16.

Not only do they have an excellent robot, they have had their share of ā€œbad luckā€ in the finals during their 2 regionals.

I’ll bet that their luck is going to turn good.

We’ve had to face them in the finals twice. Once we broke down and once they broke down. Hopefully, we can meet again without either of having malfunctions.

Andy B.