FIRST Choice, what did you get?

[IndySam]

We got our order summery, we got:

The firsts 4 on our priority list.

2 Batteries
4 Victors
2 Rev protoboards
2 Encoder kits

10 each of the 1/2" shaft collars (no hex)
2 each of the Parker fittings
2 AM 2015 motors
1 Freelin Wade red hose
and some push buttons

All in all not to bad, got our first 4 choices so we can't complain.

What did you get?

[Anthony4939]

4 Victors
2 Solenoids
4 motors
Breaker kit
Spikes
Pressure switch
Clear tubing
servos

No complaints.

[matthewdenny]

1) Video Card
3) 2 Encoder Kits
5) 2 Jaguars (TI)
6) 2 Spikes
8) Pneumatic Tubing, black
12) Multimeter

So we got about half of our top 10 list.

[orangemoore]

We got :

4 Jaguars
3X tubing
Parker Fittings
2X Dry Erase boards.

Not exactly what we were hoping for but it works

[Taylor]

Classmate
Crimping tool
Camera
Battery charger
Battery
Dry erase board (x2)
Velcro kit (x2)
Teflon tape (x2)
Parker fitting kit
Victor 888

[ChuckDickerson]

1) Crimper (100 credits)
2) Video Card (100 credits)
3) PD Boards (6) (90 credits)
6) Pressure Switch (2) (40 credits)
8) 1/2"x1/2" Rigid Coupling (5) (100 credits)
10) Elbow Fittings (5) (50 credits)
11) Straight Fittings (10) (50 credits)
12) Black Tubing (1) (10 credits)
15) Parker Fitting Kit (1) (50 credits)

590 credits spent total.

[Tungrus]

2 batteries - great!
4 victors - great!
shaft collars
protoboard - great!

not even one motor or solenoid!....bummer!

Thanks AM!

[The_ShamWOW88]

1) Classmate
2) 4 Jags
3) Encoder kits
4) Igus Bag
5) Spherical Flange Bearings
6) Lazy Susan
7) Lead screw w/Nut
8) 322HD Servos
9) Stealth wheels 500 hex bore

[Mark McLeod]

Missed out on solenoids as our #1 choice.
All-in-all missed 5 items out of our top 17, so we had a 70% success rate.

[PayneTrain]

No hex collars or batteries, but we did get nine attack 3 joysticks.

#priorities

[z_beeblebrox]

Quadro K4000
Victor x4
Encoder x2
cRIO
Analog Breakout
Webcam
Whiteboard
Lots of pneumatic fittings

Edit: I can't read. I was looking at what we requested on our order, not what we got. Fixed that.

[wilsonmw04]

No hex collars or batteries, but we did get nine attack 3 joysticks.

#priorities

SO that's where all my joysticks went! don't worry. We got your batteries ;-)

2014 Parker Valves x1
Parker Elbows x1
Parker straights x1
Batteries x2
Parker fittings kit x1
1/2" shaft collars x8
Pressure switches x2
Micro switches (x10) x1
Multimeter x1
Graphics Card x1

[nicholsjj]

We got a fantastic haul:

2 Batteries 100
1 Battery Charger 50
3 Spike Relays 60
1 Crimping Tool 100
2 Pressure Switches 40
2 Brass Based Fitting Kits 100
1 HD3000 Camera 50
1 Ethernet Port Saver 5
3 Window Motor Couplers 15
10 1/2" Round Shaft Collars 50
5 3/8" Round Shaft Collars 25
1 26 mm OD 10 mm ID bearings 5

Thanks Andymark for running First Choice! We saved around $1,000 this year had we had to buy these items.

[MathFreak]

We're a rookie team so we chose motor controllers in first place.

Black Jaguar (fc15-034) x4
Victor 888 (fc15-019) x4
Spike (fc15-112) x2
Snap Action Breaker Kit (fc15-115) x1
Encoder Kit (fc15-039) x2
Freelin-Wade Blue Tubing (fc15-010) x1
Igus 2014 Bag (fc15-102) x1
igubal spherical flange bearing (fc15-111) x2
Ethernet Port Saver (fc15-030) x2

What we didn't get:
Battery Charger (fc15-005)
12V Battery (fc15-008)
7pc Ratcheting Wrench Set (fc15-098)
Attack 3 Joystick (fc15-064)

[sanddrag]

I'm amazed there's still over 100 of the graphics card still left. I really did not see that coming.

I'm having some trouble understanding the significance of the order in which the items are displayed in the PDF sent by e-mail. Can anyone shed some light on that?

[Caleb Sykes]

I'm amazed there's still over 100 of the graphics card still left. I really did not see that coming.

I'm having some trouble understanding the significance of the order in which the items are displayed in the PDF sent by e-mail. Can anyone shed some light on that?

The list appears to be sorted by FC Part # (second column). This is the order in which items appear on the "Everything" tab (http://firstchoicebyandymark.com/everything/) on the FC website.

EDIT:
My list appears to have the first 12 items sorted in this way, but not in this way for any items past that. Seems a little unlikely that this is just coincidence, but I don't know why the system would break down at the twelfth item.

[silverD]

Here is what we received:
-cRIO, 4-slot Controller and I/O Kit (fc15-049)
-Quadro K4000 Video Card (fc15-114)
-Power Distribution Board (fc15-054) x 3
-Digital Sidecar (fc15-053) x 3
-Microsoft Lifecam HD3000 Camera (fc15-016)
-4 inch Stealth Wheel, 500 Hex Bore (fc15-004) x 8
-Snap Action Breaker Kit (fc15-115) x 2
-REV Protoboard (fc15-029)
-Freelin-Wade Transparent Blue Tubing (fc15-012)
-Diagonal Cutter (fc15-100)

[nicholsjj]

In ours it listed our requested priority list and then the Total column is where you are told if you had the requested quantity. Our first box for example was: Priority 1, the part number fc15-008, Name 12V Battery, Credits 50, Requested Quantity 2, Total 100. Because the total is 100, we know that we received our requested quantity, 50 * 2 = 100.

[Mark McLeod]

I'm having some trouble understanding the significance of the order in which the items are displayed in the PDF sent by e-mail. Can anyone shed some light on that?

My list is in the order in which I actually entered each item onto the Priority List. I have one item, entered late, that's way down on the list in the order in which I entered things, but that I later changed to a priority of 5.

Are you seeing something like that?

[Qbot2640]

2 Batteries
2 Encoder
1 Charger
6 1/4 collars (No hex - really wanted them)
6 1/2 collars
Black Tubing
4 Breadboards
1 Video Card
4 9015 Motors
4 Victors (No Jaguars - really wanted them)

Had to go to the 16th item on our list to complete 600 credits - missed 6 - so 62.5% success.

[silverD]

My list is in the order in which I actually entered each item onto the Priority List. I have one item entered late that's way down on the list in the order in which I entered things, but that I later changed to a priority of 5.

Are you seeing something like that?

Yep, I think you hit the nail on the head.;) The list in the PDF is the order in which I added them to the priority list, regardless if I re-ranked them.

[FrankJ]

We got lift motors, digital side car, pd board, encoders, & a smattering of other stuff. Strangely enough, did not get any tubing. The PD boards are nice for off season projects & the sidecar will be hard to replace if you need one.

There are a bunch of victors left, 5000+. If you are short motor controllers, Victors aren't bad. And Fluke meters. we didn't order one because we already have enough meters, but it is a good deal, I am surprised they didn't sell out.

While we didn't get some of the things we wanted, I like the process better previous years.

[Christopher149]

Well, I guess they were serious about requesting like 2000 credits of stuff if you wanted to spend all 600 credits.

For 420 credits:

1 Battery Charger
4 Gates HTD 131 Tooth Belt, 15mm
4 Gates HTD 170 Tooth Belt, 15mm (fc15-015)
1 Microsoft Lifecam HD3000 Camera
2 Victor 888
2 47mm OD, 17mm ID Bearings
2 26mm OD, 10mm ID Bearings
1 Green Ring Light
1 Ethernet Cable
1 Dry Erase Board
1 Micro switch, set of 10
1 Igus 2014 Bag

Contemplating getting two more Victors and going to town on cheap items.

[Tungrus]

Yep, I think you hit the nail on the head.;) The list in the PDF is the order in which I added them to the priority list, regardless if I re-ranked them.

Ditto here! Next time think before you click, the rearranging the order seems to be just superficial, looks could be deceiving!

[crollison]

Anyone else a little disappointed in the availability of items? Seems that there just wasn't near as much as last year. We didn't fair too well, batteries were in spots 2 and 3, didn't get either. Trying to figure out what I'm going to do with a $700 video card that was quite a ways down the list, but needed to add points.

[sergioCorral842]

Anyone else a little disappointed in the availability of items? Seems that there just wasn't near as much as last year. We didn't fair too well, batteries were in spots 2 and 3, didn't get either. Trying to figure out what I'm going to do with a $700 video card that was quite a ways down the list, but needed to add points.

FIRST Choice is all about donations. If they do not receive a lot, they can not give a lot.

[BrendanB]

For 300 credits 3467 got:

1 fc15-038 Crimping Tool (fc15-038)
1 fc15-049 cRIO, 4-slot Controller and I/O Kit (fc15-049)
2 fc15-054 Power Distribution Board (fc15-054)
1 fc15-065 Parker Fitting Kit (fc15-065)
2 fc15-031 47mm OD, 17mm ID Bearings (Sleeve of 10) (fc15-031)
1 fc15-009 Freelin-Wade Black Tubing (fc15-009)
1 fc15-011 Freelin-Wade Red Tubing (fc15-011)
1 fc15-012 Freelin-Wade Transparent Blue Tubing (fc15-012)
4 fc15-085 1/2" Shaft Collar (fc15-085)
2 fc15-100 Diagonal Cutter (fc15-100)
1 fc15-033 Green Ring Light (fc15-033)

[MrBasse]

We got the following:

C-RIO
HD3000 Webcam
black tubing
Spike x10
victor 888 x4
encoder kit x 2
green ring light
Parker fitting kit


Missed out on some things we need dearly (batteries and joysticks) so we'll have to go out and buy those, but all in all got a good bang for our buck on $11 shipping.

[MrRoboSteve]

Here's our list, from the top. * indicates an item that didn't fill.

4 - Solenoid fc15-013 (good value [12v equiv is $116 at AM], often out of stock during build season [note 24v])
2 - Attack 3 Joystick fc15-064 (getting tough to source)
1 - Crimping Tool fc15-038 (excellent value, $220 retail)
* - 12V battery fc15-008
* - Spike fc15-112
* - Black Jaguar fc15-118
1 - Parker straight fc15-070 (good value)
1 - Parker elbow fc15-068 (good value)
* - Encoder Kit fc15-039 (interested in trying)
2 - Igus 2014 Bag (fc15-102) (good value)
1 - Igus slew ring (fc15-103) (good value)
5 - Igus flange bearing fc15-106
5 - Igus clip bearing fc15-109

Lower items (in order) that we didn't get:

12V Battery (fc15-008)
Spike (fc15-112)
Solenoid, Double Valve Kit (fc15-013)
Black Jaguar (fc15-118)
Victor 888 (fc15-019)
47mm OD, 17mm ID Bearings (Sleeve of 10) (fc15-031)
26mm OD, 10mm ID Bearings (Sleeve of 8) (fc15-032)
Freelin-Wade Blue Tubing (fc15-010)
Green Ring Light (fc15-033)
4 inch Stealth Wheel, 500 Hex Bore (fc15-004)
Velcro Kit (fc15-036)
Parker Prestolok Elbow, 1/4in tube to 1/4in tube (10 ct.) (fc15-069)
Igus 2014 Bag (fc15-102)
Teflon tape (fc15-018)
Ethernet Port Saver (fc15-030)
Cypress PSOC 3 (fc15-051)
7pc Ratcheting Wrench Set (fc15-098)

[mlantry]

Battery Charger (fc15-005) 1
Black Jaguar (fc15-034) 4
Spike (fc15-112) 2
Snap Action Breaker Kit (fc15-115) 1
Pneumatic Pressure Switch (fc15-113) 2
Freelin-Wade Red Tubing (fc15-011) 1
Crimping Tool (fc15-038) 1
Victor 888 (fc15-019) 2
Micro switch, set of 10 (fc15-017) 1
Teflon tape (fc15-018) 1

Happy with what we got 0 credits remaining

[Mark McLeod]

Here's a list of the most popular items.

[AllenGregoryIV]

Updated with what we received.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KxhHRX_IIhcWyeosFJxNyi_prS3W9O6_5s-Q5rZMfuc/edit#gid=0

Actually hit 100% based on the credits we had available each round.

Thanks AndyMark

[JesseK]

We didn't get #1 on our priority list, but got all of 2-15 except for 1 item. 16-26 were hit-or-miss.

All in all, a win. Thanks AndyMark!

[Whippet]

We got 8 jags, a video card, and a crimping tool. I was hoping for some batteries, but still happy with what we got.

[Landonh12]

1) 12V Battery
3) 4 Inch Stealth Wheel x6
4) Quadro K4000 Video Card
5) Battery Charger
6) Snap action breaker kit
8) REV Protoboard
10) Freelin-Wade Blue Tubing
12) Igus 2014 Bag
14) Freelin-Wade Red Tubing
15) Ethernet port saver
17) Digital Multimeter
19) Pneumatic Pressure Switch
20) Diagonal Cutter x2
23) Parker Fitting Kit
24) Parker Prestolok Elbow
26) Parker Prestolok Straight

Pretty happy with our list. We didn't get any jaguars or spikes, but we have plenty of those already.

[seg9585]

Not too happy about this one. We had 19 items in the list and only got 9 of em. 47% success rate. Oh well... time to do more fundraising

What we got:
3x Spike relays
2x Parker Fitting Kits
1x Accelerometer Sensor Panel
1x Pneumatic Pressure Switch
2x Parker 1/8NPT to 1/4
1x Cypress PSOC
1x Digital Sidecar
1x Lead Screw w/ Nut

High priority items we wanted but didn't get:
2x Battery
2x Solenoid Double Valve Kit
2x Jaguar
1x cRio
1x PD Board

[Nemo]

The priority list + draft process has been a huge win, in my opinion.

Putting together the priority list is a bit of an interesting and tricky problem, but it's a very fair way to run the process without introducing the fast fingers + fast internet lottery aspect.

Thanks to AndyMark and all of the donors for this opportunity to acquire all of these useful items.

[FrankJ]

I have to admit I didn't spend a lot of time doing this. But the way to play game is balancing your wants against the number available. For example something you really want, but has a large number available might be lower on your priority than something you want less but had fewer available. The numbers are there but you have to guess as to the popularity. Given the constraints, I am happy with the system. Much better than those with the fastest fingers & internet wins. :)

[Kevin Selavko]

I am happy with what we got, 100% of our top 5:

2 x 12V Battery (fc15-008)
1 x E12 Classmate (fc15-006)
1 x Quadro K4000 Video Card (fc15-114)
10x Hang/Stack Bin (fc15-099)
1 x REV Protoboard (fc15-029)

1 x 7pc Ratcheting Wrench Set (fc15-098)
2 x Velcro Kit (fc15-036)
1 x Green Ring Light (fc15-033)

[Gregor]

For 560 Credits

1X Video Card
1X Crimping Tool
3X Diagonal Cutter
1X Black Tubing
1X Red Tubing
1X Blue Tubing
2X Ethernet Port Saver
1X 1/8" NPT to 1/4" Tube Elbow Fittings
1X 1/8" NPT to 1/4" Tube Straight Fittings
2X Pneumatic Pressure Switch
2X AC to DC wall adaptor
4X Victor 888
4X Teflon Tape
2X Green Ring Light

[Bewizardment]

What do you all plan to do with the video card? Are you going to put it into a CAD machine? I'm pretty surprised with the amount of teams that ordered one.

[Anthony Galea]

We were surprised with how few of our top choices we got:

1) E12 Classmate (1)
3) Pneumatic Pressure Switch (2)
6) Freelin-Wade Red Tubing (1)
7) Green Ring Light (2)
8) Microsoft Lifecam (1)
9) 12" Lazy Susan (2)
10) Velcro Kit (4)
12) HS-332HD Servo (2)
13) Quadro K4000 Video Card (1)
14) Teflon Tape (4)
17) 47mm OD, 17mm ID Bearings (1)
18) 26mm OD, 10mm ID Bearings (1)
19) Ethernet Cable (1)
24) Parker T Fitting, 1/8 NPT Female to 1/4 tubing (1)

535 Credits used, 65 remain.

[IronicDeadBird]

No hex collars or batteries, but we did get nine attack 3 joysticks.

#priorities

Thats the equivalent of 27 attack 1 joysticks...

[rsisk]

We were happy with our results and the whole FirstChoice process. Big kudos to AndyMark, FIRST, and the generous sponsors.

6 Solenoid kits
2 DSCs
1 Analog break out
2 PDBs
1 Breaker kit
10 Parker elbows
10 hang stack bins

[Jin Hayashi]

I am much happier with the new FIRST Choice method than the previous method of the fastest fingers and connections getting the first choice. It was actually fun waiting to see what we would receive.

Our final order was as follows:
(1) 1 x E12 Classmate (fc15-006)
(3) 3 x Motor (fc15-037)
(5) 2 x Encoder Kit (fc15-039)
(6) 1 x Cypress PSOC 3 (fc15-051)
(7) 1 x Green Ring Light (fc15-033)
(8) 3 x AndyMark Snow Blower Motor (fc15-003)
(9) 1 x Microsoft Lifecam HD3000 Camera (fc15-016)
(10) 1 x Victor 888 (fc15-019)
(12) 1 x Parker Prestolok Elbow, 1/8NPT Male to 1/4in tube (10 ct.) (fc15-068)
(14) 1 x Low Profile Pushbutton Kit (fc15-023)
(15) 1 x PCB Toggle Kit (fc15-026)
(16) 1 x 47mm OD, 17mm ID Bearings (Sleeve of 10) (fc15-031)
(17) 1 x 26mm OD, 10mm ID Bearings (Sleeve of 8) (fc15-032)

[jman4747]

What do you all plan to do with the video card? Are you going to put it into a CAD machine? I'm pretty surprised with the amount of teams that ordered one.

Yes. I'll get another one too if there are any left after kickoff. As a team with no computers in our shop other than one old classmate and one old desktop last season we can build a very good CAD pc and save $$$$ on graphics. The Quadro K4000 is $732!!! (Newegg.com & www.amazon.com) It was from the last generation of Nvidia Quadro cards and if you compare its specs to the current series it is roughly equivalent to a K2200 ($440).

No more toting my desktop to and from the shop and my house.

[BN1557]

Hello! Our team got a cRIO, 4 jaguars, 2 encoder kits, 2 3d printer filaments, some Andymark motors, and some other misc.

Also, I know that this is off topic, but has anyone ever tried to run Victors from an Arduino? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[nomad725]

We got:


Microsoft Lifecam HD3000 Camera
2 Pneumatic Pressure Switch
2 Snap Action Breaker Kit
Freelin-Wide Transparent Blue Tubing
2 Parker Fitting Kit
REV Protoboard
Diagonal Cutter


We got 325 Credits worth. We really wanted to get at least one Solenoid Valve and Battery, but we will see if we can buy at least a Solenoid.

[dellagd]

Yeah, big win for AndyMark with the priority list. Good on you guys!

As for us, as I expected, the random number generator was biased against teams with numbers that are 7 higher than (2^3 * 5^2 * 13), so we didn't get batteries even though they were our number one choice. Here's out haul, quantity on the left:


1 Microsoft Lifecam HD3000 Camera (fc15-016)
1 Attack 3 Joystick (fc15-064)
2 Encoder Kit (fc15-039)
4 1/4" x 1/4" Rigid Coupling (fc15-075)
1 Freelin-Wade Black Tubing (fc15-009)
2 Parker Prestolok Straight 1/8NPT Male to 1/4in tube (10 ct.) (fc15-070)
1 Igus 2014 Bag (fc15-102)
2 26mm OD 10mm ID Bearings (Sleeve of 8) (fc15-032)
1 Tantalum capacitor kit: T491 Kit (fc15-060)
2 Green Ring Light (fc15-033)
1 Micro switch set of 10 (fc15-017)
2 Ethernet Port Saver (fc15-030)
2 iglide® PRT slewing ring (fc15-103)
4 3/8" Jaw Coupling Hub (fc15-072)
1 Quadro K4000 Video Card (fc15-114)
1 Diagonal Cutter (fc15-100)



But yeah, would AndyMark please order the list based on priority number? That would make things much more apparent at a quick look since what people really want to get out of it is just "WHAT DID I GET!?!?"

[adciv]

It looks like we hit the jackpot (for us, anyway).

1 cRIO
2 Analog Breakout
2 Digital Sidecar
4 Sensor Panel (gyro & accel)
2 Power Distribution Boards
2 Pneumatic Pressure Switches
2 10pk of 1/8NPT fittings
2 3/8 x 3/8 rigid coupling
2 3/8 x 3/8 beam coupling
4 Victor 888
1 Gates HTD 131 Tooth Belt

For those wodering why we were getting the old control system components, we keep old robots up and running and also plan to use the components for workshops/classes. Alas, we didn't get any pneumatics tubing which we were hoping for.

[cbale2000]

We didn't do too bad.

x2 - 12V Battery (fc15-008)
x4 - AndyMark 9015 Motor (fc15-002)
x4 - Spike (fc15-112)
x4 - Victor 888 (fc15-019)
x1 - Freelin-Wade Black Tubing (fc15-009)
x1 - Freelin-Wade Red Tubing (fc15-011)
x2 - Snap Action Breaker Kit (fc15-115)
x2 - Micro switch, set of 10 (fc15-017)
x2 - Diagonal Cutter (fc15-100)

[Billfred]

4901 pushed in all the chips and got:

4x Victors
0x Battery
1x Battery Charger
2x Encoder Kit
1x Crimping tool
0x Spike (huh...)
1x Breaker kit (who isn't always one breaker short?)
0x Seat motor (and we're a Bosch team!)
2x Velcro kit
1x REV Protoboard
4x Pushbuttons
0x Beam couplings
0x 1/2" Rigid couplings
8x Stealth Wheels
4x Low-Profile Pushbuttons

I wasn't quite expecting the pneumatics parts to fly off the shelves--we loaded up on them last year well past Kickoff. Guess we'll have to get our air the hard way*.

*Or is it really hard when they say us mentors are full of hot air?

[brandon.cottrell]

Tons of Velcro.

[mrnoble]

6 solenoids
2 ring lights
1 multimeter
1 slewing ring
2 Velcro kits
2 pressure switches
1 sensor panel

[Tem1514 Mentor]

This was a big plus for AndyMark well done and thanks for adding the two suggestions I made as a Beta tester.

Does anyone have a list of when items ran out of stock in what round?

I know that the 12 volt batteries where gone during round one as we didn't get any and they are number one on our list.

Now lets see what round two will bring and there are more items coming or at least that's what the blog says.

[Mark McLeod]

*Or is it really hard when they say us mentors are full of hot air?
Only if we're blowhards.

[mrnoble]

Is this the third or fourth year of FirstChoice? In either case, AndyMark really made it work very, very well this time. Very nice job, folks!! And thank you.

[Christopher149]

Is this the third or fourth year of FirstChoice? In either case, AndyMark really made it work very, very well this time. Very nice job, folks!! And thank you.

I think it started for the 2011 season (but don't quote me on that). Nice to see the website not dying under the press of everyone trying to get in at once.

[fb39ca4]

We missed the priority deadline, but still managed to pick up some nice stuff.

These were the most useful items, and then there was a bunch of miscellaneous stuff.
Quadro K4000 GPU
Digital Multimeter
4x Victor 888
Diagonal Cutters
Igus 3D printer filament

It's a shame teams are limited to one GPU. Would've gotten a second one for SLI. :D

[AllenGregoryIV]

After looking through how FIRST Choice worked this year I was trying to think of ways the algorithm could be improved.

What are people's thoughts on having a max qty per round variable on each item?

In the current system if a team wanted to order 20 PDBs they could have with their #1 item and taken 20 or all the PDBs that were remaining if under 20.

However if the system had a max per round setup, a team could still try to get 20 but they would have to do it over 10 rounds if the PDB had a max qty per round of 2. I'm not sure how much of improvement this would be but it's one of the few flaws I see in the system, and I'm not actually sure anything like this was exploited or not.

[Caleb Sykes]

After looking through how FIRST Choice worked this year I was trying to think of ways the algorithm could be improved.

What are people's thoughts on having a max qty per round variable on each item?

In the current system if a team wanted to order 20 PDBs they could have with their #1 item and taken 20 or all the PDBs that were remaining if under 20.

However if the system had a max per round setup, a team could still try to get 20 but they would have to do it over 10 rounds if the PDB had a max qty per round of 2. I'm not sure how much of improvement this would be but it's one of the few flaws I see in the system, and I'm not actually sure anything like this was exploited or not.

Why not just give teams 5 credits each round (or any other amount really) to be attributed to the next item on their list? If they have accumulated enough credits toward that item, they get it that round. If not, the points are added to their running total. If the item that they are "saving" credits for runs out of stock, all of their accumulated credits are immediately applied to the next item on their list, I would even be okay with teams getting multiple items in a given round with this format. Say you store up 90 credits for a graphics card and then the stock for this item runs out, this system could then just keep selecting the next items on your list until your "savings" run out.

[dellagd]

After looking through how FIRST Choice worked this year I was trying to think of ways the algorithm could be improved.

What are people's thoughts on having a max qty per round variable on each item?

Had the same idea when I saw the process. I think it would make it a bit more fair, but for really high priority items like batteries I think the qty per round should be one if a team can get a max of two, just to play a bit more into the limiting system and possibly make teams who don't want them as much change their priorities.

[Mark McLeod]

Our FIRST Choice package arrived today from AndyMark!

[DonRotolo]

Missed out on solenoids as our #1 choice.
All-in-all missed 5 items out of our top 17, so we had a 70% success rate.
Really really wanted those pneumatic solenoid valves. Ah, well. And spikes too. But glad we got the breakers, and we're flush with micro switches now. Didn't really need the capacitors, but it appears we came really close to not using up all 600 points...

Here's what we did get:
0 Solenoid, Double Valve Kit (fc15-013)
2 Pneumatic Pressure Switch (fc15-113)
5 Micro switch, set of 10 (fc15-017)
2 Green Ring Light (fc15-033)
3 Snap Action Breaker Kit (fc15-115)
0 Spike (fc15-112)
1 Freelin-Wade Transparent Blue Tubing (fc15-012)
0 12V Battery (fc15-008)
1 Battery Charger (fc15-005)
0 Parker 2014 FC Kit (fc15-067)
6 Parker Prestolok Straight, 1/8NPT Male to 1/4in tube (10 ct.) (fc15-070)
1 Freelin-Wade Blue Tubing (fc15-010)
2 Parker Fitting Kit (fc15-065)
4 Parker Prestolok Elbow, 1/8NPT Male to 1/4in tube (10 ct.) (fc15-068)
0 1/2" Hex Shaft Collar (fc15-086)
0 3/8" Hex Shaft Collar (fc15-084)
0 1/2" Shaft Collar (fc15-079)
0 1/2" x 1/2" Rigid Coupling (fc15-077)
2 REV Protoboard (fc15-029)
0 1/4" x 1/4" Beam Coupling (fc15-080)
0 3/8" x 3/8" Beam Coupling (fc15-081)
0 Velcro Kit (fc15-036)
0 Sensor Panel (gyro & accelerometer) (fc15-055)
0 Freelin-Wade Black Tubing (fc15-009)
2 Teflon tape (fc15-018)
5 Igus 2014 Bag (fc15-102)
2 PCB Toggle Kit (fc15-026)
2 Ethernet Port Saver (fc15-030)
0 Power Distribution Board (fc15-054)
0 Freelin-Wade Red Tubing (fc15-011)
0 Parker T Fitting, 1/8NPT Female to 1/4in tube (10 ct.) (fc15-066)
1 Tantalum capacitor kit: Low ESR polymer (fc15-057)
0 Breadboard (fc15-061)

[Monochron]

Kind of off topic, but could someone please correct my understanding of further FIRST Choice opportunities. I was under the assumption that come Kickoff more parts are going to be added to FIRST Choice and multiple hundreds of points were going to be added to each team's account (I was thinking 1400 for some reason...). Is this remotely true?

I found a blog post stating that additional items would be added, but I couldn't find anything about additional credits being added. Is that an unknown right now?

[Christopher149]

Quoting from the FRC blog (http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/blog-FIRST-Choice-Priority-Lists-Due), "We will be adding parts (and credits) to FIRST Choice at Kickoff. More details on that process will be posted very soon."

So credits will be added, but I don't know how many.

[Mark McLeod]

Really really wanted those pneumatic solenoid valves. Ah, well.

On the positive side one of my rookie teams did get their requested solenoids, so I'm feeling good about that.

[AK Koaster]

We just got ours in today. Didn't get our top two items (Solenoid kit and Batteries) but otherwise we did pretty well. We were fortunate that there wasn't anything that our team REALLY needed this year. Last year we really needed a new classmate, but this year we're pretty well stocked.

As the team electrical guy, I was happy to see we got one of those breakout boards for the roboRIO. Planning on building an arduino-powered light controller on it. We also got two victors, which are also always good to have around for non-precise motor applications.

Also, does anyone happen to know if the webcam that they were selling works with the roboRIO? It was second-to-last on our priority list, and we still got one. I know there's a USB host port on the new controller, so it would seem that, if there is an embedded linux driver available for it for the new system, it'd probably work. If not, suppose we could always hook it up as a shop webcam for our team website.

[Mark McLeod]

Also, does anyone happen to know if the webcam that they were selling works with the roboRIO?
Yes it does.
The drivers are all there and it just plugs and plays.
There will be example code to demonstrate how it's used.
We've used it quite a bit in testing and just passing the video through to the default dashboard.
We've had two hooked up at once.

It only costs about $20.

[adammiller3122]

Our team got a new classmate for our cRIOs (we still have the e09 one that cant even hold labview anymore!) and some other random things that I can not even remember any more.

[Tom Line]

Quadro cards are already showing up on eBay. Not sure how I feel about that.

[AdamHeard]

Quadro cards are already showing up on eBay. Not sure how I feel about that.

For any teams ebaying them....

We'd trade for one, we have lots of stuff... COTS items, we can even machine some for trade.

PM me offers.

[Cory]

Quadro cards are already showing up on eBay. Not sure how I feel about that.

Pretty sure Nvidia will slap them with a cease and desist. It's happened before.

[Tom Line]

Pretty sure Nvidia will slap them with a cease and desist. It's happened before.

Hmm. I didn't sign any waver stating what I would do with items received by FIRST Choice. I'm not a lawyer - but since FIRST Choice is provided by FIRST after we pay them our entry fee, it seems to me that we've paid for what we're receiving, regardless of how FIRST got it.

The only reason I bring it up is because I know so many items ARE donated - but FIRST chose (again) to make that item cost only 100 credits rather than the 400 or so that it was worth. There are also still quadros left in FIRST choice for people who need them.

I won't hold it against anyone who chooses to ebay them, that's for sure. For a team short on cash $400 can buy quite a bit. I do think trading to teams that can use them like Adam suggested is a much better idea.

[ksanger]

We got no batteries out of a possible 2.
We got no CanJaguars out of a possible 4.
We got one solenoid out of a possible 3.
We got 260 used out of 600. And we submitted plenty.

I don't understand this system. And needless to say I didn't like it.

[Cory]

Hmm. I didn't sign any waver stating what I would do with items received by FIRST Choice. I'm not a lawyer - but since FIRST Choice is provided by FIRST after we pay them our entry fee, it seems to me that we've paid for what we're receiving, regardless of how FIRST got it.

The only reason I bring it up is because I know so many items ARE donated - but FIRST chose (again) to make that item cost only 100 credits rather than the 400 or so that it was worth. There are also still quadros left in FIRST choice for people who need them.

I won't hold it against anyone who chooses to ebay them, that's for sure. For a team short on cash $400 can buy quite a bit. I do think trading to teams that can use them like Adam suggested is a much better idea.

All I'm saying is I'm quite certain teams have been contacted by companies who donated product to FIRST Choice and have been told they were going to face legal action if they didn't stop selling the item they donated.

[FrankJ]

All I'm saying is I'm quite certain teams have been contacted by companies who donated product to FIRST Choice and have been told they were going to face legal action if they didn't stop selling the item they donated.

Do you know of an specific case that has happened? Legal action means you violated a specific law or a contract. Civil actions are expensive. Just getting a lawyer to write a letter is more than the value of the video card. The items are donated to a team. They can do with them what they want. The only item that might be different are the Roborio & Crios. They require licensed software to work. Buried in the terms license agreement might be terms that prevent resale of the software. More likely, and even this is very likely, they would have First contact the team & explain that selling donated product is not in the spirit of the game.

[themccannman]

We got some pocket lint, a crumpled stack of chemistry homework, and a bottle labeled "headlight fluid". I feel kinda ripped off.

[Cory]

Do you know of an specific case that has happened?

Yes, as I have already said twice.

[Tom Line]

We got some pocket lint, a crumpled stack of chemistry homework, and a bottle labeled "headlight fluid". I feel kinda ripped off.

I'm jealous over the headlight fluid. I've tried ordering it a couple times from Andy Mark and all I've been sent is blinker fluid, which is not compatible. I think that's why they finally pulled it from the site.

I've had better luck from ebay though:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/271647680239?lpid=82

[FrankJ]

Yes, as I have already said twice.

We are talking First Choice Items? Some detail would be nice. :]

Anyway. I just got the pack/ship notice for the FirstChoice items I received yesterday. I guess the Quantum Phase Shift Device (QPSD) I ordered got bumped on. Nice to know it works.

[Cory]

We are talking First Choice Items? Some detail would be nice. :]

Anyway. I just got the pack/ship notice for the FirstChoice items I received yesterday. I guess the Quantum Phase Shift Device (QPSD) I ordered got bumped on. Nice to know it works.

Teams have received cease and desist letters from NVIDIA legal for attempting to sell graphics cards on ebay received via FIRST choice.

Is the property technically yours, with not strings attached? I don't know. Maybe if it doesn't say "not for resale" on it. But surely its not worth finding out whether NVIDIA can actually sue a team for this or not.

[Monochron]

I'm jealous over the headlight fluid. I've tried ordering it a couple times from Andy Mark and all I've been sent is blinker fluid, which is not compatible.

They tried to pawn off some elbow grease on me instead, but honestly the market value for that is no where near what it used to be.

[jojoguy10]

Priority) Item
4) 1 Microsoft Lifecam HD3000
5) 2 Green Ring Lights
2) 1 Quadro K4000
3) 1 Crimping tool
9) 1 set of 10 Micro switches
10) 1 Window motor coupler
1) 2 Batteries
12) 2 window motor connectors
7) 1 ratcheting wrench set

Wish we could've gotten our joysticks (ranked at priority #6)

[matthewdenny]

Never mind.