[GeeTwo]

When most teams send a part or system out for custom manufacture, it's mostly because they do not have the necessary equipment (lathe, CNC, laser cutter, mill, welder). To get good results, they have to figure out just what the piece should be so that it can do the job. The bottom line is that the team solved the problem, and the "contractor" implemented it. This is considered normal in FRC, though some teams can obviously afford a lot more of it than others.

Programming the robot is something that every team should have the equipment to do. There's enough stuff in the rookie KOP, and updates in each year's veterans' KOP. There is every expectation that even a minimally funded team could learn to program a robot. As such, this is something we really shouldn't see.

If a team turned over a physical robot to a programming "contractor" with a "make it score points" direction, that would definitely not be within the intent of FRC. However, if the the "client" team defines what the program must do (e.g. when limit switch A is engaged, motor B is only allowed to be stopped or in reverse), then I can certainly see the argument that the team has "solved" the problem and the "contractor" has implemented it.