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F4 Network
11-12-2016, 18:25
http://i.imgur.com/OxG8jKI.png

Hello everyone,

I am pleased to announce F4 will be hosting our second CADathon from December 28th 12 AM EST (midnight) - December 30th 12 PM (noon) EST. The live show with a brand new panel of judges will be streamed on December 31st at 6pm EST.


For those unaware, a CADathon is like a hackathon but with CAD. People/teams are given a short period of time to CAD a specific thing (in this case a robot) ending with a panel of judges selecting a winner. If you would like more information on the CADathon go to http://f4.network/cadathon/.


As for what will go on in ours:
Participants will be split into teams of 2 (If you would like to be a solo team please give yourself a team name in the google form and have no one else join it). Teams can be premade with people who know each other or participants can enter by themselves and be assigned a random partner. Partners will be assigned by skill level along with the prerequisite of sharing a common CAD suite. We will try to make sure partners are in the same time zone but that will be more difficult. From there, teams will be put in individual google hangouts groups where they can discuss and collaborate. The teams have approximately 3 days to CAD a robot from the game reveal. The game reveal will include a CAD model of the field, a short video explaining the game, and a game manual. When they are done, teams must create a high quality render of their robot and send the F4 crew a link to their robot uploaded in its entirety on Grabcad. If teams do not submit both a render and a Grabcad link by 6pm est on December 30th, they will be disqualified. Once done, the files will be inspected to make sure they adhere to the game rules. At 6 PM EST on December 31st, a special F4 CADathon show will go live. First, each team will come on and explain their robots to the audience. Then, a panel of 3 special guest judges will judge each robot on set categories explained in the game manual. The judges will then figure out how many points the robot can potentially score off of a quantitative scoring system. The winner will then be determined based on all of those factors.


The only prerequisites to join are that you are willing to spend time doing it and that you have access to some CAD software. You can be any age (this is not limited to students) and we encourage everyone from newbies to the most advanced CADers to put their skills to the test. If you are new to CAD and would like to be on a larger team to help yourself learn, please contact us as these will be handled on a case to case basis. If you are interested please sign up at the link below.


https://goo.gl/forms/s5SjQEwj0Ciqo4Rp2


If you are interested in being a judge for the show apply here.


https://goo.gl/forms/0VgaH1spECcNP2613


Good Luck!


- The F4 CADathon GDC

Andrew_L
11-12-2016, 18:52
Do you have to work in a team, or can you go solo?

Sperkowsky
11-12-2016, 18:58
Do you have to work in a team, or can you go solo?
You can go Solo if you want. All you have to do is give yourself a team name and have no one else join it.

AlexanderLuke
11-12-2016, 19:36
This sounds interesting...

By when would one have to sign up to be a participant?

wsh32
11-12-2016, 19:42
This sounds interesting...

By when would one have to sign up to be a participant?

Signups are due the night before it starts, December 27th, at 11:59:59 PM. For organization's sake, it would be easier to sign up earlier.

cad321
11-12-2016, 21:31
This looked like a lot of fun the first time round. Hopefully I'll be able to participate this time round. However for the show on the 31st, would teams be allowed to submit a written description of their design? I ask because with it being new years eve, it may be challenging for some teams (myself included) to find time to come on the show that night.

Sperkowsky
11-12-2016, 21:38
This looked like a lot of fun the first time round. Hopefully I'll be able to participate this time round. However for the show on the 31st, would teams be allowed to submit a written description of their design? I ask because with it being new years eve, it may be challenging for some teams (myself included) to find time to come on the show that night.

Absolutely. That wouldn't be an issue at all.

Andrew_L
11-12-2016, 22:17
What are the rules to using CAD models made before the start date?

Sperkowsky
11-12-2016, 22:27
What are the rules to using CAD models made before the start date?

The gdc decided we will run similar rules to official Frc rules and allow any you to use any models that are publicly available.

Andrew_L
11-12-2016, 22:34
The gdc decided we will run similar rules to official Frc rules and allow any you to use any models that are publicly available.

Will people be required to release their final CAD models to the public?

Sperkowsky
11-12-2016, 22:38
Will people be required to release their final CAD models to the public?

Nope.

OccamzRazor
12-12-2016, 08:10
I like that you are using GrabCAD this time around to circumvent the long load and wait times. I will shoot this over to my students to see if they want to try round 2. Make sure you post or send the judges comments this time around, constructive feedback is why they do this!

Sperkowsky
16-12-2016, 08:20
Many have asked if an FRC team can have multiple CADathon teams. This is perfectly allowed. We only ask that you number your created teams like (2869-1 and 2869-2).

If you need any other clarifications feel free to PM me or PM the F4Network CD profile.

The game is looking really exciting so far can not wait to see what you design.

Sperkowsky
18-12-2016, 11:37
Hello everyone.

F4 has decided to move the date of the live show from December 31st to January 1st. The time will also be moving from 6pm est to 8pm est.

We think this new date will work much better for potential judges as well as potential live viewers and CADathon participants.

cad321
18-12-2016, 12:26
Hello everyone.

F4 has decided to move the date of the live show from December 31st to January 1st. The time will also be moving from 6pm est to 8pm est.

We think this new date will work much better for potential judges as well as potential live viewers and CADathon participants.

I like the change in dates and agree that it should makes things much easier on those involved.

Sperkowsky
19-12-2016, 18:19
The GDC decided it was time for a little game hint...

http://www.globalnerdy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/wheels.jpg

cad321
19-12-2016, 19:57
http://www.globalnerdy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/wheels.jpg

Would you mind moving those useless old wheels out of the way so I can get a better look at the game hint. Clearly the angle iron is a field obstacle we must traverse. :rolleyes:

wsh32
19-12-2016, 20:53
Would you mind moving those useless old wheels out of the way so I can get a better look at the game hint. Clearly the angle iron is a field obstacle we must traverse. :rolleyes:

You're not looking close enough. See that orange thing in front of the iron? It must mean that robots need wires!

Harrison.Smith
19-12-2016, 21:12
You're not looking close enough. See that orange thing in front of the iron? It must mean that robots need wires!

Obviously the nuts and the washer mean something.

jayred1127
22-12-2016, 16:53
How do you upload complex assemblies to Grabcad? I tried to upload and download a robot that I made. When I tried to open it, once I downloaded the file on a different computer, Solidworks said it was missing the components required for the assembly.

How do I fix this?

bstew
22-12-2016, 17:55
How do you upload complex assemblies to Grabcad? I tried to upload and download a robot that I made. When I tried to open it, once I downloaded the file on a different computer, Solidworks said it was missing the components required for the assembly.

How do I fix this?

The problem is that you are uploading the assembly without uploading the parts that make up the assembly. When you open the assembly on the other computer, it doesn't have the parts to open. You can solve this by uploading your parts in a way that will be referenced by the assembly when you download the file (eg. placing all components in a GrabCAD folder) or you could "pack and go" the whole assembly (more information here (http://help.solidworks.com/2016/English/SolidWorks/pdmworks/c_Pack_Go_Ovw_WPDM.htm)). Hope this helps!

ctt956
26-12-2016, 18:08
Question: can we use OnShape (https://www.onshape.com)? It is compatible with SolidWorks files. I'll probably be able to use SW the whole time, but I wanted to know if I could use OnShape as backup.

Sperkowsky
27-12-2016, 00:14
Just a reminder today is the deadline to sign up! Sign-ups will officially close at 11:30pm on 12/27.

Sperkowsky
27-12-2016, 00:16
Question: can we use OnShape (https://www.onshape.com)? It is compatible with SolidWorks files. I'll probably be able to use SW the whole time, but I wanted to know if I could use OnShape as backup.

As you have signed up as a random assignment we will require that you use Solidworks and not OnShape. We would be OK with OnShape if you were on a team of others using it but we would like teams to be using the same software packages which I'm sure you understand.

ctt956
27-12-2016, 16:19
As you have signed up as a random assignment we will require that you use Solidworks and not OnShape. We would be OK with OnShape if you were on a team of others using it but we would like teams to be using the same software packages which I'm sure you understand.

I understand completely about using the same software. I will be able to use SW the whole time, so this is not an issue, which is why I signed up with SolidWorks. I was mostly just wondering if OnShape was allowed, as I thought only Inventor and SW could be used last time. :)

Owen Busler
27-12-2016, 21:11
Just clarifying the manual will be posted here at 12 Midnight tonight?

Sperkowsky
27-12-2016, 21:12
Just clarifying the manual will be posted here at 12 Midnight tonight?

Yes. As well as in the Slack chat (Which BTW everyone has now been added to).

Doiteain
27-12-2016, 21:42
Do both members of a team have to fill out registration (assuming you know the person you're planning to work with)?

Sperkowsky
27-12-2016, 21:53
Do both members of a team have to fill out registration (assuming you know the person you're planning to work with)?

Yes

Bryce Clegg
27-12-2016, 22:49
Not participating because I enjoy sleep before build season, but I can't wait to watch the live show to see what you guys come up with!

Sperkowsky
27-12-2016, 23:17
If anyone else wants to compete you have 12 minutes left to signup!

The game will go live tonight at 12am est.

F4 Network
28-12-2016, 00:01
And this years game....

http://i.imgur.com/HAxblFG.png

Click HERE (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B5VlGPBVodj3TEMyQzkyNFBLb0E?usp=sharing) to see the manual as well as download the field CAD.

Good luck teams!

Sperkowsky
30-12-2016, 14:43
Hello everyone,

Although more will be coming on the show, judges, ect... later today I figured I would give everyone a sneak peak of the designs that were made.

Here is an imgur album with them all - http://imgur.com/a/rvXhJ

Enjoy.

Thanks for all the teams that competed! I hope everyone had a great time.