[sdcantrell56]

After subscribing to the train of thought of building the drivebase without any real regard to weight for a couple years, and each year worrying about overall robot weight, I am now a firm believer in saving as much weight as possible every where that is possible including the drivetrain. Any weight saved means adding a new device or function or improving on another. At the bare minimum it means adding weights in exactly the right spots to maintain the best center of gravity. This year the weight savings extended to the point of using extremely fancy and rare plywood in our drivetrain. Next year and this offseason, we are looking into experimenting with timing belt instead of #25 chain as well for even more savings.

In short, every system should be as weight-reduced as is reasonably possible.