We’ll be able to push pretty much anybody… I hope 
and we SHOULD have a functional launcher by ship, So We didn’t have to sacrifice anything. At least I don’t think we did:rolleyes:
We will be able to push anybody in our way.
Bob can do pretty much anything… we have a strong frame and a strong offense…so pretty much bob is the man!!
By the results of the poll thus far it seems as though there are allot of teams out there that are unstoppable. Well I guess we will just have to wait and see how many of these robots can actually live up to their names. Torque is nothing without traction. I just don’t see the necessity of being uber defensive. My belief is that offense wins championships, defense wins matches. A defensive robot can hound a robot all it wants, but if that robot can score one point than that is all that is needed to win.
We chose to sacrifice a ball shooter for a good, strong drive train.
On the pushing more than one bot at once, I reckon that if they (being the said bots to be pushed) had omni wheel drives, then we could push all of them without any problem. The bots with drive trains similar to ours are going to be a little more difficult.
On the blocking, our bot isn’t going to be tall enough to stop a shot from a robot with a five-foot tall shooter, but they might have problems getting off an accurate shot while they are being shoved around the field.
That said, I think that we are going to live up to our traditional reputation of being “defensive specialists” Anyone remember last year’s model with the wheelie bars that <accidently, sort of> served as wedges? (we didn’t design them for that, I promise.) :rolleyes:
How can a majority of the teams have a transmission with above-average pushing power? 
It’s like the statistic that says a majority of drivers [for cars and trucks] think that they are above-average drivers.
oh man, a robot that lays frame. us minitruckers will LOVE to see this. a couple titanium dragblocks and then you’d have a LOT of fun at night too.
monoleafed air ride is bad. nice 5links and stuff is mucho better for the truck.
for pics of s10s dragging and laying just browse the s10forum.com
well what is considered “average pushing power”? i think a lot of teams (including mine) overestimate the amount of actual power their drivetrain has, and that is responsible for the statistic
would winning a pushing match against the year’s before, which happened to be unbeatable in puching matches overestimating… what I am getting at is test on how well it does against previous years (unless you are a rookie team) it will give you a general idea of greatness
Excellent standard. unless the challenger has a really weak drivetrain, you should be able to get a reasonable idea of how good it is.
with the profusion of high traction wheels and two speed transmissions, i expect that there’s a pretty good chance that the opponent’s robot will have the same (if not better) pushing force as yours. i think whats going to make or break teams both offensively and defensively will be their machines’ maneuverability.
You know what they say… “The best defense is a good offense”
yeah, the picture i had was from the s10forum, but it is down right now. Monoleafed is crap, the ride quality is horrible. hahaha dragblocks would be great.
i agree with the links. I want to build a robot with a mini-4 link this summer. then i’ll set it down on air ride next to my ranger.
We’re built for speed, shooting and pushing strenght, we should be able to push at least 90% of other robots around
That is what I was going to say… :] 
How can a majority of the teams have a transmission with above-average pushing power?
I have to say being in this for over 12 years we know what it takes to have a strong robot. And yes we have a strong robot.
What teams fail to realize is if you are going to push other robots around you better have a strong base to be able to take the hits. And a robot that will not break on you. I have seen so many robots that show up and will make one match and then break so badly they are not able to do what they think they could do.
another thing is yes you might have a good pushing robot but if someone know how to stop your power what then. there are so many ways to stop a strong robot. But unless you have had a lot of time and know the past you will be a robot with a lot of power but will not be able to use it wisely
Mike
Verdomme! Almost everyone is going to have the same amount of defensive ability, techincally speaking. I can assess the defensive capability of your robot with two questions:
- What is the net power rating of all of your drive motors?
- What is your lowest gear ratio?
That’s all folks! After that it really comes down to driver skill, the range of which is fairly minimal in my experience. So most of the time, robots will be at a stalemate defensively, or it will be a complete shutout.
The game will be decided by your offensive capability.
i think you’re over simplifying it a bit. no matter how much power your motors are putting out, or how low you gear them, if you have an 80 lb robot running two wheel drive on slick skyway caster wheels, then odds are they won’t be winning many pushing contests. a few additional important questions might be:
- what is the coef. of friction of your drive wheels?
- what percentage of your wheels are driven?
- how much does your robot weigh?
with a 2gear transmission, we proved today that we can be a very good defensive bot…
Defense, as it turned out to be today, is a huge part of the game. One of the robots with no true offensive capabilities made it to a top seed at the scrimmage, whereas ours with a full drive system powered right was able to knock most shooters out of the way, pushing them sideways across the field, nullifying their abilities. As time progresses defense will probably become lesa of focus as offensive strategy changes to counteract, eg less stationary systems that were shown today