[Rich Kressly]

Anyone wary of what a human player might be able to do should take a long look at video from 2002. While a mechanism that can "shoot" or dump lots of balls can score more than one human can in a given period of time, there were more than a few instances in 02 where a well trained human player (now known as payload specialist) could sway the outcome of a match. Now take into consideration that your alliance has three such folks (in 2002 there were only two) AND they are positioned at both ends and one side of the field (where the two were at one end in 2002).

Our team is still working on manipulator designs for scoring in trailers, but we're taking our payload specialist's role very seriously. We quickly identified one specialist very early who will be with us at our first event and she's been charged with shooting (I refuse to use the word "throwing" because that implies way too much luck and not enough skill) at least 100 balls per day between now and the week one regional. We're also having several other students work on shooting as well and we'll identify one or two more students who will help fulfill the role for our team.

As others have said here, you also need to seriously weigh the time you have left a prioritize what you can get done. Playing only part of the game is fine, you have two alliance partners every match. In fact, playing "part" of the game very, very well can sometimes be more effective than trying to "do it all" and coming up mediocre. Our team has experienced this first hand in several ways during our brief history. Everyone's time and resources are different and maximizing that time and those resources by "fitting" them with a design that meets your team's individual makeup to me, is essential. I will always, always marvel at what the 111's and 71's and even my old team 103, can do. I use their info and people as resources often and they continue to inspire me. However, I'm also under no illusion that we can do what they do the way they do it.

Food for thought - the humans (during build AND at competition) should never be overlooked. They, their time, and their skills and abilities need to be foremost in your mind when making design decisions IMHO.

Good luck and have fun!