[BPetry234]

I know the build season is only 6 weeks long but you can "stretch" it a little.

Summer and fall projects are great. You can design chassis, code, electrical layouts, manufacturing processes, etc. that might be applicable to next years game. Of course you would just be guessing, but if you have an arsenal of ideas that you have already tested it can speed up the process. (On a side note make sure you DON'T use it on your competition robot. If you are designing a chassis make it 1"X1" to big based off of the previous years game so you aren't tempted and no one can charge you for it.) Once again, these would just be prototypes, weapons in your brainstorming arsenal if you will. They are also great ways to keep your team involved in the off season.

With the 40 lbs weight that each team could bring into each competition, you could continue to improve your robot. That doesn't mean that a robot will change drastically, but we all saw shooters become dumpers this year to great effect.

Six weeks is a great time length. As others have said, it forces your team to push the envelope of design. It would be nice to sleep a little though...