[WakeZero]

In respect to the one comment about copying designs exactly: what about tank drive? That one seems a bit USED... Hehe, just kidding. If you want to go on forever about little instances of copy cat, you could go on for hours complaining. The important thing that almost everyone in this conversation is forgetting:

F.I.R.S.T. is FOR INSPIRATION AND RECOGNITION OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.

There message? To inspire young minds to pursue engineering and science, and change the social caste that winning is all about beating the snot out of your opponents.

How specifically do I relate the above to this topic? If a team adds a tape measure to their robot, yes they are helping themselves, but they are also helping every team they play against or with, because the point total goes up. More important than the competition, they learned from their 'competitors' and quickly made adjustments to their product to be able to hold their own against them. Sort of sounds like a real world company doesn't it? Just a little? =)