[Sgraff_SRHS06]

I don't think it has that much to do with sponsors. Sponsors help, especially on the money side, but most of Simbotics sponsors appear local with the exception of GM. They are also a regular public school, not unlike 173, 47, 49, and others to note. I think their big advantage is that they knew the right people and asked the right questions and did the right stuff.

Sometimes the difference between an awesome bot and an average bot is just in one or two small details that they were able to manipulate (and that detail soon goes into everyone's KOP).

They happened to have one really successful year last year and have been successful for a number of years (maintained success).

Why I think they succeed time and time again? Mentors with good machining/wiring/coding abilities (not necessarily engineers) that teach the students on the team so they really know how to do it (and optimize upon that), and good engineering decision making. (In other words, comprimising between elements and optimizing everything so things work well and are laid out/set up in a way that's easy to repair and set up while still being safe.)

But most of all, they went out into the community and really helped from the start. It helps the community get involved in the program and help make it better.