[Nemo]

This is a rule that could use a change.

With respect to the drive train and chassis in particular, I think it should be legal for a team to develop a drive in the preseason (or previous seasons), including detailed CAD models, and then fabricate that exact drive from the drawings after the start of the build season.

The motivation for doing that wouldn't be to avoid innovating and designing. It would be to spend more time designing and innovating and iterating on your manipulators.

Going by 2009-2012 rules, a team can use their previous year's CAD drawings to fabricate their drive as long as they make at least one very small change to the design. The difference between that and allowing the team to simply use the drive with no restrictions is negligible.

I would suggest getting rid of the language about CAD drawings in this rule. Simply make it legal to use CAD work from the past as long as nothing is physically fabricated before the start of the build season. Put something else in the blue box - for example, explain that if you're drawing from a previous design resource, it would be wise to review it to figure out how it can be improved and optimized for the new game.