Update 6

[KenWittlief]

I think what FIRST is trying to convey is, if you want to win in this game

then win by being clever and innovative - with an eye towards the golden rules of engineering: ie simple is better than complex and why spend a million dollar to develop a pen that writes upside down, when you could use a pencil!

if your sponsor has > $50k to spend on a team, then instead of pouring all that money into one team, sponsor more teams, sponsor a new regional - put up money and mentors for teams that have no resources

instead of spending $200,000 on a mobile trailer machinshop, give that money to your students as scholarships, or loan a few of your mentors to another team for the 6 weeks - even if you have to put them up in temp quarters in another city.

FIRST started out giving teams a box of junk with the challenge to create a working machine - by being creative and innovative - not by dumping $100k into it.

I think these new rules are making the message coming from FIRST perfectly clear - engineering is about what happens between your ears, not what comes out of your deep pockets.