[EricH]

Or... Brain wave.

Back in 2005, two teams collaborated. There was one minor detail, though--they did not build identical robots. Try "fraternal twins"--it's a pretty good description.

217 and 229 built robots with very similar--or identical--towers and drive bases that year. But, they placed the towers differently on those drive bases, and there were a number of other less easily noticeable differences between the two robots.

So, why not come up with a pair of designs with as many shared parts as possible that is still different? Say, one team uses a mecanum base and the other a 6WD, and they share a superstructure design. Or share a drivebase design, but one team has a lift while the other has an arm. Or, have very similar mechanisms that are oriented differently.

You don't have to have identical robots to collaborate.