What is more valuable? A king of the hill robot that can hold the hdpe well, or a bot that can knock the bins over first. As of right now we have a overall strong bot in both areas. We can hit the boxes hopefully in around 5 seconds with our new motors and programs. We also have 6 wheels that really hold the hdpe. We can also go under the bar. But what is the most valuable?
baised on the regionals that took place last week, it is most important to get the majority of bins from the ramp into your scoring zone first. Second priority is to make sure all of the bins you just knocked into your zone stay there (which means a lot of defence).
So, given that king of the hill and being at the top first were my only options, I’d say being at the top first is more important.
I agree, i feel that getting to the bins first will win matches
I don’t know at VCU most of the time there is no stack left so winning the match came down to who could hold ramp and that is who won the match.
Catching a lucky break…
example:
Step 1 – Two opposing bots reach the top at vertually the same time and happen to collide in a way that causes them to tumble (it happens, seen it first hand – congrats on getting yourself back up 67!).
Step 2a – Bins go everywhere as a result, and your team gets REALLY lucky as your opponent’s other bot gets tangled in the first one (my heart goes out to you 201 and 33… guess that’s one of the MANY reasons that there should be three matches in the tournament portion and not two - a rule unable to be changed, unfortunately).
Step 3a – You take the remaining 1:45 to set the field as you like and take your place at the top of the hill… end of match.
-OR-
Step 2b – Bins go everywhere as a result, and your opponent’s other bot is not tangled leaving him alone to face your two bots…
Step 3b – You make your opponent decide to go offensive or defensive and act accordingly. If they go after your stacks try to keep the score as close as you dare, keeping in mind that you will have the 25 (maybe even 50 if your partner is any good) summit points if you play smart. You may even let them on to up those qualifying points if you think that you’re winning (what a novalty, eh?!)…
All in all, it is nearly impossible to win if you are handicapped in the alliance department. 2 vs 1 = 1 loses 90% of the time if not more.
–Side Note–
2 red teams vs 0 blue teams (because they are on their backs) = a red victory… yeah saw that too…
Being an all around Scraper seems to work for us. Originally, we had a “claw” that would knock down 5 rows of bins and would allow us to stack. We couldn’t make weight, so the claw disappeared. The arm mounted on a turret has proven to be a very good defensive strategy. It allows us to knock down at least 3 rows and “stiff arm” 'bots coming up the ramp. We haven’t intentionally knocked a high center bot over. But if they try driving up the ramp, and our arm is down, over they will go. The arm also allows us to reach over other robots protecting a stack.
Having a fast, reliable Auton mode is very important. He who knocks bins in their zone first, has a big advantage. Especially if you can prevent the other team from stacking. We are consistantly to the bins in 3.2 seconds.
KOTH 'bots are tough, but they must have an effective method for staying on the ramp. Having a machine that is versitale seems to be a better strategy this year. Good drivers are extremely important too!!! Helps if you have a second robot of similar design to practice with. 
in my limited experience they are equally important…
keep in mind there are 29 boxes on the top of the ramp and you get 25 points for being on top, so given that you never get all the boxes on the top, and the tall stacks never stay stacked, you have a good chance of getting 13 boxes with a stack of 2, or 26 points
so being able to get to the top first is important, because without those boxes you’ve pretty much already lost, and being able to stay on top at the end is important, because without the 25 or 50 points most teams normally lose (i know, my team lost because the refs decided we weren’t fully on top, something i disagree with to the third degree)
Both. You need a robot to do both with such speed that it will never have a problem getting to the hill in 5 seconds or less.
*Originally posted by Replic *
**Both. You need a robot to do both with such speed that it will never have a problem getting to the hill in 5 seconds or less. **
Speed is critical…FIRST to the stack and knocking down all the bins down onto your side and keep them on your side. S.P.A.M., we push bins to ourside out out of your zone. We showed that at UCF along with the King of the Hill…expect to see it again.