In this paper we describe Big Red, the Cornell University Robot Soccer team. The success of our team at the 1999 competition can be mainly attributed to three points: 1) An integrated design approach; students from mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, operations research, and computer science were involved in the project, and a rigorous and systematic design process was utilized. 2) A thorough understanding of the system dynamics, and ensuing control. 3) A high fidelity simulation environment that allowed us to quickly explore artificial intelligence and control strategies well in advance of working prototypes.