We have almost no budget (literally), and we get by. Our only mentor is our physics teacher, so I'm pretty much alone on the programming and electrical side of things, but even so we managed to successfully run every match last year, finish 21st or something, and win the Judges award. Our bank account right now is sitting around the empty mark, and we get the majority of our parts and stuff for free as donations or from team members. By the sounds of it you are well poised to do good.
- You joined Chief Delphi, that's crucial
- You have many mentors
- You live around many other teams that can assist you
- You sound like you are willing to put in the work to get things done.
A robot doesn't have to be super high budget to be effective (although it helps). You just need ingenuity, and if you're low budget (as it sounds like you are, (relative)) creative solutions(hacks
) are key.
Welcome, and good luck!