build season needs to be longer.

[evanperryg]

Originally Posted by John Retkowski

"We should allow students to use their textbooks while taking tests. It would eliminate the issue of people cheating by sneaking glances at their books while they're supposed to be closed. It would also negate the benefit that well prepared students get by studying before hand."

Thank you for putting this into perspective. The idea that we should stop people from breaking a rule by getting rid of the rule is counterintuitive and outright ridiculous. Here's some things you can do to make sure you can make a good robot, with the current constraints:

• Get your team together early in the fall. Train newbies. Participate in FTC, VEX, or an informal competition to get people acclimated to the competition setting. If FTC/VEX isn't an option. reach out to local teams about setting up a local competition.
• Design something over the summer, before the new members come in. Giving the veterans a bigger design challenge before training season comes around will refine their skills for the coming season.
• If you don't have money, find it. Postage for 30 letters to local businesses isn't going to drain your budget. Make a presentation, ask to bring your robot to their workplace (seriously, do this, it works), and talk about sponsorships.
• Be smart about your purchases. We decided that, with the cost of tank tread, we weren't going to order it unless we knew we were absolutely going to need it, so we didn't order it.
• Even if you can't afford to build a practice robot, which is understandable, make sure you have a kitbot to throw things on. A powertrain with one bumper isn't nearly as helpful as a full practice bot, but it still can help with designing withholding mechanisms.
• Decide what you need quickly, and order it immediately.

Build season is 6 weeks. The time you have to make your robot great is unlimited.