[KenWittlief]

And a veteran with an even better robot doesn't?...

part of the idea of a handicap system is that you are playing against yourself, your teams past performance, just as much as you are playing against other teams.

If veteran team has done very well in the past, and they dont do even better this year, then they are sitting on their lauraels. Thats not what engineering is about.

If a team trys to design a robot that does everything, and they dont have the experience and resources to pull it off, then they have made a bad engineering decision.

Science and engineering - thats what we need to keep the focus on. If Im working alone as an engineer, and I decide Im going to put Microsoft out of business by writing a better operating system, then I have set my sites on an unreachable goal. No matter how good of an engineer I am I will never be able to take down Microsoft by myself.

But I might design a simpler product, or take on a smaller project, and create something that is pure genius in design and execution. Who would you give an engineering award to? A company that turns out a so-so operating system year after year

or an individual who creates something that is perfect in its function and form and design for its intended purpose?

I know we already have engineering design awards, and quality awards, but with some type of team handicap system we could open up the competition itself and make the contest more level for all the teams.

WIth handicap teams have no reason to improve since it would not matter.

maybe I need to create an example of how a handicap system would work. Your handicap would be based on your actual scores in last years events. The handicap would be based on the average of all the teams in your class (rookie, intermediate, veteran...) and the level you chose to play at (defensive, offensive, auton modes...). If you are a rookie team this year, your handicap would be based on the average of all the rookie teams last year.

a handicap would bring the average team in each class up to an equal footing for this year. That means, if you were average last year, and you are average this year, you will rank somewhere around 50% at an event. If you were below average your handicap would be higher, but if you play below average this year you will not win.

But if you were average last year, and you go home with a drive for improvement, and your performace this year is twice as good as before, you have a good shot at ranking high in the competition.