[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by IronicDeadBird

I mean no disrespect to anyone who does supply other teams with said cheese or cake, but what I find interesting is that this action is primarily a competition day thing. 5 1/2 weeks ago someone started a thread asking what people were up to and most teams were secretive about designs and such. If you want true synergy between teams these lines of communication need to opened up far before the bag gets put on the robot. I would be behind cheesing if it was done consistently throughout the season but generally speaking (and maybe I am just deaf to the noise) the most I hear help wise is when a team runs out of a set of wheels and another team pitches in. You get a little chitter here and there about "has anyone tested out x,y,z against this game element" but in the end as long as the games are team based we would all do better if we all supported each other.
I don't mean to cast shade on any helping other teams. These actions are amazing, in times of stress you go and help another team. It is truly beautiful to see it happen in competition to see a team help another team get on their feet.
So why doesn't it happen more in the build season?

You answered your own question. We annually host 4-5 teams in our own (very small) shop to help them get through build season. We collaborate on mechanisms, strategy, design approaches, software implementation, awards writing, pit layout- everything and anything. Come snoop around New England, and you will find 125 members at the heart of collaboration, seminars, open lab days and everything in between all year long.

Just because a team isn't publicly posting an entire design to copy doesn't mean they aren't CheesecakingTheOffseasonTM. To me, it further drives home the point that the Cheesecake is about the magic of collaboration that happens on the path from point A to point B.

You don't hear about this because its not happening in the spotlight of a competition, or in the competition season. Plain and simple.

-Brando