For me, I believe the thing which separates "successful" teams from "not" is PROCESS.
There are teams who have 15 years under their belts who charge blindly into each season, and use "hope" as an engineering strategy. Then again, there are 1st and 2nd year teams who methodically attack every aspect of their experience. The results show, in both of these cases.
If you see a very successful robot on the field, 9 times out of 10 it is the result of a team with a great process.
Now... what makes for a great process varies from team to team.
I've posted
one take on it. Karthik has provided
his thoughts.
-John