[Jeffrafa]

I don't think I've noticed any startling growth in collaborating teams over last year. A number of teams, including ours, posted pictures of identical robots that could be mistaken as collaborating teams if it wasn't realized it was just a second practice robot for their own benefit.

As Tetraman stated, there are definitely more similar designs to be had, but this dosen't necessarily mean collaboration. I could search for 5 minutes or less and come up with pictures of 10 - 15 robots that are either direct replicas or clear derivatives of what is now being referred to as the "West Coast Arm", yet I know of no pair of collaborating teams using this system this year.

I doubt we'll see the current collaborating alliances breaking up any time soon. Its a different way of doing business, but arguably no better or worse. In order to pull off such a successful collaboration over a distance like 254 and 968 have there must be some comprehensive designing being done before they even set out to build the components of their robot, something our team just more thoroughly utilized this past year - our 4th season. Also it more closely replicates what is witnessed in the real world this day in age. Very rarely anymore does a company build a system completely from scratch - they outsource manufacturing of various components to companies specialized in that field. I'm impressed that two FIRST teams manage to build their transmissions and wheels hundreds of miles from the production of their frames (not to mention countless other parts of their robot) and they are organized and coordinated enough to have everything fit together and work when the time comes - to me this is a pretty astounding achievement and a testament to the design work that must go into these two robots.

- Jeff