So we have a successful efficiency bot that currently only uses nine motors…winch hanging is always an option, but does anyone else have any thoughts?
Currently, six internal 1.6 x 1 direct drive 393’s, two internal 1 x 1 393’s geared 1 x 5, and one internal 1 x 1 393 for our roller.
1 motor intake sounds like you have a top-roller. Can you pick up large balls?
We can’t pick up and continually possess big balls, but we can quickly push them over the rails (from middle to stash zone or reverse) and “roll” them to the top of the stash goals in 2 seconds.
look up some round up reveals
some earlier bots had winches
We have a winch mechanism designed and built already, geared 1:5 powered by a 393 motor and with a ratchet function. We’ve also thought about a shovel on the back of the robot for quick big ball movement. Any thoughts?
We built a 1 motor large ball claw that can hold on to the balls for about 15seconds until the motor stalls out.
Why would you power the claw while it’s holding the large ball?
There needs to be force on the ball to keep it in the claw. If it is not powered, the ball falls out.
A tip for teams doing this: Using a potentiometer and a proportional control can greatly extend the time from gripping until burnout on a motor. I did this for a demo clawbot, and it could hold things for probably ~1 minute (or more) before burnout.
//Andrew
I was just about to suggest something similar. We used a limit switch one year on a claw and some code that cut down the motor power when pushed. Slap it on one of the appendages of the claw and the motor will last a lot longer.
A power level of 20-25 is the “safe” level we usually use. Regardless, it’s best to use 0 power and have rubber bands do constant holding if such is necessary.
A motored-powered large ball catapult? Pneumatics seem like a better way of throwing, but using a motor and elastics would save weight and be unique.
You (and/or the OP) might want to use that motor to control a flip-down fork to pick up big balls rather than a claw. It would be able to hold the ball without stalling out your motor.
You could also use the 2-motor side-rollers intake with high rollers for big balls, as this seems to be effective for most teams.
One motor for intake should be fine, 4 motors and and 4 motor arm should be good, but some people go for 2 motor arm… 
I prefer a 2 motor arm, and a 6 motor drive base. But that’s me. But your post had no indication of what to do with the one remaining motor and that is what this thread is about.
Some teams have 4 omni wheels with a sideways middle omni for sideways movement. I have seen this being used reliably and effectively in the past. However this might be in the way of going over the bump.
I don’t think strafing would really have many practical uses in this game as far as maneuvering goes. We use a small traction wheel in between two of our omnis, so getting over the bump is extremely easy.
Leonardo’s on my team by the way