Quote:
Originally Posted by sst.thad
So some of the members think that bringing 2 identical robots to a regional would be cheating because they think it gives us an unfair advantage to winning. That is the reason they think other teams will hate us.
Both teams have always shared the same shop, which caused major issues in 2009/2010. The reason they share the same shop is because the 1st team comes from the high school the shop is in, and the 2nd team is from a magnet school in the district. This makes it difficult to design and build 2 distinct robots because the resources in the shop are split. Back in 2009 and 2010 we both built separate robots, and almost did not complete them because we did not have enough shop resources.
We want to bring back the 2nd team because of the connection with the school and the culture of the team, but we do not want a repeat of the 2009/2010 seasons, where both robots were barely finished by ship day and needed much work at the competitions.
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If you believe building identical robots is the best course of action for the team, then go for it. It sounds like building different robots was a struggle in the past, but do consider it as an option.
Whatever you choose, there's nothing stopping you. There really isn't any cheating in FRC unless you break a disqualifying rule (opening the bag, being overweight, etc.). Everything else is strategic (retrieving a tube from an opposing lane, despite the penalty, and scoring it), if sometimes frowned upon. There are no rules against any level of collaboration between teams.
If it's not in the rule book, don't worry about it. If it is in the rule book, think carefully about your actions and if they're in your best interests.
P.S. If being competitive is your primary goal, I'd suggest that building two identical robots as a single team, keeping the second as a practice robot, could very well provide a greater competitive advantage.