pic: 303 Prototype Sheet Metal Drivebase

[otherguy]

I'm a programming/electrical type, so take what I say with a grain of salt. From the images, this chassis seems like its going to make maintenance difficult.

Some things to consider:

1. Make it easy to replace any part. In the event something breaks in your DT (gears, wheels, bearings), you don't want to have to sit out a match because it takes a long time to do maintenance/repairs. Consider making openings in the top of the covers above your parallel plates, and some in the bottom of the belly pan. openings in your belly pan directly below your gear boxes can allow you to drop the entire assembly without having to have access from the top of the robot (that's how we've done it at least). This requires some attention when designing the superstructure though to provide the rigidity you'll be losing by cutting up the belly pan.
2. Maybe it's just that I can't see it in the images but, it doesn't look like there's a way to access the screws that mount the motors to the gear box from the outside of the chassis. At a minimum this is going to make replacing a bad motor very difficult. The same goes for holes to access the screws that attach the gear box to the chassis (those ones are pretty critical if you want to build this).