What to work on for Worlds as a rookie team?

[Jacob Bendicksen]

Congrats on the RAS! You're going to have an amazing time in St. Louis - it takes effort not to

Robot-wise, I'd work on becoming as consistent as possible. It seems like it would be difficult to add game-changing functionality (though step RC grabbing would be worth considering), so it's in your best interest to play the game really solidly within your current design.

As far as marketing your team for Rookie All-Star, you'll want to be careful. Judges and other teams can often see when a team is doing things purely for the award, not because they're the right thing to do, so be wary of trying too hard. That being said, you can dramatically increase your chances by having dedicated spokespeople to talk to judges, and something to give the judges to remember you with. If you can make a good first impression with a solid pair or trio of spokespeople, the judges will like you, and if you give them a brochure or something along those lines, they'll remember you way better. This goes for pretty much any award, but it's something that a lot of rookie teams forget, so it'll give you a better shot at RAS.

Good luck!