[Squillo]

I'm sorry I have to admit that I haven't read this entire thread, so maybe I've missed this part of the discussion. But it seems to me that one of the biggest "field-unequalizers" is the extra time that teams have to work on their competition bot, when they attend multiple competitions. Some of the teams we compete against have the resources to attend two or three regionals; we can't raise the $30,000 or so (maybe more) extra it would cost to attend an additional regional (we have to fly everywhere).

Now don't just say we should get out there and raise more money. We are in a small, poor rural community and are doing our best to try to expand our fundraising using the internet and other innovative ideas.

Even setting aside the extra robot driving time, competition practice, and the learning and motivating experiences of competitions, a team that can attend 2 or 3 regionals gets many extra days to work on their robot. By the time they get to their 3rd regional or Champs, they may have had the equivalent of an extra week or more of build/improve time. By being able to afford the extra entry fees and travel costs, they are "buying" more time with their competition bot unbagged.

Is this fair? Is there any way to mitigate it? Could teams that are attending only one competition get an extra "unbagged" day at their (only) competition, kind of like the extra hours given for the 2-day events? Has anyone suggested that?

For that matter, as we go to more districts, we may want to look at giving some advantage to teams that can't compete in more than one pre-champs event, to compensate for all the benefits of multiple competitions. More building time, more practice time, or something.

Oh, and for the record, I think that limiting the build time MORE than it is currently (e.g., leaving the 6-week build, removing the withholding allowance or cutting off firmware operability after SBD) would just result in even MORE inoperable robots, disheartened participants and other icky stuff. Bad idea (IMHO).