Who are the most mechanically innovative teams to pass through FRC? What years and what mechanisms?
2010- Winnovation with their brilliant 6 wheel swerve, 67 and 1717’s gas spring hanging mechanisms.
2008- Winnovation and Simbotics with their surgical tubing ball launchers (Granted they weren’t the only ones)
Could you tell I’m a Winnovation fan?:rolleyes:
.
118 in 08 stands out to me. The waterjet cuts, robonaut v6, coaxial swerve, surgical tubing launcher…quite awesome and quite innovative. There week 3 video goes down as one of the best teasers of all time http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAJBC-DDL9w
I’m seeing a surgical tubing trend…
'08
1108- Suction ball control with a catapult. Very cool!
2337- We all know “das boot”
'09
1108 (again)- Human fed spiral, with physical switches as indicaters of a pin.
1986- If there empty cell launching strategy had worked better, they would have been unstoppable
525- A shooter that loads like a shotgun round, very cool to watch.
'10
The loopers -
469, 125, 2992
And since 1625’s hanging mechanism hasn’t been mentioned: Gas shock power 
I’m ashamed of myself for not mentioning this in my first post.
1771 in 08 is absolutely the coolest robot ever.
2007: I guess i have to jump on the Winnovation bandwagon too, their ramp lifter lifted 2 robots AND themselves off the ground
2008: 1771 had the suckiest robot that year 
and it worked!
I think 71 making weight in 2007 was pretty innovative in itself, never mind how good they were. Dual 12 inch ramps, effective gripper and a swerve drive. A lot of teams made tradeoffs to get one of those three things and Beatty had all three.
254/968 in their huge focus on continuous improvement, efficient design (especially in their drivetrain) and efficient manufacturing techniques.
Unconventional isn’t necessarily innovation.
I really liked 2337’s robot this year, I truely thought it was one of a kind 
we nicknamed it “ca-chunk” 
thats the sound it makes when it hangs. lol
and the mid-season addition of a double-functioning scoring diverter was nice too 
umm guys…469? EVERY YEAR EVER (okay, done now)
This year, undoubtedly, 469.
I was irrevocably impressed.
Aren’s right for as long as I can think back.
2005, the giant tower that could simultaneously stack like 5 or more tetras
2006, their shooter that had the abbility to shoot a coulmn of balls
2007, drawing a blank
2008, They had the side roller collectors that were originally on an arm, and then converted to a luancher (the collectoer was quite different)
2009, Multi-column shooter was pretty original.
2010, What did they do in 2010 again?
2007 - Giant airport landing strip ramp similar to RUSH’s. It was nice for wide robots like us that year; one of the few we had no problems driving up on.
I think that in '08 1771 was pretty much the most innovative. And they have an award to prove it.
In '09, I really liked 111’s machine. There was also another team that had a similar implementation of that design and I simply loved it.
In '10, 469 was amazing. I was freaking out when at the bell, the game was tied, and then all of a sudden they score two more goals because of their loop and grabed the win. 67 and 1717 were also pretty impressive with their ability to lift even after the buzzer.
Another addition to my Winnovation list - their 2010 lifter was also gas spring powered. These kids are insane.
2010: 67 gas spring powered hanger was the coolest thing of the year.
1717 pushing off of the platform was a truly brilliant idea.
469 god bot
2009: 1280 their idea was so simple but gave them such an unbelievable amount of hopper space.
2008:1771 with their insane vacuum system.
1114 just look at it. the way their winch disengaged is enough to earn them a spot on this thread.
217 pvc grabber with surgical tubing that just worked brilliantly at picking up and launching the balls.
2007: 1717 their ramps where just amazing. pushing off the ground with what i believe was gas springs was just awesome
126 had rollers that could acquire the outside of the ringer and the inside.
330 having the bottom part of their pneumatic attach to the bottom part of their grabber made it so simple to fit within the dimensions.
2006: 25 having their shots be intermittent so that they were more consistent was one of the things that brought them so close to a national championship.
If you are going to mention 1625 from 2007, 1501 also needs to be given credit. They could also lift two robots and themselves but could also do it after the buzzer.
1717 too. Not sure if it’s after the buzzer but since they released gas springs, they probably could.
Any good idea I’ve ever had in FRC is stolen from 1625.
Seconded. Especially 2002.