[Nemo]

This is a pretty cool concept.

Jon's comments about robots needing to head from the field straight back to the queue seem like the biggest issue to me. But the idea of 15 minute breaks every so often sounds like a good start. Maybe what would help is a 30 minute break a couple of times instead. You get a lunch break, so teams at least have that spot to work on a robot if necessary. If you add in one or two 30 minute work periods, then everybody has time to fix stuff.

I disagree that competing in a high school gym is bad. I like it based on FTC experiences. High school gyms are designed partly for hosting high energy competitive events... they are well suited to the task. Expensive venues are a waste of money. I also don't think it's boring to compete against the same teams. In fact, if you never see the same team twice, it always feels like you don't know anybody. It's nice to return to events and recognize people from teams you've seen before. People in high school basketball don't complain about facing the same high schools every year. And they get fewer opponents to see than we do.