I can't say that I've noticed that, but I have noticed that all the robots seem to have the same designs (although I haven't seen my team's design yet, for which i'm worried, and thankful at the same time)
For the triplets and twins, I'd say that it is great that teams are branching together. I can imagine that in real world engineering, different teams will have to work together, on the same object; perhaps different companies even. I'll all in favor of collaborative efforts, and if it produces a better, more competitive robot, then all the more reason to cheer. I love watching really competitive matches, its the next best thing to building your own.
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