[David Brinza]

Originally Posted by Scott Ritchie

2003- "Dude where's my car" I can't remimber much from this year.

2004- 980

2003 (Stack Attack) was my rookie year, the 980 robot that year, "Yoda", had an incredible amount of engineering in it; mostly associated with the "saber" - the 13-foot long telescoping arm that would get a gasp from the crowd a few seconds into the match. Cyber Blue and Team Hammond also attacked the stack with arms, but there was something ominous about the long sweeping pole from 980 that got your attention. It was scary. Here's blast from the past (2003 Arizona regional):
980 and 234: arm vs arm

In 2004, we had an autonomous mode that got us the 2x ball very consistently and a "software-assisted" driving sequence to get up onto the platform for hanging, but amongst the mentors, Yoda is our favorite.

Thanks for putting our robot on this list of very distinguished machines. I was most impressed by 111 in 2003 - I did a double-take on their "teaser photo" with the robot perched on the top of the ramp. Their Championship performance in Houston was truly remarkable - drivers and machine were outstanding.