[EricH]

With regards to the KOP questions asked, there are two ways to answer.

The first is, why do they choose to give us a pile of parts that otherwise we'd have to track down for ourselves, thereby making their lives harder and ours easier?

The second is, so that teams who do use substantial amounts of the KOP can get those parts easily, rather than spending lots of time to look around for money or parts.

And I know that a lot of teams use a lot of parts from the KOP, whether they show up in competition or not. 330 tends to build practice robots with kit frame for use as testbeds, and I know we aren't the only ones. Those air storage cylinders are KOP, and quite useful.

The KOP is not required to be used on the competition robot; rather, it is allowed to be used to the extent that a team wishes to use it. (Think about it--motors must be from the KOP, but you don't have to use any particular motor. The cRIO and whatever makes it work electrically is about the only required part.)