[Billfred]

2815 seems to be good at getting the job done with whatever we can do in a given year.

Our first two years, we had engineering mentors with a knack for sheetmetal...which also meant we had time to get it all painted or anodized for a nice visual punch. Both were competitive designs; the first year, we made Bayou's semifinals and the Palmetto finals. The second, we reached the Palmetto semifinals (and our twin would win the regional).

This year, our engineering skill set was greatly reduced due to graduations. With nowhere near the sheetmetal practice, we built with what we knew: the hardware section at Lowe's, augmented with a few extra things from McMaster-Carr. We didn't get the time to get the robot spiffed up at home, so we brought rolls of tape to Peachtree to wrap our tower and arm in garnet and black. (Contrary to popular belief at Peachtree, the tower was riveted underneath the tape.) Other issues limited the amount of practice we could get on the arm, but smart defense and feeding strategies (including using the claw) was enough to bring home our first two regional banners.