We didn't really have a "second choice" this year. We tossed around a bunch of ideas, including traditional forklift (with and without tilt, with and without sliding arms), those which surround the tote and pick it up like a boat lift, active pickups, and something with several one-game-piece pickups (along the lines of, but not as cool as
5637's turntable). However, except for the general design we selected on kickoff day (a first by well over a week), each of them was at least one of:
- unable to mine the landfill without making a mess
- required too many trips
- required too long to make stacks
- Could not handle RCs
- beyond our manufacturing capability -- our high-precision tools are:
- a chop saw
- a beat-up drill press
- an aluminum welder at a mentor's garage
- a loaner table saw that came in about week three
It's OK to make some mistakes, as long as you learn from them. - Doug G [more] 
21-02-2015, 09:51
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