[santosh]

From speaking with Sean who joined us at 2415 and used to work with 1771, the fact is, it is pretty $@#$@#$@#$@# tough with their resources and time to be able to teach kids how to CAD. But being able to speak with them, they do play a huge role in putting their bot together, having a huge amount of input on design, and on gameplay.

I am all for teaching kids CAD. 2415 (my old team) has kids doing a vast majority of the CAD. And hey, their bad for actually reaching out to companies to get parts cut and made (and having back up plans for when the companies have to back out for paying customers).

I remember when we first started 2415, my kids were blown away at champs. They were also incredibly blown away by 1771. When all was lost, I sent kids out in pairs to talk to the big dogs.

They took every opportunity to speak with mentors of teams 118, 330, 254, and plenty of the other greats to see how they get it done. They realized that every team takes a different route and they took that off-season to learn not only how to machine better, CAD better, and think better, but also how to use, and gain resources, to help them get better.
Us mentors came back from summer to see that A) our kids were taller than we were, and B) they came back knowing a lot more and being a lot more driven to succeed.

So yeah, people's stance may be that kids should do it all on their own, but with that same thought, most people don't think that kids can pull of a sick looking (and performing) robot. But the fact is, they can - but it takes mentors to inspire.
This deviates from the discussion about the purpose of FIRST. I will admit, I like it far more when I see bots designed/built mostly by students, doing well than otherwise. The fact is that it can be done but you have to use your resources well.

p.s. I am (was) a terrible mentor and it is all about the students doing work.