My boys (an award winning FLL team) were asked to build a MiniBot for one of the FRC teams in Houston. We tried several different configurations before coming up with a MiniBot that reliably does the climb in 2.5 seconds. It took a lot of work to install the deployment system on the Hostbot since we could not get any drawings for the it ahead of time. Unfortunately, our Minibot was never deployed successfully in competition.
We found that you need to look at deployment holistically. The Hostbot must be able to get the MiniBot to the pole accurately and reliably. The wobbling of the arm holding the MiniBot while the Hostbot is moving forward makes this more difficult. We also observed instances where the Hostbot drove forward too hard and bounced back, pulling the MiniBot off the pole. The pressure of being in a competitive match may have made a difference in how smooth the robot was driven. A system that does not require the Hostbot to move probably would have worked better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibi8ZqC_LXI
A sight (pink pool noodle) was added to the Hostbot to allow the driver to better line up with the pole. This sight only works with the Hostbot in a line between the driver and the pole. Many of the attempts to deploy in competition were unsuccessful since the MiniBot was mis-aligned. One time, it was mis-aligned enough that it was damaged when the Hostbot drove forward and smashed it into the pole.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10MxQCTuAQ0
Also, one has to consider other factors such as shown below. A bit of extra code probably would have prevented this mishap. My boys broke down and cried when they saw this happen, for the second time...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Piq4VSKoy54
We hope others will be able to get some benefit from our experiences.
Phil