I don’t think having a solid ramp bot is quite as sound of a strategy as is suggested. It can be effective for qualifying matches as it stands now, but it was surprising to see just how infrequent lifting occurs. To get a combination of reliable ramps, capable climbing bots, and timing & coordination to complete the lift is slightly easier than waiting for planets to align.
I recall that in our ~8 matches we were only with solid lifting robots 4 times, 3 of which we got up for. Our 6wd drivebase is quite capable of most of the ramps at our regional, but many teams with casters, holonomic drive, or other systems had near impossible times with most of the lifter designs. I also know of some teams who never once were allied with a lifting robot during semifinals - so the ‘random’ pairings are also a significant factor.
Although an easy lift may be a sure fire way to success in current qualifying matches, I believe this will change as ring robots become more finely tuned, and as strategy shifts in finals.
Our team competed it the Pacific Northwest Regional where we made it to the semifinals before losing to the alliance that eventually won finals. Yes, a ramp bot can be useful for an easy 30 - 60 points - but in finals, its value comes down to a matter of time value. The biggest factor with lifters is not IF they can lift, but how quickly that can be done. If a robot can cut back at only 15 seconds left and reliably get the lift, then yes - its most likely worth it, but otherwise when enough rings are on the rack a lot can happen in the last 30 seconds.
From the last few matches of qualifying through all of the finals matches, our robot consistently scored 5 rings, even with decent defense on and off of us. Many of those rounds we also managed to make it back for a lift. At 5 rings, we had accumulated 32 points - just over the value of one robot up. In the remaining 30 seconds, had we not gone back for a ramp, we probably could have more than likely gotten a 6th ring, thus doubling our ring score to 64. Against a lifting team that needs time to lift, the defense drops drastically as the match nears its end. Typically even the best of lifters are headed back from their D roles by 45 seconds, and often robots - including ourselves - would return at 30 to guarantee a successful lift. This has a few drastic effects on the game. For one - scorers who choose to remain out there are free to do their thing with no defense. This means that last 30 seconds getting 2 tubes up by ourselves would not have been impossible - 128 points, far more than any ramp bots.
Now this is just our robot scoring. In these matches we didn’t have the opposing alliance scoring on the same level, so nothing restricted us from continuing to extend our rows and multiply points - obviously this is situational. My point is that if our robot can get 5 rings up alone AND have 30 seconds remaining for a successful lift, than it makes little difference point wise if we go for one more tube, or get the 12". With another robot capable of guaranteeing even 3 rings to compliment our 5, we could’ve completed a row all the way around - completely untouchable, even against 2 lifted robots with a string of 7 tubes.
This game will change drastically when lifters begin finessing their skills and get matched up with other good lifters. Once alliances are capable of 7+ rings guaranteed, you’ll start seeing strategic use of spoilers - which only started to appear at our regional.
I’m not saying lifters are worthless. Effective lifts can dominate, especially in qualifying if used correctly. As has been noted - 30 points, the value of one lifted robot, was enough to win over 9 out of 10 qualifying matches in week 1. I suspect a similar trend may carry through week 2, but that as the weeks progress the score needed to consistently pull off a win will gradually rise. Much like previous years - low scores are notorious to first week regionals, but by the fifth week scores of zero will be very uncommon.
