[Matt Reiland]

Many, Many robots out there use off the shelf R/C equipment, only recently have you started seeing the Innovation controllers showing up at non-FIRST events. You can buy a 4-8 channel R/C package for 200-300 dollars then buy the speed controllers to go with it. For smaller motors you can probably go with the R/C types from a shop like tower. The Victor883's that we are using are quite capable of handling much more juice than we are giving them so they may be a bit overkill for a robot smaller than 130lbs but they are very robust. By using an off-the-shelf setup you will not have all of the trick features the innovation controller contains but you can get a driveable robot very cheap. You can get a 2 channel whell type radio for well under $100.

You may want to post to see if there are any teams out there that want to sell one of their older systems to you also. Since we get one each year teams that have about 5 years in probably have a stockpile of them they may want to get rid of an older one for a much reduced price.