Stockpile
 

Rookie Mentor here:

What stuff do you stockpile for years to come? I would like to build a program that lasts.

Re: Stockpile
 

Our classroom used to be a math room, so we had to find storage to have all our parts out of sight. We wound up with rolling locker sorta units, and each is sorted by subsystem.

Things that you'll want to have on hand:

• bearings, many sizes
• shaft stock, varying diameter/length
• sprockets, chain, pulleys
• old motors
• old metal parts: prototyping is easy when you can slap something together out of old year's bots
• wheels of varying size
• wire. save ALL old electronics

For us, if it's not trash we save it. I'll go around our shop and take some photos of how we're set up, we've been doing it since 97.

Re: Stockpile
 

Some things that are cheaper if you buy in quantity:

12 AWG Machine Tool Wire (Red + Black spools) (McMaster-Carr)
Fasteners (especially 8-32, 10-32, 1/4-20) (Fastenal or whomever)
Polycarbonate 4'x8' sheet (local plastics supplier)
Aluminum 4'x8' sheet (thickness of .125" or so) (local metal supplier)

Things that I buy strategically with an eye on having a stockpile and reusing in future years:

DC Motor Controllers
Other control system components for 2nd robot
VersaPlanetary gearbox parts
Pneumatic Solenoids (FIRST Choice every year)

Re: Stockpile
 

Ah yeah, I forgot about fasteners! We have a decently large shelf of containers, each divided up with common sized stuff (and uncommon too). Sorting it in is a pain, but once the hardware is loaded into the rack it makes for easy access during assembly.

Also important to a successful team: Thoroughly understand the "why" of each machine tool you purchase as a team, as well as recognize the institutional cost of each one. A CNC minimill might be a great idea with one year's student makeup, but two years down the road the institutional cost is now higher due to the knowledge moving out.

Whatever you own, needs to have some sort of mentor/faculty training involved, or the students need to have a formalized pass-down of training year to year.

Re: Stockpile
 

Ditto to what everyone else said.

I would also stock
Versaframe stock in all different shapes and sizes
Versaframe gussets
wheels
shaft collars
and spacers/appropriate size pvc

There are plenty more things you should stock but those are a couple that come to mind quick.

Re: Stockpile
 

-Vex tube stock. 1x1x0.1, 1x1x.04, and 2x1x0.1 are the most important types.
-Gussets of common angles and sizes. Also get some of the Vex bearing gussets, they're nice. Always buy more than you think you need.
-8-32 bolts, 10-32 bolts, 5/32 rivets, and related hardware and tools.
-Banebot wheels of various sizes and durometer. They're awesome for prototyping because they come in a lot of sizes and three different materials. They also hold up pretty well to the stresses of competition.
-Andymark plaction wheels or Vex traction wheels. For most games, these are the gold standard for wheels. A little more difficult to work with than the KOP wheels, but it's well worth it.
-0.5" hex shaft, bearings, shaft collars, and spacers.
-1/8" and 1/4" lexan (polycarbonate) sheet, .09" sheet aluminum, and almost anything on this page under "sheets, bars, and strips" or "tubes for fabrication"
-Literally anything Andymark sells.
-CIMS, miniCIMS, BAG and 775pro motors will get you very far. Most other motor types are situational.
-Pneumatic stuff.
-#25 and #35 sprockets and chain, once again 0.5" hex is best in most cases. You'll never need anything bigger or smaller than #25 and #35 chain in FRC.
-An arbor press. The bigger, the better.
-A 0.5" hex broaching tool. You'll thank me later.
-Pool noodles and red and blue nylon fabric.

Re: Stockpile
 

Building materials (aluminum stock and hardware, esp versaframe & gussets & rivets & nuts/bolts)
Wire, tubing, and other basic electric and pneumatic components.

Wheels: We don't really buy wheels just to stockpile, but we never throw away a wheel that still has enough life left in it to serve as a prototype.
Controls stuff: again, we don't usually buy anything specifically to stockpile, but everything that doesn't work out from prototyping that's still useful goes on the shelf.
Actuators: We have motors and cylinders that are not up to another life on a competition robot, but we keep anything reasonably serviceable to use in prototypes.
Sensors: We keep a bunch of odds and ends limit switches, range detectors, and encoders for the gearboxes we like to use.
Chassis Kits: This year, we opted out of the KoP, but bought two AM-14U2s a few months before the season. This let us brainstorm ideas with a known kit before kickoff. It looks like it paid off - we've done much more with the kit than the designers ever intended. (We still have to prove that it works, though.)

Do not stock up on FRC-specific items unless you are reasonably confident that you'll use them, or you have enough money to put at risk. Most items are eventually de-listed from being FRC legal; you don't want to spend a bunch of money on motors and control items that you can't use. I hope that FRC continues the policy they started this year of announcing legal motor controllers and motors in the fall, and extends it to more items and longer lead times.

Re: Stockpile
 

Most of this is just an elaboration on what's previously been mentioned. Everything else already in this thread is good stuff to keep around.


In terms of things we explicitly stockpile (on 2667 and for GOFIRST), I'd say the first thing on the list is definitely fasteners. It's just such a pain to have to go out and fine what might be the right fastener at a hardware store, plus they're really not too ridiculously expensive if you buy from some place that isn't McMaster-Carr (I like Copper State, personally). I believe we've spent around $500 on bolts from there, and that got us a full assortment of 8-32 button and socket heads up to 2" (for VEX), and a similar assortment for 10-32 and 1/4-20 bolts for stuff like FRC.

This year GOFIRST bought a full set of gear ratios for the VEX VersaPlanetary line, and that was well worth it during Ri3D. I'd highly recommend gradually building up that kind of stock on your team.

Keep your motors around, and try to build up a stock of the main ones (CIM, MiniCIM, BAG, 775)-- combined with VersaPlanetaries, there's not much you won't be able to make using those.

Stock whatever your team plans to use to make the robot-- this might be an extrusion like 80-20, REV, or Bosch, it might be VersaFrame, or it might be raw materials like aluminum sheet or box tube. It's also a good idea to keep some polycarbonate around for electronics boards-- AndyMark sells some nice stuff with a hole pattern that's pretty great.

Other motion related stuff is also good to stockpile-- like Mechvet said, pulleys, chains, et cetera are great to keep around. Keep all those extra belts from your Kitbot-- HTD is a common profile and it's easy to get pulleys for them. Even if you prefer belts, it's also a good idea to keep some chain around, both #25 and #35, since it's generally easier to prototype with.

Bearings and shaft stock are also great-- 1/2" round and hex are the most common in FRC. May or may not be something you'll immediately need, but as your team starts designing more complicated mechanisms it's great to have on hand.

Motor controllers are a must. Make sure you take advantage of your FIRST Choice selections every year and the vouchers in the KOP to maximize your stock of these. You can get so many for free, it's great.

One of the other things I'd mention is being extremely strategic about how much you buy of things and how you store them. It's a lot easier to build a culture of keeping things organized than it is to try to force a team that's used to being messy to clean up. I love these for keeping fasteners and small stuff like bearings organized. My old team, 2220 had a bunch of ones inthat style but double sided, which I personally hate because they're generally not as durable and get crazy heavy, but these ones last forever and are generally fantastic. I think we have a dozen-ish of them right now. Highly recommended. Keep an eye out for how you can keep stuff organized as you build inventory, and know where you're going to put stuff before you order it.

Re: Stockpile
 

Hardware:
6-32, 8-32, 10-32, ¼-20, 3/8-16 Nuts/Bolts (Hex Cap Screws (G8), SHCS, BHCS, FHCS) (3/8” to ~3” long) – Hex Nuts, Nylocks, Wing Nuts, Coupling Nuts, Aluminum ¼-20 stuff, etc.

Spacers – Mostly #10 & ¼” ID (1/16”, 1/8”, 3/16”, ¼”, 5/16”, 3/8”, ½”, 5/8”, ¾”, 1”) – Some #4, #6, #8, 3/8”, ½” ID, lots of VexPro ½” Hex in all lengths

Rivets (up to ¼” diameter)
Wood/deck screws
Velcro
Zip Ties
Duct Tape (lots of colors)
Electrical Tape
VHB Tape
Hose Clamps
All Thread (mostly ¼-20, some 10-24 & 3/8-16)
Grippy Stuff (drawer liner, vet wrap, stick tape stuff)
Stretchy Stuff (latex tubing, tarp straps, bungee cords, etc.)
Hinges (various)
Clips
Pins
Cable/Wire Rope
Pulleys
Springs
Generally a hardware store…


Raw Materials:
Aluminum (6061):
Flat Bar(1/8” thick x .5, .625, .75, 1, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75, 2, 2.5, 3, 4, 6 wide)
Angle (1/8” x .75, 1, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75, 2 wide)
Channel (various - usually 6063)
Box Tube (1/16 & 1/8 wall x 1x1, 1x2, 1.5x3, etc.)
Round Bar (.25, .375, .5, .625, .75, 1, 1.125, 1.25, 1.5) (some in 7075 as well)
Hex Bar (.375, .5, .625, .75, 1)
Round Tube (1/4, 3/8, and ½ ID thin wall stuff to make spacers, etc.)

Plastics:
Polycarbonate/Lexan Sheets (0.030”, 0.040”, 1/16”, 1/8”, ¼”) in 2’x’4 panels and some 4’x8’ sheets
Some UHMW, Delrin, HDPE in bars and rounds, etc.
PVC Pipe (various sizes)

Wood:
Plywood & Dimensional Lumber (2x4’s, etc.)

80/20 10 Series:
1010 T-slot extrusion
T-Nuts (single, double, triple)
Plates, angles, linear slides, hinges, etc.

80/20 QuickFrame Series:
9000 Tube
Lots of the plastic connectors in all varieties


Electrical/Electronics:
Wire – Red/Black, Zip Wire – 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 AWG, #6 Red/Black
Yellow/Green Twisted CAN Bus Wire
PWM Cables (various lengths)
Wire Loom, Spiral Wrap, Panduit Type Plastic Wire Channel
Anderson PowerPoles by the truck load (15A, 30A, 45A, Red/Black Housings)
Ferrules
CAN Bus connectors
Wire Terminals (male/female quick disconnect, ring, etc., red/blue/yellow wire gauges)
Ethernet cables (short ones like 6”, 12”, 18” for the robot)
Circuit Breakers (120A Main, 20A, 30A, 40A)
Anderson SB50 Battery connectors & associated bits and pieces (lugs for PD board, etc.)
Heat shrink – Red and Black – tiny to ~1” on spools
Speed Controllers (Talons, etc.)
PD Boards
VRMs
PCMs
RoboRIO (at least one spare)
Radios (a spare or two)
USB & Ethernet Cameras
Switches (various – toggle, button, lever, magnet, etc.)
Sensors (encoders, sonar/maxbotics, IR, etc.)
Batteries


Pneumatics:
Compressors
Air Tanks
Solenoids
Regulators
Pressure Relief Valves
Pressure Gauges
Nason Switches
Dump Valves
Air Line/Tubing
Endless Brass and Push-In Fittings (in every possible configuration)
Pneumatic Cylinders (as many sizes as we can – ¾”, 1-1/16”, 1-1/5” bore mostly – various lengths)


Mechanical:
Motors (CIM, Mini-CIM, BAG, 775Pro, BB550, AM 9015, AM PG, Window Motors, Snow Blower, Van-Door, etc.)
Gearboxes (as many as we can, ToughBoxes, ToughBox Nanos, ToughBox Minis, CIMPle Boxes, VersaPlanetaries (lots), Vex Ball Shifters, etc.)
Wheels – (4”/6”/8” – AM & VEX, traction, pneumatic, mecanum, Colsen, Banebots, etc.)
Hubs (AM & Vex, round bore, hex bore, bearing bore, etc.)
Bearings & Bushings (Radial, Thrust, Flanged, ¼”, 3/8”, ½”, 5/8” ID, hex bore, roller/ball bearing & bronze bushings, etc.)
Shaft collars and couplings (3/8” & ½” ID mostly, round and hex bore)
Acme lead screws & matching nuts – fast lead/multi-start
Lots of various 20DP gears in steel and aluminum to prototype with
#25 & #35 roller chain and sprockets (lots of various sizes)
HTD type belts and pulleys (lots of various sizes)
Lazy Suzans/Turn Tables (I’m not sure why)


Pretty much everything AndyMark and Vex Pro sell plus seemingly half of what McMaster-Carr sells at some point or other.