[IKE]

Keep up the good work guys. It is very inspiring to see young teams putting in the extra effort to learn what it takes to make a great robot. I have watched several other young teams in Michigan blossom over the last coule of years doing exactly what you guys are doing now.

They say that: "Imitation is the highest form of flattery." Personally if I was a judge, I would give team 148 an Engineering Inspiration award for posting design details and inspiring other teams to attempt such a cool mechanism. I know of a couple other teams that have completed very similar exercises.

My challenge to you guys that have built these, is to share some of the wealth you have learned. Possibly a short white-paper (1-2 pages) on some of the good, the bad, and the uglies you found while replicating the general design intent.
Doing the white-paper will help document the pros and cons for your team as well as help others attempting similar ideas in the future. It is also good practice for documenting your designs in clean concise manner to help present to judges at competition.