Yeah,
Mentors are always helpful, and resources are necessary... but I think it's the quality of the student involvement that 'dictates' the team's success. Our engineers (who are excellent) pointed out a correlation to me concerning our team and success. Our two most 'successful' robot years were '99 and '02. Those years, the team "worked as a team" moreso than any other year. This year, I could see it in their eyes (my teammates), their unwavering will to succeed this year. They generally cared for the team. Sub-teams interacted well with other sub-teams. '00 and '01 were years of partitioning and an overall lack of communication between team members. These years were 'less successful'.
Anyway... back to the topic...
Resources can be forged by a willing team of students. Engineers can be inspired by a willing team of students. I've found that optimism isn't necessary for a good robot. In fact, many of our greatest designs came from pessimistic (and somewhat naive) people saying "eh, we'll never be able to pull two goals... it's too hard... it's not worth it". Enough influential people believed this and made the two goal grabbers more efficient and more effective. Of course, that might be irrelevant. But yeah... in summary, the most important aspect of a successful team inmy opinion is:
- Enthusiasm in students
- Teamwork in Students
- Good Mentors (can't leave them out
)
~Hubicki~