[Kevin Ray]

After the SBPLI regional we scrapped our 3 level climbing system and at Chesapeake we installed new sides with a cut-out to enable a static, drive-on climb. It worked 60-70% of the time though the 10 points were never needed to win.
We are constantly trying to improve-and not just to win. We have a motto, "stop tweaking when you want to stop winning". We tweak and change things whenever we can. In fact, just before the eighth Qual. match in St. Louis this year we did it again. We knew we wouldn't get picked, but you learn to make changes under less than ideal circumstances and this makes your team better. We think it pays off in the long run because you learn to constantly re-evaluate and analyze your robot to make it better.
Last year there was a thread on CD which asked, "What separates the elite teams from the rest" --or something to that effect. The most poignant response came from an elite team. He essentially said, "Most teams try to shoot the ball the best way they can, we [elite] try to score the best way we can." The subtle difference is in the end goal--scoring. Elite teams, I gathered, come up with the best method of _ _ _ _ _ _ _ -to win the game, then they re-evaluate it and improve upon it and keep doing it until the season ends.