Is it just me or are there a lot of FTC bots that use a similar design to this? At the Wisconsin regional there were 2 bots that looked almost exactly the same as this one and a few others that used the same type of ring pickup device.
Thanks to FTC 439 Lord of the Rings for the use of their bot as an example.
They’re all similar to the NERD bot. However, not all the ideas came from NERDS. Our team had a similar design to their pickup about 1 week after the competition was released. However, we used some ideas from NERDS to perfect our bot.
NERD had posted the idea first, as said above. Also its just a simple and good idea.
I honestly think that some teams copied it. For some reason I never thought of picking up rings this way.
Yes some teams did copy it, however there were teams that though up similar designs on their own. Although I believe a majority of those bots out there are “copies”.
Ah, the famous Copy Bot
i dont think many teams copied its just one of the best ways of picking up rings, i mean one at a time with a gripper is too slow and unless you have the vexplorer thing or some anti-slip mat good luck gtting a good grip on the rings
with this method you can score 5 rings on the 24" pole effectively
i think a lot of teams just thought of it, i did but i didnt ave a tank tread kit, sprocket, enough metal, etc…
I completely disagree. I think many teams diliberatly copied it.
i look at it this way, if its a team you respect and beleive will have a good design every year then they probally didn’t copy it. teams that are rookies and have this design probally did(although i’m not saying everyone whos a rookie with this design copied)
but regardless of who copied and who came up with it, i see it as very similar to the vex championships with the game half pipe hustle. almost all the robots there looked like this http://eaglevex.syraweb.org/images/2006wIMG_7706.jpg
that year since almost everyone had similar designs it came down to alot of strategy as i think it will this year.
Engineering like everything else in life is somewhat a “survival of the fittest”. Teams look at robots like the one 546 designed and say, “Hey that looks like a neat robot, it works well, I think we can make it work better”. If you look at every single design that people have based off of 546’s design I am pretty sure there will be differences. The teams will likely have improved on the original design. I know that out of the three teams at my school we each built something similar to 546’s ring grabber and each design was different, each had it’s strong points and it’s weak points. Also it has been that “copying is the sincerest form of flattery”. If I was 546 I would be elated that other people thought so much of their design that it was copied and seen at every single FTC tournament to date.
that year since almost everyone had similar designs it came down to alot of strategy as i think it will this year.
You are quite right in picking that photo of robot 73 Driven Bolts. Since I was on that team that year (I built the tank tread lifts) I know we went to the Delaware regional to get ideas and we were inspired by team 100 intake system. Also our robot was the only one I saw that folded and stored balls like we did (our idea).
http://picasaweb.google.com/graymom/DrivenRoboticsNationals2006/photo#4984785615636529170
You’d be right 
I honestly don’t know how many people “imitated” the intake system we created. I’ve heard from several people that they came up with the concept on their own, and I completely trust them. It really is one of the simplest, most effective systems out there, so I don’t see why teams couldn’t or wouldn’t come up with it on their own.
And it is very flattering hearing from several different people that teams saw “that video on YouTube!”
and hey, you might get the inspire award for inspiring lots of teams to build your robot!
Not likely… our season is over ! Oh well, we had fun
Even if this is a “copied design” it is a good system for pickup. Team Unlimited was working on a design similar to the 546, then got a little inspiration to fix a few problem areas we were having. Although now we are going in a possible new direction to see how that turns out.
The internal ring pickup seems like the best ring pickup system I’ve seen. The side by side spinners just don’t seem to be as effective as the 546 design.
Just my $.02
I would rather have a bot that could just “mow down” the rings. It was nice to be able to just drive around and now worry about pushing the arm into the ring
Well an effective NERD pickup wouldn’t need to worry about pushing the arm into the ring. For our robot, we only need to slow down slightly to pick up the ring.
I’m just saying I think there are better ways to pick up rings then the most copied, or used, way.
I’ll be sure to stop by your pits in atlanta and take a look at your robot. 
Yes, I would have to agree.
