Hello. To preface this, This is my second year in FTC, and I'm the founder of a rookie team for the Biobuzz season, after my previous team had a messy collapse post-Decode.
One of the other teams in my region uses these Aluminum frames and polycarbonate sheets for their robot, and little to no CNC machining in order to create the frame of their robot. Since we don't have a CNC, last year we had to use an FRC team to mill each of our metal parts. My team's coach (my dad), who coached my previous team aswell, wants us to not waste time on designing parts such as parallel plates, and instead use the method the other team used, since the FRC team is 30 minutes away from us and they spend ~1-2 weeks in order to mill our parts. Is the other team's strategy worth it, or is CNC machining truly better for FTC? If CNC machining is better, how should I convince my dad?
For extra context: I'm pretty sure this link is what the team used for their "frames" along with fitting polycarb inside of it. https://www.amazon.com/Aluminum-Extrusion-Extruded-Anodized-European/dp/B0G2LH2847/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2tA9VRT_0v7oanugH-uImXfp77N0C3Yvn-G_1tCzfZc7PVkkREaPZ6OIgVG3sJUCZhGaZ_b9kSmGnAi3k7ckHDnqGzPs_Jrg3Im3J8EjQNzwV6KHiJ4WVi-0kOBd6I6MxjYJwQ9Tr9Mhn_8YqlFyDX3cEcqLVpIADuwt-3RFgIrqnE_KvuWkuNk9LVDpQdLJYErD6TFT7nablFnsVeWE-RWF2ytLXL0mcu57dqCsqVc.weyjc3_w1RNiOsAqZjIwvKh6tm091dVg2Otw_Y0erQU&dib_tag=se&keywords=Aluminum%2BFraming&qid=1777828055&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1