[Tungrus]

No, I don't think setting limits on budget is a good idea. There is a limit on robot cost and the major components a team can use along with the robot weight.

Our's is a sophomore team struggling to get funds, we know it is not easy to get mentors and sponsors, we have been trying and probably continue trying even when we have a sponsor with $50K. Some of the established teams have big name sponsors, they may have gone through what we are going through, I will not make any assumptions. The new team members may not know the struggle the team has gone through in 2002 or earlier.

What you see during the events may not be the full picture, its just a snapshot of that day or the season. Fancy robots with fancy lights may look too much, but the team may be using it as a marketing tool to keep those precious sponsors and get new ones. If our team had some money we would be doing the same... it will be part of our business plan. We believe marketing is as important as the robot design or fabrication.