The process of choosing a strategy for the type of robot to use and designing that robot is a long and challenging process. There are many ways for teams to design their robot. One of these designs is a tall robot. Tall bots have the ability to hold more power cells (balls), to climb with ease, and even to shoot easier. These upsides, however, are negated mostly due to the lower scoring capability of the robot.
This is where the idea of a low bot, also called a trench bot, came in. Trench bots have a low center of gravity ensuring faster cycles for scoring points and the ability to easily maneuver through the low trenches during the game. The robot’s ability to maneuver through the trenches gives it the advantage of protected cycles. This is because opposing robots are disabled from blocking our team’s side of the trenches. As a result, trench bots that can maneuver through the trenches also have an easier time avoiding the opposing team’s defenses. While also allowing it to speed across the field to defend against enemy robot’s attempts at scoring points. After considering the size of our robot, we were left to deliberate the shooting capabilities of the robot.
The two big design options for a shooter are the two-wheel shooter design, and the hooded shooter design. The two wheel shooter design has a few advantages, such as faster moving shots and a further range than its hooded shooter counterpart. The two-wheel shooter is able to do this, as its design is more effective when converting the kinetic energy from the engine to the power cells (balls) while shooting. The two-wheel shooter suffers from a major flaw, however, as it is similar to a cannon. This is due to the fact that it could shoot hard and fast, but it is difficult for it to make accurate shots. The hooded shooter, unlike the two-wheel shooter, is hyper accurate and could shoot into our power ports from many different locations on our side of the arena. The hooded shooter, after some experimentation, has a better ability to fit through a more confined area, like the trenches.