Corporations Build Robots

[aaeamdar]

Throughout my two-going-on-three years of participation in FIRST I've heard mutterings about teams whose basic setup is to have the associated corporate sponsor build the robot. So, I had a few questions about this:

1. Does this actually happen, or is it just a rumor that keeps circulating?

2. Is this something that is talked about in the community? In other words, is this post unbelievably awkward?

3. I understand that this is accepted by FIRST, the organization. But is it accepted by FIRST, the teams? The students, mentors, and parents that make up the teams? Basically, there are two parts to this question. First, if you want to personally answer feel happy to do so (better than just feeling free). Second, if you want to answer what you think many other people would say, or something in that vein, also please fell happy to do that.

I understand that FIRST does not provide a model for how teams are supposed to run; I'm not claiming this is some sort of rule violation, I'm just asking, well, the above questions.

Thanks,
Paul Dennis

P.S.: I did search through the forums, but found nothing that seemed to answer my question. If anyone can point me to a thread where this was previously discussed or help me refine my search terms, I'd be much obliged.