Say you can pick one of the above - your robot will be able to either hang from the bar or be able to place the 2x multipliers on a container. (As much as I’d like both, I think that it would be both impracticle given the time limit, and impossible due to the weight constaints.) Which would you pick? I myself would go with a 2x ball manipulator, as it has the higher potentional for total points (if you have 11 balls or more in one container, you would get more points for having it capped than you would for leaving it uncapped and hanging). I realize that if you dont get many balls, or have a really bad human player, you won’t get many points for capping, so I can see some reason in just taking a flat 50. I wanted the opinions of others, though.
Nothing’s impossible. If you have arm that has the ability grab ahold of the high bar using the SAME arm pieces to grab the 2x ball it is extremely possible to do both. That is the way we are talking about going.
ok, its not impossible, (we came up with the beginning of an idea that could do both), but for this purpose, assume you could only do one.
I would probably go for hanging because there’s a better chance that someone else will want to go for the ball and if they don’t they can get your alliance to score 100 easy points.
Wouldn’t they only be able to score 50 points?
us too
The thing about the multiplier balls is that it seems pretty easy to push them off, while if you got a good grip on the bar you would be practically immovable. You’d get knocked around a lot, of course, but you’d stay on. 
If you could make a multiplier manipulator that could grab the bar too, like animater31405 said, you might do very well. I think the key in this competition will be doing a lot of things with the same part. If you try to make a separate mechanism for everything, you’ll end up hitting the size/weight limit about a third of the way in. If you try to specialize, you’ll come up against an opponent who can defend against your particular strength.
~Aaron
P.S. I know someone will show up at regionals with a robot that whacks hanging bots with a baseball bat. LOL, piñata time! 
Send pictures!
Don’t forget that hanging is really two challenges at once:
1)being able to get up to the bar
2) latching onto the bar
While these two challenges may seem easy to you, i feel that creating a method to get up to the platform below the bar is tough; i’m convinced that a 2x ball remover is the easiest strategy.
No argument there. But removing the things is a lot eaiser than putting them back on…
If we actually get ours working, I’ll show you how it’s done. 
~Aaron
the problem with the 2x ball is that it can’t be your only objective. I agree that you’ve got to use one thing on the robot for many functions. but it is hard enough deciding upon a good idea to get to the top of the bar!
By far not impossible. A slightly modified version of Team 25’s 2000 robot, Cradle Robber, could more than likely do that.
Double your pleasure
Double your fun!
As a member previously on Team 232 I actually still have the video footage of that bot in action in the 2000 finals and we are seriously considering doing just that. (moding that design)
It would be difficult, but fairly ideal for this years game if executed well.
It is a good design, and might be quite applicable for this year’s game. The only problem that I see is that in 2000, we cherry-picked balls from our opponent’s goal and put them in our goal or moved balls from our goal to theirs, controlling the score. In this game, that would be quite illegal. Beyond controlling the 2x Ball and hanging on the bar at the end of the match, the robot would be pretty useless. Unless, of course, you build it with a robust drivetrain, such that it could plow balls into the human player corral with ease. But is it safe to build a robot that can do more or less everything?
I think doing BOTH is a very good idea as yes you can do them both with the SAME arm…
If you want to control the game, get one or two of the Big Balls, Hang High, and then decide if you need to score them for both you or the opposing alliance (Stationary goals). You can then easily add points to the opposition. (You also might be able to uncap the oppositions stationary goal.)
This was the winning strategy in 2000 by team 255. Get the balls, Hang on the Bar, and then score them.
Is this mechanically feasible - I don’t know. A team that does this needs to rely on its partner to score the small balls. A perfect robot would be able to hang, score big balls, herd little balls - and this is pretty challenging.
Just buildng a robot that can climb the big steps and hang is a challenge.
A smart development plan would be to design by objective:
- Build moving platform cable of herding, releasing
- Add Arm for big ball manipulation
- Add stair climber
- Add hang ability
6 weeks, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ship…
alright i also think that if you create a good arm you could actually pull yourself over the platform from the ground floor and lift yourself up.
I think doing BOTH is a very good idea as yes you can do them both with the SAME arm…
it will be interesting to see how many teams try this
because having one mechanism that performs two functions violates one of the Golden Rules Of Engineering (GROE)
“a subsytem should have ONE function, and be optimized to perform that function”
when you increase the number of functions a subsystem has (N), you increase its complexity N^N
so the complexity of a subsystem with one function is 1
the complexity of a subsystem with two (different) funcitons is 2^2 = 4
the complexity of a subsystem with 3 functions is 9…
it gets out of control REALLY quick!
Our team has already drawn out a device that can do both the ball and the arm.
The mechanism that extends the arm, if powerful enough, whe reversed can lift the robot (1 motor, two functions) Once you latch the bar, you only have to lift a little to hang. I don’t think a lot of teams will try to win by
messing with robots trying to hang. You want to score points, not try to prevent your opponents from scoring points.
A simple way to do this is a chain drive elevator using the door motor.
— 2000 robot using chain elevator to lift scoring mechanism, hanging from bar.http://robotics.nasa.gov/foothill/pictures/7a.jpg
