[Stuey83]

Back when I was a senior in HS (about 5 years ago), I was a part of my school's rookie team. Our design wasn't finalized until near the absolute last minute because we encountered countless problems. Sure we had great mentors, but great guidance can not serve as a substitute for trial and error advancement. We ran into drive train problems, and actuator problems most frequently since our prototypes were often untested until they were built.

At the very least, the vex system would allow a team to scale a design down and test it for feasibility quickly. At best, every member who toys with a vex design is better equipped to participate as a team member. There's something to be said about being able to change drivetrain designs in a matter of minutes without ANY machining and without expensive and complex modular designs.