[Flimsor]

While the smaller teams better communication is definitely true (and has happened before) there is a point where you have too few people to do work. It's easier to figure out things if you split up the tasks and have a smaller group of people work on each task, so you need enough people to manage everything effectively.

Communication is definitely still importance. I'm on a team with about 40 people and there have been times when we've split up to work on things, and then it turns out we've got people working on something someone else has figured out, and we have parts of the robot that don't actually work together.

17 people is a good number. Divide and conquer, but make sure everyone knows what's going on.

Good luck with your first year!!!