In the same vein as the threads from 2019, 2018:
What was, in your opinion, the Coolest robot of the year?
What was, in your opinion, the Most Elegant ?
What was, in your opinion, the Most Effective ?
And what robot made you say “Man, that’s what we should have built ”?
My personal choices:
4907 built the coolest robot of the year, hands-down. Not only was the jump climb innovative and wicked fast, the rest of the robot was very, very effective, while being pretty simple.
I love love loved double catapult designs this year I thought they were an elegant way of quickly putting two balls in the goal and keep a low CG in the process. 1740 from Connecticut had a very good one, but the most effective one I’ve seen was 2881 from Texas. They started out as a fender-only catapult, then iterated and became able to shoot from further away accurately as well. Super cool design and very, very effective.
There’s only a couple robots that you can really put in the “Most Effective” category. Obviously 1690 blew everyone away this year with their unparalleled shooting-on-the-move, and 1678 was likely the best in the world at playing the 2-ball cycle game.
But the World Champion Cheesy Poofs 254 were doing some insane stuff during Einstein, where their robot was not only shooting whatever balls of their color were near them into the goal, but also shooting opponent balls to the optimal crappy location at all times, calculated on-the-fly via odometry. It’s very easy to see in this match from the Einstein Round Robin, where they shoot a ton of blue balls into the red hangar.
I’m pretty happy with what we built this year (not many years I can say that ). I think if we weren’t ready for swerve this year, what 6328 had working for Granite State was incredible. At a Week 1 event, they had a ridiculously consistent fender shot, a super consistent tarmac shot, a simple (although it had some issues) traversal climb, and a 5 ball autonomous that averaged ~4 balls/match. They were the most prepared team going into that event, and it showed
4907 was definitely a crowd pleaser. People came over from other fields to watch them on the field and they never disappointed every time they were out there. The explosion of joy from the crowd every time they executed their leap really lit the place up.
I’m really hoping to see that robot again if not at Robots @ CNE then perhaps Rah Cha Cha Ruckus.
What was, in your opinion, the Coolest robot of the year?
4907!
What was, in your opinion, the Most Elegant ?
254/67, loved dual intakes this year, deadly in combination with swerve.
The ‘pooper’ from 1678/125 also had something elegant, i dont know why.
What was, in your opinion, the Most Effective ?
I think the climbing system by 1690 and 254 are imo the most effective subsystems i’ve seen this year. Very ‘easy’ system which makes it possible to get that triple traversal climb.
And what robot made you say “Man, that’s what we should have built ”?
Very happy with the robot we’ve built, if we had more time an upgrade could’ve been a traversal climb like 1678.
What was, in your opinion, the Coolest robot of the year?
Either 4907 or 2481 for obvious reasons.
What was, in your opinion, the Most Elegant ?
I love the way 1678 tied in their game piece sorting system, and found that 2910’s hood implemented climb were amongst the most well designed systems I saw this year.
What was, in your opinion, the Most Effective ?
My top two are 1690 and 2910. 1690 showing off the design and implementation of shooting on the move so early in competition season. 2910 showing how to utilize a sub system to its greatest potential thus allowing it to mold the rest of your design around it.
What robot made you say “Man, that’s what we should have built ”?
Would not change a thing about our bot. This is the first bot I have ever been involved with that did not have any major robot failures through-out a full competition. Our second comp. required us to replace one pulley (the pressed flange fell off one side), snap ring, and adjust the angle of a pair of our funneling plates (to adjust for the heavily worn game pieces that were no longer round) equating to a total of ~30 min. in total. That is truly a testament to the to hard work and dedication all of our students and mentors this season.
1678 for both. The outtake is one of the coolest things built this year, and their robot ran circles around defenders. Their slim and elegant frame was a big difference from the boxy robots most elite teams adopted (254, 118, and 148), it was nice to see an elite team choosing an alternate strategy, and making a really strong robot.
1678’s robot checked all the elegance boxes for me. I firmly believed that turret was going to be necessary to be a top 5 team in the world this year, and they very much blew that theory to shreds. Their climb followed the same recipe of simplicity.
This match gave me goosebumps when it happened.
254 went 34/35 on Cargo, 8 opponent Cargo shot into the corners, and a facilitated a triple climb. And they did this against one of the best alliances at the Championship. 1323 is a strong runner up in this category. 1690 is up there as well with their shoot on the fly ability that really changed a lot of paradigms of how we play FRC games.
Coolest was 4907, without a doubt. How can you get cooler than the climb that all of us thought about at the beginning of the season and went “there’s no way that can work!” Then they made it work. Awesome.
Most elegant overall was probably 1678, but individual elements of other robots did achieve an elegance quotient of their own. I was particularly fond of 587’s (Hedgehogs) climbing mechanism, which was unlike any other out there. It used a sliding rack with three sets of spring-loaded hooks, so it had almost no swing and a very solid climb. A very elegant solution to the traversal climb problem.
Most effective has to go to 1690 and their incredible shoot-on-the-fly ability.
For the last one though, I have to say that I was very happy with what my team did this year and don’t feel envy for what other teams built. After our most successful season ever (and our first trip to Worlds) I have to be pretty happy with what my team accomplished.
Although 6328 has been mentioned, my favorite bot for this year has to be 694 since it has a KOP chasis (afaik 6328 doesn’t) and also doesn’t have a turret, and doesn’t use a single falcon. But they still managed to get 4RP in nearly every match (not including FLR) and ranked 3rd on Galileo. Also their drive coach @jblay is definitely the best to ever live.
Disclaimer: They picked us at sbpli 2 which we won so I’m probably biased but they’re still a really cool robot that went so far above my expectations.
Coolest: 4907
Some of my favorite:
2910: impressively simple, incredibly short, love how the hood served a second purpose for the climber.
4481: crazy compact and the ability to disassemble it for transport, love seeing the evolution from high goal against the hub shot and mid bar to upper wheel addition to fully adjustable hood with high bar climb, great example of packaging.
Plenty others I like but there is lots of simple things to learn. Also thought I would provide something different to the conversation.
Coolest: 4131
Most Elegant: 4131
Most Effective: 4131
Robot I wish I made: 4131
Ok, now for the real one
Coolest: 2481 5 swerve modules and a truss drivey uppy climb absolutely insane
Most Elegant: 2910 The perfect KISS robot with one of the most elegantly integrated trav climbs
Most Effective: 254 I mean do I need to say anything Karthik already linked the match that proves it.
Robot I wish my team built: 3481 Bronc Botz out of Texas, simple effective fender shooter with a mid climb was a super sweet post pandemic robot.
I will continue to parade that 133 is the most underrated team in the program with regards to simplicity and effectiveness.
Coolest for me is probably 254, but specifically the projectile vomiting of opponent cargo they were displaying on Einstein.
Elegant is definitely 1678.
Effective is hard to argue with 254.
Robot we should have made - if you can do swerve, 1678. If you can’t, 6328. (But 133 is also up there.)
Coolest: 696 and their 2.5s traversal climb flying up the rungs like much faster than I originally thought was even possible.
Most elegant:
125, nice sorter, really fast high bar skip and a well built shooter in a really small and short package.
Most effective: 1323. A turret, accurate shooter, and a pretty fast climb, and even shooting while moving are expected for top level teams, but it is their sorter that really sets them apart for me. They would frequently snipe opponent balls from their opponents then use their sorter to send the balls into the hangars and terminals.
Wish we would have made: 179 style windmill climb. 1 powered DOF and very little alignment and swinging to worry about would’ve saved many headaches we had with our climber this season while still being about the same climb speed.
What was, in your opinion, the Coolest robot of the year?
Definitely 254. Dual intakes, the amazing traversal climber, shooting on the move, etc.
1323 was also really cool, particularly the intake and reject system.
What was, in your opinion, the Most Elegant ?
4481. The modularity and awesome upgrades mid-season were really cool.
What was, in your opinion, the Most Effective ?
I mean, hey, they won. Their robot was very strong against defense, and the triple traversal capabilites help a lot.
And what robot made you say “Man, that’s what we should have built ”?
3940 had a very sturdy, simple robot. Would’ve loved to have built one that could shoot from the tarmac line.
1114 also had a really mechanically simple design and really well executed, but swerve is probably beyond our budget.
Ok I’ll do this for both PNW and the entirety of FRC Coolest:
In the world I would say 2481, just for how wacky and weird the robot was in general but still how effective it was with its funkiness.
In the PNW I would say 4911, for its super cool and nail biting climb and well built robot Elegant
In the world I would say 1678 for all of the reasons said in the other replies
In the PNW I would say 3218 for its buttery smooth swamp climb and cool looking robot Effective
In the world would def be 254, just for the double intake, moving while shooting and the triple climb potential
In the PNW its would be 2910, it did everything very well and had a very crisp swerve on top of it Should have built
In the world I would have built something like 1690 as they had a great turret, moving while shooting and cool climb
In the PNW its hard to go wrong with 2910, they were just extremely good and definitely einsteins worthy.
for the most elegant robot- 2910 takes the cake, one of the best climbers in the game that takes almost no space on the robot, they went with a very simplistic design overall for the shooter and intake that ive seen many teams do, but the great execution mixed with their superb programming made them one of the best bots in the entire world
most effective - 1690, dont see even a reason to explain lol
coolest robot - gotta give it to 4907 and 2481 for the climbers, just out of this world
). I think if we weren’t ready for swerve this year, what 6328 had working for Granite State was incredible. At a Week 1 event, they had a ridiculously consistent fender shot, a super consistent tarmac shot, a simple (although it had some issues) traversal climb, and a 5 ball autonomous that averaged ~4 balls/match. They were the most prepared team going into that event, and it showed
