[ngreen]

I think more than making it easy, it makes it hard for veteran teams. This drive and chassis can compete with what many of the veteran teams have been using and allows the rookies to focus more attention to more difficult task such as tetra manipulation.

Looking at my team personally, we are a third year team that has done well the last two using a student tig welded frame and a chain drive with the drill motors. We don't have resources or experience on drives more than that right now and this year you can put together a comparable frame in several hours what has taken us around a week the last two years.

So I don't think FIRST has made it too easy. There will be several veteran teams use this drive because it is just as good as what they've been using. But meanwhile rookie teams will be able to spend less time getting their robot to move. I think in the end this move will make more of the veteran teams to make a greater focus in more advance drive systems, better manipulator design, and programming in order to gain back that advantage lost. I really hope this brings the end to the rookie one drive wheel robots!