[John Neun]

[quote=Ben Piecuch]Guys,

Let's not get into an offense vs. defense argument here. Both teams 20 and 126 have very strong offensive robots, and were unfortunately the main targets for some very defensive robots at the UTC regional.

Thanks for the comments (in the whole post), Ben. As I just mentioned in another post, we had a GREAT experience in Hartford, and we hope to return. For the record, our robot had bumpers, sustained some pretty severe hits, and was nonetheless fully functional at the end of the contest. We get the idea of robust design. We also have no animus toward the winning alliance. Quite the contrary. You beat us fair and square, you outplayed us, and congratulations! I say that officially as chairman of our corporation: Congratulations to the winning alliance! Woody Flowers got a look at the structural effects of the defensive game on our robot and he said, "Too bad. You should be happy and proud of what you did in this competition." He was absolutely right, and we absolutely are, especially because this year we were given our own "Woody Flowers" in the person of Paul Kane. I appreciate the advise given previously in this thread, too. We'll do our best to improve our designs.

Of course we have room to improve, but I must also say that I have never been more proud of a machine or the way our students played our robot. Thank you all for the privilege of allowing us to be part of the competition and for allowing us to be on the field with all of you. What a wonderful bunch of people! I hope we can return to Hartford for many years to come.