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Re: [FRC Blog] Kit Hints?
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*Adds to actual FIRSTmas list* |
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No one should look at any rules from prior years and think “They would never change that”, because we may. Number of teams on an alliance, number of alliances in a match, match length, bumper rules, field surfaces, robot size, every element from prior year games is carefully considered anew every year. "bold is my emphasis" |
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![]() New power source this year... 1.21 jiggawatts |
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Due to this pdf on the differences between the Veteran and the Rookie KOP and the sizes of the batteries, I'd say B and F are undeniably batteries
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Also, maybe we'll hear some legitimate requests for flux capacitors from pit admin this year! :rolleyes: |
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3x3x60 has to be something special that can't be easily purchased. I can't see any other reason for a package like that. So it has to be some type of game piece(s) that are long and ridged or some special surface rolled up ie...... sticky, slippery....... for a ramp or other terrain.
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Capture the flag? |
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I'm guessing the 3x3x60 box has a roll of retroreflective material or some other sort of sheet that needs to be rolled up. I don't think it's bumper material because it's generally pretty easy to get, unless they've decided that they didn't like different materials (i.e., sailcloth, pleather, etc.) and want to standardize, but I don't imagine that being the case. If it's a round tube, they can be pretty heavy anyway (2.4 lbs, http://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/...aps-125-thick).
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According to Wikipedia, an MLB baseball is 2-7/8 in - 3in in diameter, and weighs between 5-5.25 ounces. Doing the math on that would mean that a 3X3X60 box would be about right for holding 20 baseballs and would weigh 6.25-6.5625lbs.
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They wouldn't have teams prepare to bring back a flagpole box if they could rearrange the contents to have more reasonable dimensions. |
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How tall is the driver station "glass"? |
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Maybe a rehash of the 2009 trailer idea and have something that must be mounted on each robot. |
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The suggestion that "D" is a game piece has merit. But how about if it's a robot component that is required to manipulate a game piece? Last year was all about cooperation, passing was very high value; what if you are required to manipulate games pieces with this long robot component (provided in the kit)? Maybe the game pieces are hula hoops and you have to keep them off the ground and pass them when you go from loading to scoring... The latter is definitely reading too much into a box's dimensions, it's not unusual to dictate robot components as well as playing pieces. Or maybe the box contains hula hoops!
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"We're in full swing"
Normally I wouldn't have thought anything of this comment, but the following posts made me think about it: Quote:
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Perhaps the long box is full of a few baseball bats or golf clubs? Or perhaps it is full of baseballs (probably wiffle balls) or golf balls (made of plastic)? Or maybe even a long tube of tennis balls and about the #24.... FYI: Rickey Henderson, a pretty famous baseball player, was the number 24. He was famous for running and stealing bases And to those saying that the 60" box is one long pole, read more carefully: It says "One set of items, collectively 3 in. x 3 in. x 60 in., 6 lbs," meaning that there are at least 2 things inside the box Of course, we are all probably making much adieu about nothing and the boxes probably just have bumper materials in them. |
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3x3x60? It's probably a hose. Water game confirmed!
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I could definitely dig the capture the flag method. A red and blue flag could fit in that box.
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Fabric could be a field element, rather than for bumpers.
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Game piece is not going to be a ball. I'll put money on that.
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This may be reiterating conclusions already met, but here are my thoughts and reasoning on item D:
FIRST gave us this data ahead of time for a reason, namely to warn about the size of object D, and for teams to prepare accordingly. I don't think that they would give us misleading data that might cause teams to make unnecessary plans and commitments for Kickoff. FIRST understands that this might be inconvenient to some teams, and I think that they would strive to make any object as easy to transport as possible. Thus, if FIRST tells us we need to be able to carry a 5' object home with us, it probably can't be made shorter for long periods of time without damaging it. There are more than one objects in the item set, as indicated by FIRST. If the reasoning above is correct, then at least one object is 5' long in it's storage configuration. Are all of the items like this? Might there be but a single 5' object, and an accompanying 3' object in there as well? We can't know for sure. The configuration of the 5' object while in long term storage may not be the configuration of the object while in it's expected use. For the moment: let's assume that the unaltered object is intended to be an element of the Finished Robot. If the object is rigid, then 5' of something with questionable strength could be reasoned to be kept within the frame perimeter, away from the possibility of being broken by other robots. Thus it is supposed to be held vertically, and will probably cause the robot to be constantly > 5' in height while containing the object. Thus the rules would need to allow for this, either by allowing extra height for the object, or by raising the robot's total height limit. Neither is a big barrier, but something to think about. If the object is flexible, than it can be expected that flexing it for extended periods of time would cause some deformation in it, due to the transportation situation. One possibility is that it is intended to be replaced occasionally, and to deform/break it is expected. If this is not the case, then you could apply the same reasoning held if it were rigid. On the other hand, what if it were a field element? FIRST would not include this if it were easily replaced. Thus I doubt that it is as simple as a pole, you could easily use a stick instead. It must be a crucial tool to designing and building the robot, not an optional accessory. Those are just my 2 cents, feel free to let loose with the nukes if you so wish. |
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Edit: <<<Look who just noticed the thread was 10 pages long. Still, did nobody hit that one yet? |
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Item D is actually just two JVN cutouts with EJ's face stuck over them. Frank gets us
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Got it. C is a box of corn dogs. D is stacks of this video on DVD.
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Thanks Thad!! |
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It's amazing this thread has over 100 posts less than a day later after it was posted
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There is another possibility that no one has mentioned yet:
A game using Tennis balls Tennis balls are 2.575-2.700 inches in diameter. But get this: tennis ball cans are 8.5 x 3 x 3 inches, meaning that you could fit 7 in the box (60/8.5) with a tiny bit of room to spare. "We're in full swing" could refer to a tennis swing |
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My prediction: Capture the Flag
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Does First ship the FLL mats in a similar long box like this one or do they fold it?
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C could be the base for the flag in D. The weight of C is due to the need to counter weight the flag to self right itself.
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Maybe it's materials for a "build-your-own sizing box"? They did say big changes could coming. Qty 4 of 60" lengths of 1"x1"x 0.125" aluminum angle comes in right around 5.5lbs. That's the amount you'd need to build a nominal cube sizing box 28"x28"x28" with an open bottom (4 horizontal lengths make the square base, plus 4 vertical legs). Maybe some corner connectors are included
It expands on the recent changes to the 112" perimeter rule. Now you would make your sizing box whatever size you want with the material provided. Bring it with to inspection, show that your robot fits. Crazy? Yes. Cumbersome? Definitely. A good idea? Almost certainly not. But it checks all the boxes (pun intended): -Required for every team -Cannot be packed in a shorter box -Multiple items -6lbs -Big change |
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If it's a game piece, it likely isn't fully assembled. I have a hard time imagining a safe, interesting 60 x 3 x 3 game piece that isn't impossible to manipulate.
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That's not to say that "choose your starting volume shape" option isn't doable, but I would hope it's implemented better than every team fabricating their own sizing box. |
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I think it’s a pipe that has a specific coating on it. Something like the pipes in the game with mini-bots, however, since the coating is specific to the game, a sample with the exact coating is given to each team.
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A pole with some kind of fancy vision target on it?
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About D:
Has FIRST ever given teams part of the field in the KOP? In my short time I haven't seen it, they've always had you buy cheap alternatives to the field elements yourself, and there have been plenty of poles used in the games. Therefore I have to conclude that it is for some reason special, so doubt about that. I'm not quite sure how special a pole can get, and I can't think of any "coating" that would make it special either. I doubt they'd do mini-bots again, that wouldn't make sense to reuse such a specific end game after only 4 years. That really only leaves some kind of surface rolled up... fabric would be my guess, maybe because they've added something more to the bumpers this year, I don't know. The other option is a field surface... And the only surface that really matters is the floor during the competition... PLEASE. DON'T! My team was just starting to make awesome progress with drive trains... I don't want to drive on regolith... |
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The game piece is a fluorescent light bulb, the long package is a bundle with a few spares to account for expected breakage.
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So while everyone has been focusing on the long box (I doubt it's bumper fabric, but anyway) I took a look at the large, abnormally light box (29 in. x 22 in. x 22 in., 9 lbs.) If you assume the box itself is made of standard corrugated cardboard it would weigh ~3.25lb empty, leaving 5.75lb for contents. My bet is the contents are game pieces. One example of what would fit in this box is 3 balls (3 because thats how many we were given last time the game piece was foam balls) each with a diameter of 13.6". If they are made of polyurethane foam (Think dodgeball balls) with a density of 2.5 lb/ft^3 they would have a weight of 1.92lb each. 3 of these, plus the box is almost exactly equal to 9lbs.
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Some of this has been said before, sorry.
I don't think any guess that doesn't account for the length of the box is correct. There is no reason to put everything in a 5 foot long box just to mess with people. It's so much more of a pain to ship, move around, and bring home an odd sized box than a more normal sized box; they wouldn't make the box long for no reason. Though the baseball theory has some merit. Fabric often comes in standard widths of 54 inches. A possibility is that the box contains a mandatory - and new - bumper fabric material. This would address the subjectivity in the rules of what bumper materials are allowed and eliminate the advantages "engineered" bumpers give. The odd thing here is that the box weighs more than I would expect rolls of fabric to weigh. I wouldn't be surprised if they found a really tough and slippery fabric, engineered to help avoid T-bones, and maybe that weighs more than normal. I don't think it's an odd, rolled up floor / driving material (like Regolith) - it's pretty hard to tightly roll somewhat rigid coverings into a 3" box. Perhaps it's a vision target, but that seems like a stretch; it hasn't been done in the past and they have moved toward retro-reflective tape anyway. 5 feet is the robot's max height from many years. Five feet of stock of a mandatory component or piece of extrusion is plausible. Perhaps it's "like" minibots, but robot side. |
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By far the most reasonable explanation is a roll with two or more colors of fabric. Spooling fabric is the quickest, safest and most practicable way to package and ship large amounts of material. Six pounds, including the center roll and the box, is totally within reason.
It's been clear to me for a while that bumpers are an area of the competition where two problems are developing for FRC. One is the constant frustration and occasional danger that is caused by teams that come to competition with incomplete or insufficient bumpers. It is often the last thing that young teams consider in build season, and with the goal being to get all teams to pass inspection, I've seen questionable bumpers okayed for play. The other is teams that are using bumpers to gain advantage through materials and construction that augment the original purpose (protection). See this year's sailcloth experiments. All that is to say I would not be at all surprised if bumpers were standardized, and even increased in size. Three pool noodle height, perhaps? That would also increase protection, as well as the visibility of the (larger) team numbers, both of which would be highly desirable. I'll bet that the light 29" box is also bumper material. |
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Jinx, Chris.
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I, too, think standardized bumpers are by far the most plausible explanation. |
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This is enough information for me to scrap plans to buy fabric and noodles prior to build. It's also enough to convince me that this year's game, whatever else it may be, will include plenty of robot-to-robot contact.
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To quote this thread:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...hreadid=131453 Quote:
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As much as I'd love to see some sort of baseball bat/hockey stick/minibot pole hybrid, I have a feeling that the box just holds bumper materials. Bumpers have become such an annoyance for most teams and an opportunity for the better teams to gain advantage over the past few years that I think FIRST may have just decided to standardize them.
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My argument against the long box/tube being fabric for bumpers is FIRST hasn't been rolling the cloth that is given to the rookie teams each year. They fold it and put it in the rookie tote, so why would that change this year if they were giving it to everybody?
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Figured I should throw in my prediction on "the long box" as well.
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The basic kit of parts sure looks pretty common to me with item D being the only mystery.
From the website(s); 2015 Kickoff Kits will consist of the following items for all teams (sizes and weights are approximate): A) Tote: With all of donated items that we usually get like CIM's, wire, battery ends, heat shrink, two sided tape and so on. B) Battery C) Best guess this is the new roboRIO control system. (September FRC blog post) D) The Mystery box of one set of items, collectively 3 in. x 3 in. x60 in., 6 lbs. Just about anything but a good guess would be something game specific like game piece(s) or a tow trailer kit, may be a banner or table cloth. We will have to wait and see. The bag and tag items :) 2015 Kickoff Kits will include the following additional items for Rookie teams only: E) Tote: with Battery Charger, Classmate Netbook, one Joystick, one Gamepad, USB Key to Image Classmate, Set of assorted pneumatic components (compressor, air tanks, fittings, tubing, valves, PTFE tape, pressure switch, gauge, and regulator) F) Battery Teams who did not opt out of the Drive Base Kit will also receive the following item: G) AMU drive base |
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I've been keeping up with this thread and have a few observations/assumptions:
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It's not clear to me what on the current bumpers could be standardized further. Plywood is commonly available and must be cut to size to fit the robot design. Same for pool noodles and fabric -- commonly available and must be cut to size. Numbers are commonly available and vary somewhat by team for stylistic reasons. Remember that the veteran KOP contains items from the following categories: . items that replenish stock that every team needs (batteries, motors, 2015 control system) . donated items with sufficient quantity for everyone (e.g., Igus, 3M, etc) . game specific items I believe the long box falls into the third category. |
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It might be possible that VEX donated some Versaframe components to the kit. The long box is probably the right weight for 2-3 sticks of 2x1 or 4-6 sticks of 1x1.
Someone should check the quantities and weights. |
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I don't think the height of the robot will change for the same reason the perimeter won't change, if you make robots too tall they won't fit through doors. I believe box D is a game piece even if it is as simple as a rod, we are always given at least one game piece. Just like Frisbee's everyone has easy access to one but we were still given three. it won't be a ball game so I don't think it will be baseball, but it could still be a baseball bat, using the bat as a game piece could be fun.
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Both are 59" 1x1: 0.90 lbs 2x1: 3.28 lbs 4 2x1 and 1 1x1 is 14.02 lbs. Too light. |
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I highly doubt its Versaframe but one can always hope! :rolleyes: |
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Sorry for the back to back post but these are completely different topics. |
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could be a flag pole for capture the flag?
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It could be a stack-able game piece.
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From the reference to "swing":
box D ("sizes and weights are approximate"): 16 standard tennis balls in one of these which can be fixed at several points around the field perimeter and act as ball dispensers. They can also be used in hand by the field reset crew. weight = 2.1 ounce/ball x 16 balls + 2.1 lb tube = 4.2 lbs vs 6 lbs stated for KoP box D shipping size = 4" x 4" x 49" vs 3" x 3" x 60" for KoP box D box C: 8 oversized tennis balls weight = 1.15 lbs/ball x 8 balls = 9.2 lbs vs 9 lbs stated for KoP box C shipping size = 20" x 20" x 20" vs 29" x 22" x 22" for KoP box C total qty = 16 + 8 = "24" game pieces Volcano Volley... |
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To everyone that keeps saying that the 60" box contains either bumper fabric, or a bunch of balls stacked up I say no chance for that. A 3 x 3 x 60 box is going to be a big pain to ship since it can't lay flat on a standard pallet without hanging over. Having it hang over the pallet would increase the cost and the likelihood of damage to the items. As much as Frank likes to troll the CD community he is not going to have the KOP team box something in a manner that will make it more expensive to ship and increase the likelihood of it being damaged in shipment just to troll the members of the CD community.
So what every that item(s) is you can be pretty certain that it is close to that 60" length and that there is not a practical way to ship it in anything smaller. So it is either a game piece, a field element that can't be easily/economically reproduced locally or some part that will need to be used on the robot in substantially the same configuration as shipped. |
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Noooooo
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Source: FIRSTweets |
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I think the hard part is what is in the larger tote (box C)? And it's not the control system. Why would you need a box larger than the main tote for just one set of the 2015 control system parts? Much like box D box C is very large and usually isn't there, thus whatever is in there needs to be. So either a game object or field element. I think it will be interesting to see which each of these boxes is. Maybe one is a field piece and one is a game object or both are field pieces and the game piece is inflatable or both are game objects. |
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Okay THAT is trolloloollolool.... Not funny Manchester.:mad: |
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While it is fun to guess that it has something to do with the game, the only thing I can think of is that it is raw building materials.
It is not that hard of a stretch to think that some sponsor donated a bunch of 1x1 or other profile aluminum to every team. It would be a welcome addition to the kit, since many rookie teams put the drive base together and then say "now what" |
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