[boomergeek]

We finished our last regional and did not implement our secret weapon:
(although we did tell the Boston Regional judges about it)
Rubber on rubber (1.2 CoF sliding friction) for the first 3 inches of vertical climb before switching to rubber to steel (0.3-0.6 CoF sliding friction).
We projected that would save us 0.2 to 0.3 seconds and still keep normal force low.

The rubber on rubber is minibot to hostbot ramp that runs vertically parallel to the tower pole and then switches onto the pole before the minibot crosses the 18" line.