Thanks,
I've been looking into local welders. I'm starting to realize that it may not be as expensive or time consuming as my teacher is afraid it will be. It looks like we may choose to do that...I'm pushing for it anyway. Our frame is not too complicated, but building it out of the KoP chassis is a bit hard because of some of our design elements. I will definitely try working out a deal with the welder we choose...
Finally, we're an Los Angeles based team. Anybody know any welders who would like to help out?
We'd definitely give them lots of credit. My team only has one sponsor, so there is plenty of room for decals on the robot and also on our website and wherever else we list these things.