[Dave Campbell]

Let me preceed this post with how much admiration I have for Team 111, and all FIRST teams. Your integrity is not in question here. We (1038) would love to build a second machine, and might do so this year.
This post brings to question the shipping deadline. Does the FIRST "Out-of-hands" deadline mean that we ship the robot and ALL other work ceases? Or can we continue to improve the machine and program after the deadline? I know we don't make spares, or changes after the ship date, but how does driver / programming practice fit in? I have always interpreted the rules to mean we ship, cease ALL work, and pick up again on the practice day of our first regional.
Does the work (driving practice, strategy, machine design / analysis) continue after the shipping deadline? If so, I would think that a second machine would allow teams to work in that area outside of the ship deadline and far from "gracious professionalism." If not, a second machine would be an excellent tool to use to train drivers during the build season while the final product is being manufactured.