I will post on here from time to time with design suggestions and cool findings since I can't really tell anyone in person from Tucson.

I hope to hear how the pinball flipper mechanism worked for kicking the ball since it seems like one of the few promising ideas discussed anywhere. Plus the theming possibilities with this mechanism style are endless; the flippers could be made to look like actual pinball flippers, and the driver could have a fake pinball machine on the control board with a button on each side like a real pinball machine would for controls. The robot will need some sort of self righting mechanism, but for anytime we flip over the bottom of our robot could have a giant "TILT" sign that is lit up (either a metal/something plate with TILT cut out or TILT written with LEDs). Potential robot names include "Pinball Wizard", "Full Tilt", and if stretched to casinos or arcades something like "Snake Eyes" also. A sound system could even be put on the robot (with the ability to be switched on or off) that could make pinball noises anytime the flippers are used.

Regardless of the design this year I think theming the robot from the get-go will result in an impressive looking robot that will also be really fun to build.