[galewind]

We Sacrified too much time developing and agreeing on a strategy, which, in the end, we weren't able to accomplish due to too much time spent developing and agreeing on a strategy.
....

sooooo.... due to weight we changed the manipulator designs at the last minute. Our drive system, electronics (with battery), and frame weigh a combined 97 pounds (without skins). Our old manipulator weighed 31 pounds, deweighted, and it was not in complete working order. We COULD have put it on, but it would have been very difficult and time-consuming to remove weight from the rest of the robot.

So we went with something more simple that seems to be good to go, but we didn't get any practice time with it. We do know we can grab and hang, though, and get rid of 2x balls... oh, and we're annoyingly fast and versatile on the field. heh, we find that climbing the 6" platform is significantly easier than taking the stairs.