What is the minimum and ideal size for a rookie team?

[Wayne TenBrink]

For a rookie team, I think 6-10 students and at least 3 motiviated mentors would be ideal. The student/mentor ratio should be low. With your inexperience, you will spend a disproportionate amount of your time trying to figure out basic stuff, and less time actually cutting chips and assembling hardware. It is very difficult for a large, inexperienced, impatient, group to create order from chaos. By your second year you will be in a much better position to take on larger numbers. I also recommend that you limit the scope of your non-robot activities (marketing, fancy pit setup, buttons, award submissions, etc.) until you have a handle on the basics (putting a robot on the field) and enough experienced leadership (student or adult) to take on those projects.