The 6 Week Build Season and 'Mentor Burnout'

[EricH]

I'm with Ed (and anybody else who has proposed a similar "limited access" period).

It gives teams a reason not to build a practice robot (saving money/time) while not restricting the use thereof (you want to use extra time to build an extra robot, that's your call).

It gives a hard deadline, while still allowing for "warranty support".


Now, will the burnout continue? If teams let it (see my note about the practice robot), yes. However, I hope that such a schedule will help teams learn self-discipline. You get 6-9 hours of time with the robot each week, schedule wisely and maybe do some work ahead of time to prep (say, tune the 30-point climber again).

My one issue is the 30-lb withholding (no battery or bumpers) remaining at that level. As teams will have a minimum of 6 hours with their competition robot before their first event, I would propose decreasing the withholding to 15 lb, plus whatever happens to be in the bag as far as parts that you didn't quite have time to put on the robot. (Shipping teams get 30 lb plus crate contents, to make up for the 6 hours.)