With a dedicated sheet metal sponsor your team would have the ability to make low cost, lightweight, strong, easy to maintain drive train and manipulators. The big trick is getting the students to learn how to CAD up a drive train design and have a manufacturing engineer go through it with them to explain how to build it, how to make it lightweight, stiff and cost effective. The students have ideas sometimes good sometimes bad and it is the learning process while designing a drive train that is invaluable. With the proper instruction the 3D model of the design is used to program the laser cutter. the CAM engineer unflattens the model and createds the G code for the laser.
Learning about all the materials that are available to use while building robots is always fun. The kids learn when to use polycarb or pvc, or steel vs alum for high strength.
Team 971 has been building sheet metal robots and has been highly successful with their designs. Take a look at their website and check out their design photos.
The use of .090 5052 H32 alum and building all the parts from one thickness allows the robot drivetrain to be made in a few hours. The robot comes off a laser cutting machine in one big nest of parts.
Here is a video of the teams design and prototype phase:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJEYgFIryrU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W96qYYQ5mo