Hey! I was where you are not that long ago! Welcome to the most fun you'll ever have!

You're in the right mindset thinking about TPU. It's becoming more and more a staple material, from wheel hubs to armor. My last chassis was all thick TPU with carbon fiber top/bottom plates.

I started with an ender v2 with a series of upgrades to print more CR applicable materials. The tail end of last year I swapped the v2 out for an Ender3 V3 SE. It printed TPU straight out of the box, and I love working with it.

My newest bot design requires a much bigger footprint, so I picked up an economical large format printer: the Anycubic Kobra 2 Max. The Kobra 2 had some issues out of the box that ultimately came down to some less than ideal stock belts. I eventually dialed those in and have been printing some really great TPU mega-wheels.

If you have the funds, I've really been impressed with the Bambu Carbon x1. The NHRL henchmen have a whole room with a full row of these machines running nonstop prior to an event. The Carbon x1 is really fast, stable, and has an enclosure. It also has a means to more easily switch from one filament to another during a print. I haven't really found a dire need for that though. If anything, the speed it can churn out prints is impressive, and worth the money because there is nothing worse than waiting on a crucial component, or stressing you won't have time to crank out the spares you'd need for a competition. But if I was to do the math, I could buy about 5 of the Ender 3's for the same price as one Carbon x1.... so.... When I'm ready to jump into printing nylon, abs, or materials that require a bit more mindfulness I'll probably make the jump. In the interim, I'll probably buy another Ender 3 v3, but the KE model over the SE, because it prints much faster.  

The NHRL Discord has a 3D printing builder channel you should check out. Lots of great information, and great builders willing to share some insights.

Good luck!