[moderated] pic: The 2006 NiagaraFIRST Triplets!

[Spikey]

Part of me is really excited to see three identical robots, however part of me is not.

I like the idea, its a great way to mentor teams and teach cooperation, but to a point their should be separation. I wonder what people would think if all the BMS teams came to the New Jersey regional with identical robots. (5-6 teams)

Making three identical robots one year is a great idea, making three identical robots 2 years in a row leaves me with questions. It will still be great for these teams to share resources, but why not share the resources to make three different robots? That way the great aspects of collaboration can remain (sharing resources, mentoring others, offering help) while creating an individual robot that each team could be proud of.

Although I personally cannot put myself in the situation that these teams are in. My team was lucky enough to have a machine shop and adequate funds to independently build a robot. Maybe there is a different mindset when teams work together like this, I don't honestly know, all I can say is from my point of view I would like my team to work with others, but not build identical robots.