pic: You guys remember what most of us said would never happen last year?

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

For all we know part of their strategy is to post pictures and videos of their robots before the season began to demoralize the other teams.
Competition is as much about psychology as it is about ability. If you go in thinking you're going to lose then you just made a self fulfilling prophecy because you've lost before you've even made it to the field.

I understand what you are saying, Ed, it can be part of the promotion of your own reputation, legacy, hard work. It can also be an intimidation factor if viewed as one. Champions can become champions by pulling out the stops and using every venue they can to achieve that title. We’ve seen that in many athletic sports/teams/venues. It’s a marketing tool as old as the first games, I’d wager.

Many respected and successful teams also champion the right and the room for self-improvement, self-development, and self-respect in other teams – learning to grow as a team and as competitors to be feared and respected. These teams also provide white papers and information concerning how their programs work and how to develop robot designs that are sound and effective. Several also give excellent presentations at the Championship conferences, sharing aspects of their team strengths, their engineering talents, and even their strategies.

All of this works together. One can’t just separate out some photographs and videos without looking at the other aspects of the teams that have made them competitors on a world championship level.

I’m always among the first to encourage each team to develop their program and their strengths, including recruiting engineers and mentors to help strengthen/obtain their goals and commitments. At the same time, I have to give a nod of respect to those teams who have already found that balance and continue to put it into practice year after year, achieving consistency, setting the bar, and acting as role models for others to learn from.