[Andrew Schreiber]

Losing weight is always a good idea, be it FRC or the real world. But realize there is a trade off. What amount of material can you lose before your assembly is no longer strong enough to do what it needs to? Also, at what point does ease of manufacturing come into play? Im no machinist but I have a hunch that removing that much material will take some time.

What about going to a lighter material than Aluminum? I know that some teams use Lexan (least thats what I think based on my limited knowledge) Maybe look into that. I wouldn't feel comfortable cutting that much stuff out and leaving it on an FRC bot. Now, this mammoth SHOULDN'T be getting in a pushing contest with another mammoth but the saying, "rather safe than sorry" applies here.

Plus from a safety standpoint covering the whole thing makes sense, yeah optimally its going to be an internal mechanism, but kids have a nasty knack for getting into places they arent supposed to be, I wouldn't want to be the organization that has to explain to a sobbing mother why her son no longer has a finger. Covering the whole thing in a lighter material may be a good idea anyway.

Also the smaller cims are more powerful. Bigger is not always better.