just to throw in my two cents -
When it comes to picking the teams for the elimination matches, teams will be looking for two good hurdlers and one fast scorer/defensive bot (at least, this is the most likely desired arrangement). Last year, our robot had the capability to pick up rings and place them on the rack. During the beginning part of the qualification matches, we realized that our robot wasn't doing this as effectively as other robots, and we switched our strategy to become a very good defensive bot. The same situation should apply here - If we end up not being one of the faster hurdlers, then we'll switch our own personal strategy to appeal to the other portions of the game play.
The whole point of the competition isn't to be able to do just one thing - hurdling. It's being able to distinguish your robot in some way that makes it a unique and valuable part of an alliance. If thats through hurdling, then great. If it's through keep away, then great. It it's through driving twice as fast as everyone else and expertly avoiding traffic jams, then great. All of these strategies are highly useful for a team to have and to show during the qualification matches.
I would encourage everyone to avoid trying to show off one particular aspect of their robot and instead look to whats best for their alliance. I know at our competitions, i'll be encouraging our drivers and strategists to do whats best for our alliance, and i'll be doing the same for the teams we work with.
Oh, and we plan to come prepared with information like average laptime and average hurdle time to help cement our position
