[EricH]

Does anyone else remember the videos that they used to show on putting the "kitbot" together? I remember one in 2003 or so where they had 3 "average Joes" (who all had better than a bachelor's degree) put it together during kickoff... And some teams couldn't do it in 6 weeks.

When IFI provided the kit frame and gearbox, mobility went up across the board. That's also when the CIM limit went up to 4. AM started at about the same time, and after a couple seasons of battle-testing, word-of-mouth really took off.

2005 also saw the debut of mecanum wheels, IIRC, on 357. It took a couple of years for them to catch on as well.