[Paul Copioli]

One clarification for you "ramp + defense" advocates: It was not the ramp + defense robots that clinched it for the winning alliance ... it was effective execution of a strategy and making simple, robust robots that won the match. 2 functioning ringer robots are hard to stop especially if you leave them alone at during the last 20 - 30 seconds when you are trying to get on the ramp.

We skimped on certan parts of our arm and, as it turns out, we were not robust enough to survive the entire elimination rounds. Our arm was crippled after the semi-finals and the crash in Finals 1 did us in. We were not able to lift high after that, which is our strong suit.

The simple, reliable, and effective robots of 1444, 45, and 829 beat our alliance; but don't jump on the defense + ramp bandwagon so soon .....