[Jon Stratis]

I would disagree... there's a lot that students can learn putting together a gear box - something that is completely lost on newer students if you just keep reusing old gear boxes. Taken to an extreme, if you assemble a set of toughboxes this year, and the team just keeps using them every year for the next 4 years, you'll have students on the team that have never seen the inside of a gear box, and don't have that practical knowledge knowledge of how it all fits together and works to provide the gear reduction your using. They just know there's a magic box they have to hook up to the CIM motors.

Remember, the competition isn't about building a robot. It's about the practical experience and learning opportunities that arise. Throwing those opportunities out in order to get the robot built faster only hurts you and your team.