when it comes to the whole spinner non spinner argument would it be worth making a whole new class based on the rex garrod robot challenge rules that he dreamed up specifically for schools and novices to let them get a feel for things i believe spinners were banned totally and the robots had a max budget of £500 or something might be a good way to promote the sport to schools and youth groups if its shown that there creations aren't going to get decimated by a team with deep pockets and a several thousand pounds worth of high tech equipment.

as for the main shows maybe bring out a tag team tournament but make it that it has to be 2 separate teams and not just a team with 2 robots in it so you have a mixture of teams or maybe a random draw from a hat for teams

i think it would also be good to reward people for doing things on the cheep (the tesco value award or something)