[Travis Hoffman]

While it wasn't always the fastest or most maneuverable bot out there, I'd like to give some "toughest bot" props to our robot - xtremachen6.

Delphi E.L.I.T.E.'s bot competed in 33 qualifying matches this season, racking up 23 wins - more than any other FIRST team. The TechnoTank-derived shift on the fly drivetrain never failed once. The wings and frame took constant abuse but never broke. The bot survived numerous inversions in Cleveland without a scratch (until the wheelie bar we added virtually eliminated that possibility). It defended numerous stacks and took hits from would-be stack topplers all year long. Very little mechanical maintenance or repair was ever required.

xtremachen6 won the Motorola Quality Award in Pittsburgh and the GM Industrial Design Award in Canada.

More often than not, the bot was on top of the ramp at the end of the match, pushing its share of robots off the ramp in the process.

Several robots have been flipped by XM6 during its charge for the bins in autonomous mode this year. Both of our opponents were pushed down the ramp during our last autonomous run Friday on Curie. One flipped over and the other almost joined them. And we were in high gear.

OK, so after all of that rah-rah stuff, I'd like to vote for Team 25's robot as the Toughest Bot of the year, with Team 322's bot as honorable mention.