Re: BOM?
 

I think trying to produdce the BOM on practice day would be a mistake. It takes us hours to do the BOM, and you need prices.... I wouldn't be able to remember them, and we looked up alot of prices online.

I would try to get as much of it done as possible ahead of time.

Break it down into sections, like electronics, drivetrain, ball-handling, etc... and flip through receipts, and you should be able to get most of it in advance.

Re: BOM?
 

That's strange. It should work. (Boy if I had a nickel for every time I said that during build season).

Unless you aren't on SP 3. The link specifically indicates Office 2000 Service Pack 3.

Back on topic, I would try to do as much of the BOM from memory as you can. You need the prices and its amazing how much you will remember from the robot. Fill in any holes at competition.

Re: BOM?
 

Done it a few times (...fool me thrice, shame on..??) . It sucks. Hours spent in the stands when many other things need to get done, but it can be done.

Also--the hard/soft copy question apparently depends on the regional. I've turned in soft copies in CO since I started in 2009, although this year students handled BOM and inspection (FINALLY!!!)

Re: BOM?
 

@squirrel: seriously? you're complaining about xlsx? It was released in 2007, a full 5 years ago.

Office 2000 is 12 year old software. 2003 is 9 year old software. I highly doubt you're still using a 600MHz single core computer, so why use software written for that?

Re: BOM?
 

You should see how lotus123 & wordstar fly on my 600 mhz pc......

Mark my words, nostalgia computing is going to make a comeback, like vinyl records and tube amps! Squirrel & I are just ahead of the rest.

Re: BOM?
 

My cpu is only five years old.

Sorry, I haven't been very good at buying into the periodic upgrade thing. Unless it's free.

And yeah, I do have a few Z80 computers around here...

Re: BOM?
 

You could also try importing a .*x into Google Docs (if you don't need the really advanced formatting abilities) and download it from there, which generally converts it into a simpler version.

Re: BOM?
 

Try open office (although, I'm not sure it is called that anymore). It is free.

Re: BOM?
 

Tried it, didn't like it....

Re: BOM?
 

We did the entire BOM at the competition during practice day and the Inspectors said it was more than OK, just FYI.

Re: BOM?
 

We recreated the BoM template on a Google Docs spreadsheet, then had each subteam leader go through and add their part of the robot to it. We were still finalizing the BoM at competition, though in the coming years, we're going to enforce that everyone has to have it done before bagging. The cloud based system is fantastic for letting multiple people edit at once, and keep a running tally, as well as allow people to do work at home rather than just at school/while looking at the robot. Also notable is how we CAD everything and put it on a spreadsheet for each part file, so we just go through that and find the going rate for its stock and add it to the template.

Remember, even for parts donated by sponsors, you must include the fair market value of the stock used. We did not know this, and passed inspection at the Fingerlakes Regional, only to get nicked for it at DC.

Re: BOM?
 

Think of the BOM as what it would cost another team to build your robot...not what it actually cost your team.