I'll agree with Don test before you commit, but we used vacuums on last years robot. They were made from 2.5 gallon shop vacs from Home Depot.
They cost about $25 and we powered them with a FP motor. It was a pretty simple modification. FIRST cut away everything extra except the impeller housing and a little of the flange material for mounting surfaces. The brush mount for the stock ac motor was a perfect fit for the FP motor mount. Then you just needed to turn a shaft on the lathe to mate the FP motor shaft to the vacuum impeller. Here's a picture of the finished modifications. The entire mechanism with hose, mounting hardware, and our final COTS suction cup was under 2 pounds.
I thought this might help if you do want to test vacuum grippers.
For any coaches weary of choosing human players this year because you're worried they might lose their cool mid-game, a good indicator of someones ability to keep focused is their attitude while playing video games. - BradMello [more] 
16-01-2011, 13:14
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