[sdcantrell56]

I'm going to have to say that for rookie teams or with teams that don;t have a lot of machining resources, the kitbot frame, especially with bumpers, is more than robust enough and easy to put together for FIRST. Especially in the standard 6 wheel drive configuration, there is nothing wrong with the kit frame. I would think a good starting point for an open source frame would be the slightly upgraded version of the kitbot frame that team 121 has used for the past couple years.

I do agree that IF a team has the machining resources, and the people to design a better drivetrain, then sure a custom drivetrain will be lighter and stronger than a kit frame, and potentially easy to work on, but that is a big IF that a lot of teams in FIRST should not be attempting. Many teams should just build the kit frame and devote there resources to a great manipulator