I saw these at the Championships just off to the right of the Einstein fields, I was HOPING to see these in action and was completely deflated when they didn't get on the field.
But perhaps not for the reason most of you are thinking.
I wanted this to happen because I think that this would have be the moment that 1114 and Karthik had finally put a stake into the heart of Cheesecaking - The moment those harpoons had won a World Championship, I would have sung like the Coroner in the Wizard of Oz:
As Coroner I must aver, I thoroughly examined her, and she's not only merely dead, she's really most sincerely dead.
Team 900, no disrespect, but I believe your story is a horror show, start to finish.
If the Harpoons had taken the field and carried the day on Einstein, Pandora's box would have been opened so far and wide that everyone would see the problems that Cheesecaking pose: From that day forth, for the lower 90% of teams, the World Championships would become an exercise in whether and when to sell their souls to the devil.
Our team built a robot, we love our robot, but as soon as it becomes clear that we have no chance of making it to Einstein, it's time to figure out how we can toss that robot in the dumpster and build a platter to hold cheesecake (largely) conceived of, designed & built by a team that still has a chance to get to the Big Show.
It is my sincere hope that FIRST can figure out a way to prevent this in the future.
Joe J.