I’m curious about which robots performed really well and caught your eye at Week Zero events across the world. I’ll start off with a sampling of robots that impressed me:
2052 is a powerhouse, as usual. They can do the scale and the switch really well, and have very good lifting ramps.
3244 probably has their best robot yet. They pulled off their scissor lift masterfully, and won quite a few battles for the scale. They can also launch cubes from their intake if need be.
2220 and 2846 both have awesome and accurate cube shooters. Blue Twilight has a consistent scale autonomous as well.
4607 is quite good at the exchange. They are also quite low to the ground in a game where many robots are tall, and that could serve as a huge advantage.
After somewhat of an off year, 2502 seems to be back. They have a nice elevator and double ramps, which will help them consistently face the boss.
And finally, 3883. With their excellent arm for manipulating cubes and climber, something tells me they’ll be at Champs for the first time this year.
I attended the official week zero event. The following robots got my attention, although I’m sure I have momentarily forgotten some.
I was impressed by 4905’s successful double ramp in Q10.
I thought 811 had the wackiest robot, as seen during Q2.
125’s robot was cool as usual, but I think they and their partners need some more practice when performing a double climb, as seen in QF3M1 when 811 fell over onto its side. I heard that they adjust their forklift while in queue based on their partner’s track, and use rc car wheels for their intake. 125 also got my attention when they broke through the scale in autonomous during Q6.
We thought 238 was one of the best scale bots at the event, and our suspicion was proved when they were the first pick by the #1 seed.
The event only saw a few teams perform a switch auto at best, and 78 had one of the smoothest routines as seen during F1. That match also featured the only tie at an official event, although it might be the only from any event, however I haven’t watched all of the matches from other events.
I’d add 2987 to the list of robots that have impressed me-- they were a quite solid elevator+roller claw robot, with a climb I never saw work but looked reasonable-- I wouldn’t be surprised to see them have a very good weekend up in Duluth.