[wireties]

Originally Posted by Patrick Chiang

Really? Well, our robot is 100% student-built (by that I mean every part of the robot has a student's fingerprints on it). And last year, at a competition, our students helped another team build their kitbot (they had issues) at the competition. So, that makes at least 2 I can personally verify. I know quite a few teams in the area that also claim 100% student-built bots.

I don't want to come down strong on one side or the other. Take my experience and factor it into your evaluation. I have run the QuickBuild Electronics session at the Dallas Regional since it started. The talent and ingenuity of the students amazes me but they cannot build the robot by themselves, not even the kitbot! Now these are mostly rookie teams but the awesome students that you refer to above are not rookies, they have the benefit of 1-3 years under your tutelage. So with all due respect I think you should not map your picture-in-time on to all FIRST teams.