Ethics of 2 teams building 2 identical robots

[ajd]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

So, to get this straight: If I am helping another team- I should make their robot a haphazard version of my own and make sure they aren't as successful as my team will (or hopes to) be? Why are they not deserving of winning with me?

What would be the point of helping another team at all then if I don't plan on helping them reach success?

Your issue doesn't even seem to be with collaboration, it seems to be with being too helpful of a mentor team. Most teams don't force themselves on a rookie team, the rookie team asks for as much help as they think they want/need.

Definition of success should be taken into consideration here too...there are unique learning experiences for students and mentors on a rookie team that could conceivably be lost with too much help from a mentoring team. That's not to say that the situation is necessarily bad, but there are pros and cons both ways.