Most underrated/undervalued tools
 

I thought it might be fun to see what people in FRC think the most underrated/ undervalued tools for FRC use are.

Personally, I am going with the vinyl cutter. Basically a giant plotter with a blade, it can make adhesive backed stickers that are useful for everything from sponsor logos on your robot to decals for team property, etc.

I am curious to see what you all think are the most undervalued and/or underrated tools in FRC. Post them below!

Re: Most underrated/undervalued tools
 

I'm going with the portable vacuum. Way too many teams get chips, shavings, and swarf in their electrical system because they neglect to get a vacuum in place while cutting or drilling metal on the robot.

A close second would be the file. It always surprises me how many teams wait until their robot is being inspected to learn how files should be used. :rolleyes:

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From personal experience any mechanical pickup tool is amazing.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-24-...396H/206264355

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Vice grips. They can hold together parts while machining, clamp to a small part so you don't have to be close to the machine, stop vibrations on some parts while milling, hold some sketchy prototype parts onto a previous robot, and much more. To me, they are the duct tape of robot building.

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Cognitive thinking.

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Drill Press vises.

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Hammer ::ouch::

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Screensteps.

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Dark Soul Chain Tool, or a pneumatic riveter.

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Seconded.

Also javadocs.

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Plasma cutter

wouldnt have our bot without it

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I second the motion.

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Brains.


And PPE of all types.



Brains allow you to use the tools (properly). PPE--properly used--helps if something goes wrong!

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Are you sick of crooked cuts in your pneumatic tubing leading to pesky leaks?

There are so many connections! It could take hours to find that last one!

<Gray video>
"There has to be a better way!"
</Gray video>

Well, look no further! Introducing the TC-12 pneumatic tubing cutter! It cuts all of your pneumatic tubing clean and square so you never have to worry about pneumatic leaks again!

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A good pair of diagonal cutters. I also agree with Knufire about the Dark Soul.

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An especially strong magnet, for that screw that fell into the chassis rail...

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Hemostats for retrieving small parts and holding while soldering, etc.

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CNC Mills are overrated. There are very few teams out there that can take advantage of the complex parts that they can make. Most of FRC can be done with manual tools or at most with some sort of CNC 2D machines.

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I think that I absolutely have to agree with this statement that the brain is undervalued, no one ever thinks about it (though we think with it). That, and PPE, which is great all around. A lot of people just don't think about their safety glasses, their gloves, their hearing protection, etc., but where would we be, as humans, without these innovations? It wouldn't be a very safe world, and I can safely say that with confidence.

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Take a look at the mechanical grabber tool. :p

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flathead screwdriver

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The humble black sharpie, everywhere, all the time.

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Spring loaded chuck key.

Large format printer- bumpers, cad models, wiring layout, banners, buttons....

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Measuring tape.

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Hydraulic Crimper

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Left handed crescent wrench

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Left handed *metric* crescent wrench :p

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I've tried to make a point of looking for useful tools that other teams have found - it's surprising how many things that we struggle with for which there are existing, easy solutions just waiting for you to learn about.

Some big ones:

Center drills. My god, these are invaluable. Extremely hard to drill decent pilot holes without them. They're self-deburring, too, since they have built-in countersinks.

Deburring tools. The kind with the little spinny blades on them. Huge effort-saver.

Rivnuts. Much easier than tapping in many situations.

Scribes (pref. carbide-tipped). We used to do all our marking with sharpies. Then we upgraded to masking tape + mechanical pencils. Scribes are better than both. Being able to "feel out" the mark with the tip of a center-punch is invaluable.

Transfer punches. Duplicating hole patterns is a crucial thing for a team with limited machining resources. Match-drilling whenever possible is great, but sometimes it's not possible or very difficult, and for those times transfer punches are a life-saver.

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Dremel Tool

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pneumatic riveter ftw

You people that uses imperial units definitely should have one of this! :yikes:

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I have one of these in my pocket every competition: Pneumatic Tubing Cutter

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Arbor Press. My team had to use a mallet (known as the "Persuasionator") to insert all of our press fit bearings, bushings and other delicate parts because we had no type of press.

You could probably guess what tool I'm trying to convince our head mentor to buy.

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Work gloves and bandages.

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We made a lexan bender using plywood, a hinge, toaster wire and an Anderson connector...

So useful! Made a lot of our low stress, low weight parts with it. Our upper level electronics board was made of bent lexan.

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Cellphones.
Download the flashlight app, for a small lightsource. Take pictures and rely information to people on the team, play music, calculator. I know I'm not the only one that downloads the most up to date manual on my cellphone...

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Pencil and Paper

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spiral point or spiral flute taps.

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Noise Cancelling Headphones or Pneumatic Riveter

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PPE first and foremost of course...
Transfer Punches.....makes hole alignment much easier.

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Flush cutting side cutters. Nothing worse than dragging your arm or hand over a sharp zip-tie.

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Yes there is, the fleshy part of your leg behind the knee (first hand experience).

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Chain breaker tool
T-Handle Allen/Hex Key sets
The holy 7/16 box wrench with compact ratchet
Snap ring pliers set

And finally, the most annoying tool to need and not have rather than have and not need is:

The SpeedOut screw removal kit!

Re: Most underrated/undervalued tools
 

An arbor press

It's indispensable for pressing bearings in and out, straightening metal, and any other quick job you need good leverage on. Its also faster than using a hydraulic jack.

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I agree, but if you use them correctly they become highly valuable. I made a aluminum hub to fit onto a window motor's gear that would have taken 10X longer if I'd done it manually.

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This thread has very quickly gone from underrated tool to favorite tool (I'd even call a lot of these tools overrated). The best answer I've seen is the vacuum cleaner. (basically) Every team needs one and no team ever realizes just how much value they add.

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Freshman with a broom.

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Little nail clippers work wonders here.

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Vise.

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We have a Team 1676 mini screwdriver set that was a giveaway at a competition that we use almost daily.

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For out team the most underrated tool was BY FAR a printer. I know it sounds crazy but without out a printer we probably wouldn't have been able to finish our robot. For the first 4 weeks of build season, we would have to ask the CAD team the dimensions of stuff we had to fabricate. That was obviously a terrible and inefficient system. Once we got a printer, the CAD team could print out drawings and we could be much faster and more accurate.

Other than that, probably a ratchet alan set.

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Seconded. I've used this so much in FTC as well as FRC. Being able to break it anywhere is awesome, and you don't have to worry about losing bits of master link! The only down side is that it's harder to get into the chain when the chain is in place.

I work for a fluid power distributor as a FIRST alum. There are about four of these guys in every work space, and they are a miracle. Teams need to remember that square cut tubes are the solution to most leaks. If there's a local distributor, reach out. They're less than $.60 cost, they'd probably be willing to give you a dozen.

To go along with pneumatics, an adjustable wrench. Never use this for the actual fitting, but if you can't get a tube to come loose from the quick-connect, snug the wrench on the tube, and press it against the collet, and the tube will pop free.

PS-Forgot T handle hex wrenches for pneumatic work. Many hydraulic fittings have internal hexes(For example, the SMC cylinders on the vex shifters), and they let you take fittings out when you have no room for a wrench.

Re: Most underrated/undervalued tools
 

or a file

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A Leatherman or other multi-tool. Especially if you are willing to abuse it a bit, it can always be used as a hammer, many flat-head screwdrivers on them are pretty sharp and can be used for scraping at things, and as much as the folks at Leatherman don't want to hear it, the knife works well for prying in tight spaces.

Gotta love a no questions asked warranty.

~DK

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A whiteboard and dry erase markers.

Any team can be made better by buying a few more whiteboards.

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Left Handed metric *nut rounder*

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It's got to be a good pair of wirecutters. When it's crunch time and you have 30 zip-ties to fix, it's the only way to go...

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I think Wil Payne is very underrated and undervalued....

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+1


On a serious note, I found a GOOD set of COLORED T-Handle Allen Wrenches to be great in those quick fix binds. Colors are easier to find than fractions in small fonts, and a quick yell for a color makes it easy for ANYONE to be able to find.

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I can't go to a competition without Matt or Nate personally. Far more indispensable than Wil. ;)

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Sleep. Without enough of this all other tools including the brain do not work as well.

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Chop saw. Great for cutting aluminum stock.

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Printer + Spray Glue

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Our horizontal bandsaw cuts down long aluminum tubes (and other extrusions) while we do other things.

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My students know that I will never stop recommending this pair of cutters. Buttery smooth operation, super flush cuts, great for zip ties, wires, etc. The super narrow tip allows you to get into really tight corners. It's a must-have tool for all of our competitions.

Another underrated tool is Google Docs. I use Sheets for just about everything from BOMs, design calculations, todo lists, pick lists, packing sheets, etc.

I'm also slowly becoming attached to Wunderlist. Super useful listing app with a web interface as well as android and iOS apps. One of my favorite features is attaching pictures to list items. You can also share lists with other people. At Las Vegas, our scouting team set up a todo-list of all of the teams at the event. We were able to attach photos of all of the robots to their items on the list while adding notes and other info on teams. Extremely useful during alliance selections. Real time updating on the list allowed me and my scouts to quickly rearrange our pick list as teams became unavailable. Our field rep during selections received these updates within seconds.

Groupme is another useful app for us as it allows us to create team-wide or subteam group chats for competitions. Helped organize logistics like food plans and travel as well as discussing scouting information, robot status, and audience defense selection.

Re: Most underrated/undervalued tools
 

That tool looks great, but $4.25 is a lot to pay at one time! Can I get that split into four easy payments of just $1.0625? Is there a 30-day risk-free trial? :D

If you have a lot of steel on your robot, good luck getting that magnet where you want it...

Dremels are great for rivet mandrels that refuse to break, and probably deburring, among many other things. I've seen an endmill for Dremels, and people even make their own attachments!

iPhones have flashlight software built in, at least since iOS 7(8?).

This. Easy to think you've cut a zip tie all the way down when there's still a very sharp point.

As for my list of undervalued tools...

Drill press. Having only used a power drill for non-precision stuff, I thought it seemed unnecessary. What can this machine do that can't be done with a cordless(or corded) handheld drill? Then I used one to make some brackets. Not only can it drill perfectly straight, but it eliminates hand/arm fatigue if you need to drill a lot of holes or drill one hole through something long.

Angle grinder. May not get a lot of use, but great for heavy deburring, screw shortening, and in place of a file for steel. Must have if you build a lot with wood. Bench grinders are also good.

Bench top belt(and disc) sander. If you have something big to file, a lot faster and much less effort than filing by hand.

Reciprocating saw(Sawzall). Vibrations can make cutting straight difficult, but once you get going in a cut, it's good. Can cut just about anything quickly, and there are attachments for other things. Much faster and easier than a hacksaw.

If you do a lot of screw shortening and cutting small parts or fairly thin pipes, portable bandsaws are surprisingly useful!

TL;DR: Drill press, angle grinder, belt sander, Sawzall, portable bandsaw.

Re: Most underrated/undervalued tools
 

I heartily agree with many of the items above, and am now looking into several of those we do not yet use. Among those not yet cited, I'll nominate Microsoft Office Suite, particularly excel and power point.

MS Excel powers the JVN calculator and a remarkable variety of one-off calculators we've used over the years to determine lengths and gear ratios and such, and it's been invaluable for project management and CAW (formerly BoM) preparation.

We've used MS Power point for everything from quickie CAD and feasibility simulator to team training to fund raising.

Re: Most underrated/undervalued tools
 

Almost forgot one thing: Loctite Gluestick! It's really the only way I apply loctite nowadays. It's not runny or drippy and you only use the exact amount you need. We've been using the same stick of loctite since fall of 2014! Mcmaster #1004A12 if you prefer to order from there.

Re: Most underrated/undervalued tools
 

We will now use this for the reasons you noted. Thanks!

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Buy this product!!! It will completely change your life. No more spilled loctite, no more overzealous students covering the entire screw in loctite fluid, no more wasted product. It's amazing.

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Similarly, I don't know what I'd do without Slack. If you are looking for easier team communication, it is a miracle.

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Many here are invaluable.
Another tool we've made very good use of is aluminum cutting lubricant stick. Makes cutting aluminum much easier, quicker, simple to use and not too expensive.

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The bolt cutter/pliers/punch/drill/saw/knife/hammer/tweezers/screwdriver/wrench/crimper/mini-crowbar/afternoon-snack multi-tool made famous by our Grade 9 students.

:mad:

Re: Most underrated/undervalued tools
 

And even better, it comes in a 5 pack from amazon.

Link

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They actually make these, at least the metric part.


Not sure if it's underrated, but you definately don't fully appreciate the usefulness of a good pair of Katapult-style wire strippers until you've used them for a while, and then had to go without them (we lost ours a while back and have had to use regular wire strippers ever since). :(

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Do not forget the coffee! :D

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Mini-Fridge!

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I'd say coffee/caffeinated beverages are the most overrated.

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There is no replacement for actually sleeping.

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I've used a similar kind that also had an adjustable stop for the end of the wire to make the amount stripped off repeatable. They were great. I found them most useful for wires that were very small or for doing the same thing 30 times in a row.

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I could not agree more. Through robotics and boys outs I have broken two of them. Next time I am in Portland I walk up and ask for a replacement. Hence why I only buy Leatherman multi-tools.

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YES! and C-clamps, basically anything that can put a strong grip on one or more objects without the use of other tools (except maybe the screw driver now used as a handle for said clamp)

My other one would definitely be the sharpie. It is much better to mark a piece prior to cutting it than to say eh, that looks good, cut it at least 3 times and it still be too short.

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NI Multisim (or equivalent) for a circuit diagram and pneumatic diagram does wonders for midcompetition troubleshooting.

Also, invest in a decent ratchet crimper. Your hands will thank you.

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I've never been a fan of multi-tools for robotics. The idea seems nice, but all the tools they come with are never really the right tool you need. I see more people fight with them in haste to use one, but I can usually find the right tool for the job quicker than they can get a "yeah...it'll do the job...if you really try" tool out. I'd really only find maybe the knife to be decently useful, but at that point, just get a nice purpose-built pocket knife.

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Then maybe we should come up with a multi tool of attachments useful for FRC. A couple different Allen wrenches, a small wire stripper, a 3/8 socket wrench, a micro screwdriver, and what else?

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Or you could have a toolbox with you at all times. I've, never had an experience where the robot was separated, more that 10 feet or so from the robot. ( Unless on the field ) Both teams I've been apart of has had a "Flight" toolbox, this includes all vital tools, that should be used with the the robot.

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I'm aware of a socket that will work on multiple sizes of bolt heads--a Gator socket, I think it's called?--so put one of those in, along with a flathead and Philips drivers, a sharp blade (you can strip wire with a knife, it just takes some practice), and 3-4 really common-sized hex keys. Needle-nosed pliers and a small file should round out the assortment. Maybe a hacksaw-type blade, but if you're using that for cutting robot metal someone will probably hand you a hacksaw.

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Ironically, I agree in a lot of ways. I find myself using the plyers, knives (2x), files (2x) and occasionally the bit driver. So in total 6 out of the 21(?) tools on the thing. Not too many. It's not going to replace real tools. But having a bunch of options all folded nicely into your pocket can be a big help at competition for the quick, less than ideal, fixes and tweaks.

It also depends on the tool a lot. I use a charge tti which happens to have a lot of the tools that I find useful in a pit. The bit driver is nice. We use a lot of 8-32 and 10-32 hardware, and I have a hex insert that has the appropriate sizes for those depending on which way it is inserted. Not as nice as a T handle, but better than finding yourself empty handed.

Knowing when it's to tool to grab is certainly key. I think the excitement of getting to use the new tool may be a bit of what you are seeing. Once that wears off I see lots of people who have a leatherman in their pocket and are smart enough to grab the t handle that is right in front of them.

~DK

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This is the closest I've seen so far, but 6 pages and no one comes up with Label Maker? Nothing speeds up troubleshooting faster than knowing literally at a glance which speed controller does what, which power/PWM/CAN/sensor wire or pneumatic tube is connected where, and how old motors/batteries/etc are if labeled at acquisition. By far the most handy, versatile, and time saving troubleshooting tool you can get.

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I'm that guy that always has two or three sharpies in my pocket (in various colors) because everyone else misplaces them. You'd be surprised just how often they are needed in and out of FRC, and how surprised people are when I seem to produce an endless supply from my pockets.

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By far it has to be the dremel. That thing could be used as a portable band saw.

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Clecos for anything sheet metal. Great for "tacking" versatube and gussets together before riveting. Saves tons of time by ensuring things will go together prior to assembly.

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I did not know that these things existed. Time to get some.

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I saw this wrench at Wal-Mart that was squeeze-adjustable. It said it worked for any size from 3/4" down to 1/8". I'm really regretting not getting it