[JohnHorton]

I think a simple scissor lift would suffice to lift the deployment platform up the the needed height (the 12in of the base or even more to the deployment line), and then drawer slides à la the kickoff video to roll it out to the tower would be something any team could do quickly and easily. The only hard part is dealing with minibots that need an external trigger to activate, instead of sensing the pole for themselves.

I also love the idea of projectile minibots, if GDC allows them. If they are allowed, maybe people would want to build modular launchers that fit onto the universal platform, and can be swapped and traded for other minibots.

This could get really cool. I forsee black market stands outside competitions peddling minibots, each touting their design.