At what point does it become unacceptable for a mentor to design/build the robot

[austinious]

Almost all of the time it depends on the student. I have a great pair of seniors who can build most anything. They presented me with a frame plan and a CAD drawing and I made some minor suggestions, and then they made it... alone.

The shooter group, on the other hand, has me do most hands on work, even when I insist they do it.

The other groups are a mixed bag, sometimes you need to stop an action in progress, like the first year member using one of my classroom desks to pound a gear onto a shaft... don't ask...

Other times, there just isn't time. Last year a support strut broke in between matches, as I watched the confusion and repair attempts, I KNEW I had to step in and take over, or all was lost. I felt bad afterwards, but the team congratulated me. To quote the outgoing leader, "sometimes experience trumps enthusiasm."

Ask yourself this, should I have let them fail to repair the strut and forfeit several matches? What purpose would that serve?