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This is my fourth year in the competition, and if there is one thing i've learned is that there is never a simple solution to such a complex problem. There are many approaches to solving the problem of latching on to the goal and doing it well is a whole other subject. Many teams last year successful manufactured simple gripping devices and had a mixture of both success and failure.
After last years competition, my team decided to invest in a little down-time construction of a test platform of a gripping device that would latch on to something like a small vertical pole. We tried your design, almost exactly. And we realized one thing, simple isn't always the best. The geometry of the design and the nature of the game does not allow for an easy time in grabbing on to the goals. The success of the design was so variable that we decided against anything close to it this year. I encourage your team to do some bizzare testing. Try to latch on to the goal while a student is moving it around. Try to latch onto the goal when your driver is 48 feet away. You might discover that an almost religious pursuit of the K.I.S.S principle leaves your team with a very simple robot that can't compete.
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