Clone

A "clone" is technically a robot that is a carbon copy of another bot, but the term is more used for very similar designs. Often (but not always) bears a negative connotation. - For example: calling someone else's bot a clone is often seen as blaming, and it has a more negative meaning when referring to a bot being entered into a tournament.

The act of cloning is a controversial one. While some people see nothing wrong with cloning, especially if they haven't seen the bot before, others who have had more views of the bots of others may be inclined to differ - deeming the bot builder's bot as unoriginal.

Cloning most often is seen as a necessary step for newbie builders to improve, but they are expected to develop their own style after the cloning part.

A similar term is "ripoff" - The term is somewhat like clone, but less similar. Also often used when you take a design and implement it into anothr weightclass/mod (as an example, Clickbeetle called Hazardous Contraption a Neglected Waterbug clone, but Naryar would call it a NW ripoff rather than clone). You can also attempt to improve a previous design, and it will be called a ripoff.