pic: Recycle Rush Re-design

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by GeeTwo

Why handle burglars? The window for lining these up is much smaller than for lid burglars. I just went to check an RC that I happen to have here at the house (yes, yes I do). The lid hole is at least five times as large as either handle, and it seems that a slight over/under reach is not nearly as likely to push the RC off the step onto the other side of the field. With "question mark" shaped arms, teams were able to reach the top holes over the landfill without violating the height restrictions.

The window to hit is smaller, but the arm can be shorter with this technique, which results in a lighter arm that can theoretically be moved faster. There is also no contest for the grabbing location if you go for the handle versus the top of the lid. It's a design tradeoff that doesn't necessarily have a right or wrong answer - very successful teams used both methods to burgle cans on Einstein.