Re: New to FRC- You guys are all amazing!
 

We might try frankensteining that if our other ideas don't pan out. Can't use it as-is since it wasn't ever part of an FRC kit, but I'm sure we could figure out how to attach the blade to something like the AndyMark 775 motor. At something closer to 5800 RPM, it might give us the right balance of air flow and static pressure. I'm told that our current prototyping has determined that a hair-dryer on cool is not good enough, a leaf blower is overkill, and a standard cooling fan is also inadequate.

Re: New to FRC- You guys are all amazing!
 

As far as I was aware the only fans that could be aboard the robot were fans from the Kit of Parts? Am I mistaken? We are interested in more high-powered cooling solutions for our robot and could use something better than the 'normal' computer fans.

Re: New to FRC- You guys are all amazing!
 

Fans from any former KoP or available on FIRSTChoice are legal for any use. They're all pretty standard cooling fans, though. We're looking for higher pressure, high airflow solutions for an auxiliary system, but they might be useful for cooling as well, provided you're willing to dump a reasonable amount of amps into cooling. We're looking at something like this: 540 motor turbine blower. Trick is getting it printed. It looks like the current design requires support, so I'll have to print it at work. Still, I imagine you could turn that into a reasonably excessive cooling solution with some ducting.

Re: New to FRC- You guys are all amazing!
 

What about just using a heat-sink in addition to a fan? Some of our most successful CPU coolers use that combo and it works really well.

In either case, I am sure we will see lots of creative solutions. I'm so impressed with the ingenuity of all these groups.


EDIT:
Just thought of something... what about a small shop-vac? I think the smaller ones put out a ton of airflow.

Very interesting. I prefer icdiamond myself but cooler master makes some nice stuff. The day frc is made for me is when people start braiding their cables and watercooling their robo Rio's.

We have a small cramped electrical board this year as we are a low bar bot so, I might throw in a Noctua nff12 or 2 in there just for fun.
Very interesting. I prefer icdiamond myself but cooler master makes some nice stuff. The day frc is made for me is when people start braiding their cables and watercooling their robo Rio's.

We have a small cramped electrical board this year as we are a low bar bot,

Re: New to FRC- You guys are all amazing!
 

The problem is you would have to replace the motor in the shop-vac with a FRC legal motor.

In case you don't know (and if you don't, that's ok! Awesome to see more companies get interested in FIRST. I'm sure we can all help you get caught up to speed with rules haha), there is a specific list of motors that are allowed to be on the robot. The same applies to most fans, unless they are integrated with a COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf) item (some of the speed controllers, used to control the motors had a built in fan), can't be on the robot. Except for ones that were provided in the Kit of Parts.

Re: New to FRC- You guys are all amazing!
 

Lots of great info! Maybe next year we can get in the KOP.

Our sponsored groups are utilizing most of our stuff in their back end planning such as pc's running solid works, cnc milling, etc. Personally, we are just honored to be a part of all this.

Re: New to FRC- You guys are all amazing!
 

Do you plan on expanding to more teams after this season if this seems feasible for CM? Its awesome seeing more computing companies interested in FIRST!

Re: New to FRC- You guys are all amazing!
 

This is our test year. We didn't even know this was a thing until one of the coaches posted a message to our reddit page. From there, it just kind of kept growing into what you see today.

We are a maker company and anything we can do to support other makers is something we want to be a part of. I can't tell you what our plans will be for next year but I will say this: based on the hype around the office about these groups I do not see this getting smaller. We are excited to see what people do with our stuff. If that means building a robot to throw balls at a castle, we are all for it. The effort I have seen from visiting the classrooms is astronomical. I see the value and of course, I am excited when someone mentions our products in a positive light.

We are also trying our hardest to integrate with the culture of FIRST. If anyone is coming to the L.A. Regional you will see that we have done our homework as best we can for rookies. We will have Cooler Master buttons for everyone to add to their collection as well as raffles and giveaways. In my meeting with FIRST we were told a lot of booths give out pens and keychains. That simply wont cut it for us. We know you can all use a pen but we think you could use some gear even more. Trust me when I say that we WILL be giving out some legit awesome stuff *cough* keyboards *cough* including a special product that wont even be out until AFTER the competition. And for those that aren't lucky enough to snag something in person we will have a special section of our store just for FIRST members.

Re: New to FRC- You guys are all amazing!
 

Hey, just for grins... You guys aren't considering dropping by the Orange County Regional as well, are you? (I'll be at both, just wondering.) It's 3 weeks later, and probably a few miles closer than L.A. to you.

Re: New to FRC- You guys are all amazing!
 

What are the deets? I'll see if it's in our budget and if we have the manpower.

Re: New to FRC- You guys are all amazing!
 

Any chance for those of us on the other coast to purchase one of those buttons? :p

Re: New to FRC- You guys are all amazing!
 

Better yet, anyone not in California?

Re: New to FRC- You guys are all amazing!
 

http://www.firstinspires.org/team-ev...event?id=17437

That should get you started. I think some of the planning committee cruise the forums, too.

Re: New to FRC- You guys are all amazing!
 

If we have leftovers we will put them in the CM Store. I think we ordered 500. If there is enough of a demand expressed here we can up that order, I'm sure.