[generalbrando]

The coolest part of the competition for me is seeing some robot do something crazy and then going to their pit to find out what the heck that was! I suppose I would only lose this thrill if I went online and viewed posted information on other bots.

However, I am torn on this pointy subject as well. Last year on 1020 a few members were veterans from teams that were strictly confidential during the build period (71 for instance). The idea that our design needed to be protected infected almost everyone else - despite the obvious lack of need to protect our design (even if non-rookies - who was seriously going to look to us for ideas?). It was no big deal, however it caught me off guard and I thought it was a bad thing for the rookies on the team because it gave them a sense of contempt (is that the right word?) for other teams. It wasn't a horrible thing, but you get my point.