[Andrew]

skimoose,
Most of what I posted is true if you do away with the ship date but down tools at the end of six weeks (i.e. have a Completion Date deadline).

However, FIRST has increased the scope of work since the original inception of the ship date, without providing a new deadline. In the "real world" this means that teams have to allocate more resources within the six weeks to accomplish the same goal. These resources have to come from somewhere. This usually means increases in costs and decreases in "non-essentials."

I also have to respectfully disagree with your " best solution that can be accomplished within the time and resources that the situation allows" since FIRST has stated again and again that they want to see more spectator friendly competitions. Which means robots that are more tweaked out.

KenWittlief,
I didn't say the rules forbade us from mentoring outside the six weeks. I said that most of our students, especially the ones who are "on the edge" (which is the prime pool that we want to reach) vanish outside the six week build phase. If we can extend the "reach time" through regionals and nationals by having a focus point (continued build OR practicing with the robot), we will probably increase the number of students who might come to the extra activities that you have described.