[Not2B]

I see I struck a nerve... and I do admit my question was loaded. Sorry about that. And of course the little teams can use all the help they can get. I don't count chain tightening, battery changes, screw tightening, and general maintenance as working on the robot. And for the record, I would never, and have never, judged a team on a few minute glance in the pits. That's not very informed. (Explain later)

I guess in a round about way, you answered my question. For many teams, having a highly tuned, very nice robot IS inspiring. I guess I'm trying to understand it all. The mentors on our team are there to give advice, act as a sounding board for ideas, lend a hand if asked, and help guide the students on the right path when they know what end result they want, but don't know the direction. As a result, sometimes they make mistakes. We try to help them understand what went wrong, how it's not the end of the world, how to correct it, and how to prevent it from happening again.

Here is why I'm in conflict - we had a very good year (by our standards). And the students are more energetic and "inspired" than ever before. Would a REALLY good robot (without the rookie mistakes, etc...) be even better (more inspiring)? Or are they inspired because of what they were able to do on their own, with the little pit stops of disaster (and learning) along the way? My team has answered this for me (let them do it, they don't mind the mistakes.) But it's still something I think about.

.... oh yes. The team that was doing work with no students?! I've been watching a handful (I have 6 on my list) of different style teams for the last 4 years - to try and benchmark our own team. I realize that sometimes mentors can't help themselves, or the students are busy working on something else. But when it's consistent over a 4 year span, at regionals and championships, with a large team, then I have to ask - Is that a good thing? Maybe it is, I don't know. And just so you don't think I'm down on the fancy teams, several of the teams that I initially thought were "too good to be true" or "too mentor dominated" turn out to be really well run, and really inspiring. This is based on talking to mentors, parents, and students as well as years of observations. NOT a few seconds in the pits. That would be silly.