[David Brinza]

I suspect there were 3000 work-hours invested in the 1717 wheel module design. With 5 students and 5 mentors working together, we're talking about 300 hours of actual clock-time.

It's possible the preliminary design was created in 8-10 weeks during the fall. Some prototyping could be done while the final design (part-level detailed drawings) was developed in first few of weeks of build season. Wheel modules could then be fabricated and assembled for the competition robot in time to complete controls software and test drive the robot before the "stop work" date.

Team 1717 is very well-organized and disciplined to manage such a development in this time frame. Keep in mind their all-senior robotics team walks into each FRC season with CAD, fabrication and programming skills. They're able to hit the ground running every season. They'll be a force to be reckoned with in FRC for some time to come.

P.S. The new Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy facility is ready and Amir has posted a job opening with applicant qualifications you might expect for a leading R&D lab.