[ratdude747]

Here's another "improvised" repair that was notable.

Boilermaker Regional, 2013. In the finals it was the 1 seed vs 2 seed. 359+868+1747 vs. 234+1741+3147. 3147 had a "unique" design that year, with nothing but a human-loaded "bucket" frisbee shooter and drivetrain in the base, and on top of that a belt-driven climber that also housed the battery and electronics.

Final match 1: 3147's climber breaks at the actuator driving the base-to-climber joint, and can no longer support the climber assembly. They are disabled for the rest of the match as a result. Not good, as that assembly can't be removed (since all the eletricals were inside it). Likewise, with the assembly flopped down, they're not in starting configuration... What to do?

Allaince 2 uses thier timeout coupon, and after the timeouts, 3147 comes out... with a broomstick supporting the climber! IIRC it was also duct taped in, which added to the "jerry rigged" look of the repair. Suffice to say, the stick snapped in match 2, they were disabled once again, and with Alliance 1 winning both matches the competition was settled.

TheBlueAlliance links to the matches:

http://www.thebluealliance.com/match/2013inwl_f1m1
http://www.thebluealliance.com/match/2013inwl_f1m2

You gotta do what you gotta do sometimes...