I don’t think it’s practical to share robots between 2 classes. For build purposes, 8 robots for 50 - 60 students (I’m assuming 2 classes of ~ 30 each) is not nearly enough. As suggested, 3-4 students per robot is reasonable.
It takes 2-3 hours to build a “bare-bones” robot that drives and maybe has a simple lifting mechanism, so you can’t have a class work 45 minutes, then another class take apart and work 45 minutes with the same equipment. More sophisticated robots easily take 100+ hours and can’t be deconstructed in between classes. If you have lab classes that meet 4-6 hours at a stretch, you might be able to build a simple robot on Monday (4-6 hours), take apart, then new students build another robot on Tuesday (4-6 hours). But it would be hard to get beyond the ground level if you have to take apart every few hours.
One solution I can see would be to have 50 - 60 students build with 8 kits is to have teams of 6 - 9 students work on submodules. Have smaller teams (2-3 students) build: 1 ) a driving base, 2) a lift, 3) a manipulator (intake, launch mechanism).
But it’s not easy to take 3 components and “throw them together” to make a robot that drives, lifts, and intakes/launches. The components need to be integrated intelligently from the start.
The other way I could see this working is to make 8 teams with 7-8 students each. But some students could have support roles other than building/programming the robot – CAD, photography, notebook entries, fundraising, supply management (battery charging and sorting, organizing, and putting away parts). It wouldn’t work well to swap roles, unless the build duration is long. For example, group 1 (4 people): build/program for 4-6 weeks and finish a robot, group 2 (4 people) - support role for 4-6 weeks. Take apart the robot, then swap roles for another 4-6 weeks.
Neither of these ideas is great – they’re barely tolerable. If there’s any way to double your inventory (8 kits for EACH class of 25-30), I think you’ll find the classes more manageable.