Well, all through the practice matches we tried to get the vision system to work, but I needed more time (I got on the team about a week before we shipped out the robot, so I didn't really have time to write and test anything before the competition

).
Unfortunately starting with a tetra is out of the question for us because of our form factor, so we just go for knocking down the side goal. I was toying with a way to ensure that I got it on our hook and then putting it on top of the goal, but we didn't have any proximity sensors or anything with us, so I wasn't very sure that I could guarantee that the tetra would make it on top.
I think that the most foolproof plan is to start with a tetra if you can and cap a side goal knocking off the hanging tetra, and I saw at least two teams (Shelton, and Elm City Robo Squad) consistently do this at UTC.