What is in the kickoff kit?
 

As stated on the first webpage...


2015 Kickoff Kits will consist of the following items for all teams (sizes and weights are approximate):

A) One set of items, collectively, 27 in. x 17 in. x 17 in., 60 lbs.

B) One item, 8 in. x 3 in. x 7 in., 14 lbs.

C) One set of items, collectively, 29 in. x 22 in. x 22 in., 9 lbs.

D) One set of items, collectively 3 in. x 3 in. x 60 in., 6 lbs.

2015 Kickoff Kits will include the following additional items for Rookie teams only:

E) One item, 27 in. x 17 in. x 13 in., 26 lbs.

F) One item, 8 in. x 3 in. x 7 in., 14 lbs.

Teams who did not opt out of the Drive Base Kit will also receive the following item:

G) One item, 34 in. x 6 in. x 7 in., 24 lbs.


I know a previous thread said these confirm a hockey game, but if not a hockey game, what could the items be?

More specifically, is package D a new surface? If so are we going to see some new kind of exotic surface like we did in Lunacy? If so, what could it be?

Re: [FRC Blog] Kit Hints?
 

pole vaulting

Re: [FRC Blog] Kit Hints?
 

might be a box containing all the new controls system....more than just the roborio

Re: [FRC Blog] Kit Hints?
 

Box is too big to be just that. The new control system is tiny.

Re: What is in the kickoff kit?
 

Based on this schematic of the field FIRST approved for Andymark to sell (http://files.andymark.com/am-2800+FRC+Field+full.pdf) if box C contains a stack of 21"x21" plates to make some kind of alternate field surface it would take exactly 465 plates to cover the field. Perhaps box C contains a sample of this material for each team to practice on. I will admit though that such small plates are probably not the ideal way to cover the entire field with an alternate material.

Re: What is in the kickoff kit?
 

Package A appears to be a small, heavy tote. It would contain all of the motors pneumatics, controllers, and probably most of the new control system.

Package B looks about right for the roboRIO and perhaps a few accessories.

Package C appears to be a large, very light tote -- the average density is only 0.02 times that of water! Unless it has a lot of empty space (perhaps for "local sponsor items"), it must consist of some very lightweight items, such as, oh, foam rubber or styrene. Maybe bumpers won't use pool noodles this year, though why would we need 8 cubic feet / 60 gallons of it? Or maybe we need 250 to 300 nerf balls for practice?). Perhaps it is mostly just an empty box, which would suggest not the regolith, but the trailer cart of Lunacy into which we must dump, er, nerf balls.

Package D is the mystery rod. Assuming it's not deceptive packaging, it's something that can't be made much shorter than 60", so it consists of one or more straight, stiff pieces. It's too long for a baseball bat, too narrow for a cricket bat, and too straight for a hockey stick. It's way too small for a reasonable sample of an unusual "carpet" material, and way too wide for bumper material (A 15-inch wide strip rolled up would cover the bumpers we've used for the past few years with a few inches to staple to the wood.) Bumper filler does not make any sense, unless the bumpers would be about half as big as recent years, or the material is vacuum-packed. My best guess is a very long, straight game piece.

Rookie Teams:
Package E is another small, not quite-so-heavy tote
Package F looks like a "clamshell" mini-notebook driver station

And of course, package G is the 2015 KOP drive system. A few have noted it's the same dimensions as in 2014, but given the necessary items (c-channel or perhaps angle of the longest reasonable dimension, gearboxes, tires, misc. small hardware), the approximate size is pretty much going to be the same from year to year.

I'm planning to research some Lunacy strategies, focusing more on the "crossing the T" problem of putting balls in your opponent's trailer without allowing equal opportunity, rather than the regolith.

Re: What is in the kickoff kit?
 

The two small 14 pound packages are definitely batteries.

Re: [FRC Blog] Kit Hints?
 

ok so we know it said one SET of items, COLLECTIVELY [the said dimensions], so (and yeah I get this was probably already proposed a thousand times over) but I think it could very well be the game elements. Think about it. They could be a bunch of cubes, balls, or other shapes, and being game pieces, they would have to be built with sturdy material, so they would add up to 6 lbs. pretty quickly. I also thought it could be rods that would need to be transferred (again, these would be game pieces). The good thing is there's only 20 days until we know what's in the box :eek:

Re: What is in the kickoff kit?
 

Sorry, this is not nearly heavy enough for flooring that would stand up under FRC conditions. The AIR in a 29x22x22 box weighs nearly 10 oz, so this stuff is only about 14 times as heavy as air - including any packaging!

Re: [FRC Blog] Kit Hints?
 

in the box 3x3x60 could be a hockey net in pieces that you have to put together? hockey game confirmed

Re: [FRC Blog] Kit Hints?
 

Yep, that is what is mentioned in post #22.

Re: [FRC Blog] Kit Hints?
 

Looking at the kit of parts list for 2015, it is apparent that the details for items (C) and (D) are the big mystery, but has anyone looked at the other items more in depth? Sometimes subtle things can be a big clue. I see some discrepancies when comparing them to the 2014 and 2013 kit of parts.

TOTES
The 2015 list dimensions for:
A) 27 in. x 17 in. x 17 in.
E) 27 in. x 17 in. x 13 in.

It's seams to be the general consensus that these are totes, however, something has changed that many may have missed.

2013 & 2014 dimensions of totes were: 27 in. x 18 in. x 13 in. Previous year's totes weighed somewhere around 8lbs empty, actual size was about 27x17.75x12.5.

So, we lost an inch in tote size (different manufacturer?), or they are rounding down instead of up. I see no reason why they would round down.

(A) & (E) are not the same height. (E) only goes to rookie teams. Is there another box on top of a tote to create item (A)?

Drive Base
Also the drive base kit (G) for 2015 is 34 in. x 6 in. x 7 in., 24 lbs. But the drive base kit for 2014 was 5.5" x 6.5" x 33", 22lbs. Either way you look at it, if FIRST was rounding down the totes, the the 2015 drive base kit is larger. If they are still rounding up, the the drive base kit is larger by 2in. and 2lb heavier. I know they made some subtle changes to the 2015 drive base (see: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...m-opt-out-2015) The differences noted in that blog post do not warrant a 2 in. increase in size and 2in. increase in weight.

Happy speculating!