Cheesecake: How far is too far?

[Wayne TenBrink]

In my opinion, "too far" is when a robot shows up for playoffs that wasn't there for qualification rounds, and nobody else had a chance to select it.

If cheesecake is to be limited by new rules, I hope they strike a reasonable balance that still allows/encourages stronger teams to help struggling teams, and still allows teams in playoffs to keep their machines in top form. I like the idea of unrestricted upgrades during the qualification matches (with the required re-inspections), but with some sort of design/configuration freeze after that. Perhaps a total freeze with no changes allowed that meet the criteria for re-inspection. Perhaps a partial freeze with some nominal allowance (a couple of pounds?) for upgraded parts. No restrictions on repairs, maintenance, or software (as currently allowed without re-inspection). In summary, no significant mechanisms in playoffs that were not present in at least one qualification match.

Another thing I think would be interesting - something that would reduce the incentive for cheesecake at championship - would be to go back to three team alliances for division playoffs, with backup bots drawn from unpicked robots as needed. Then, after the division winners have been decided, let them pick their "backup bot" from any of the teams in their division. This would create "super alliances" that truly represent the best that their division had to offer, and make Einstein matches the best they could be.