[reversed_rocker]

we considered putting a kicker on our robot last minute, but then we remembered our experience from past years. these games are purposefully designed to make it almost impossible to do all of the tasks well, so this year we focused heavily on our kicking mechanism and left out the lifter. from what i've seen, the robots that get picked for finals are the robots that do their specific job very well. alliances are chosen so that each robot makes up for the shortcomings of the other two, rather a group of robots trying to be good at everything.

Lets not forget theres more than one way to be useful during the endgame. on 706, we gave ourselves a 4 sim drive and 8 high traction wheels specifically for preventing robots from getting to the towers. in some cases, this will more than make up for the lack of a lifting mechanism

bottom line: i wouldnt suggest putting on the lifting mechanism unless you are willing to make that the focus of your robot. find the role your robot fits best and work it to death