[Jeff Rodriguez]

I, personally, like an arm for lifting yourself up.

RAGE did it in 2000. There are two pictures attched to illustrate.
The huge arm (excluding the basket) extended to almost double it length, and had a hook on the back. It allowed us to reach the bar from the flat field surface. We could reach over other bots and pull ourselves up.

[edit]The extending was powered by the window motor using a tape drive. Once the power went off, it locked into place.[/edit]