Thinking Process

[nitneylion452]

I'm guessing this is your second year as a team?

If so, design is a process that will change every year until your team finds the one that is best for you. Sometimes you will be at one extreme and lock in to a poor design too early and then not have time for a redesign, and sometimes you will be at the other and prototype for too long and have the robot finished on bag day (and not let your drivers have any practice). My team has done both of these and neither is good. You need to find the middle ground between both.

As for mentors designing the robot and having the parts manufactured by a sponsor, that's actually a great resource to have (save the mentor-only design process). Being able to have parts custom made is a great thing because it will save you some weight and will add functionality to your robot as the machines they use are extremely precise.

Good luck with the rest of your season and the remainder of your FIRST career!