crate design and construction
 

how have teams designed and constucted their robot shipping crates? are there any special techniques or parts involved? have any teams incorporated any special features into their crates?

my team's crate was designed with "brute force" and the consequence was that we had to pay extra shipping for being over weight. it is made entirely out of 2x4s and (at least) 5/8" thick plywood sheets. the lid of the crate was removed at the competitions and used as a cart for transporting the robot. i am planning on making a new and better crate as an engineering team project before the build season, and i was wondering how other teams have gone about such projects.

Re: crate design and construction
 

You could try and do what teams like 229, and 67....etc did...when you unpack your robot, your shipping crate becomes a workshop. Basically, it has work benches, toolboxes, whiteboard, and power strips. It is such a nice way to do it, because instead of shipping 2 large boxes, you could ship one(granted it will be probably 400+ pounds).


good luck! keep us posted with pictures!

Re: crate design and construction
 

The only real special feature on ours was the garage door in the front. We supported the arm with a plank screwed to the floor. So we could unpack the bot in about 30-60 seconds.

Re: crate design and construction
 

Team 237 is in the process of designing and constructing a new robot crate, cart, and charging station.

It's the off season project.

While some of us wanted a crate made from 80/20 and lexan like THIS one, we are going to be making it out of wood again and it will be similar to THIS one.

There are many ways to build a crate, and the eventual debate of weight vs. durability will always come into question.

Build what you can with what you have available, and hope that your shipping bill is not that high.

Or.. You can always do like THIS team and make your crate super light.

Btw, more pics can be found here: http://www.team237.com/gallery/Carts-Crates on our team's site,
or here: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/pictures.php?s=&galleryid=139&perrow=5&trows=5&qui et=Verbose&direction=DESC&sort=date on CD's gallery.

Note: The first 3 on CD's gallery are one's that I took pics of and uploaded, thus they are duplicates of pics on our site.

Good luck in the design and build of your new crate!

Re: crate design and construction
 

Every fall, our team (677) tries to do a mini-build project to introduce/refresh everyone with our design and build process. Before the 2004 season we designed and built a new robot crate ("Super Crate II"). The goals were "simple":

- Lightweight
- Inexpensive
- Able to maximize our pit space.

It was also a conscious decision to undersize the crate a bit (44" x 44" footprint) in hopes of having it be placed "nicely" (instead of it having to be jammed in) among the other crates at the (assumedly, the 48"x 48" grid that was) the drayage facility. We hoped this would do this instead of thicker, heavier materials. Last year, it worked.

We ended up with a wooden crate (< $175) where the paired walls (two walls connected by a piano hinge) detached from the base and top and got set up in back corners of our pit, giving plenty of room for our robot, table (provided at comp site) and people to work on the robot.

The walls then held common fasteners, hand tools, and a dry erase board, via some peg board and a closet door shoe rack ($12 @ lowes- like this http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=prod...158-604613CPDQ but canvas)

It wasn't planned for but the base turned into a stock rack/battery holder.

We shipped all are batteries (5) and robot, but none of our tools, and came in under the limit.

I don't have any pictures of it in use at competition (VCU 2004), we all were too busy getting sick and trying to get our robot to run... As we wind up for this coming season, I will try to post some pictures if anyone is interested.

-Bill Cloyes
677 Team Lead
OSU FIRST Robotics senior member

Re: crate design and construction
 

Hey Bill, you got any pics of the crate that you would like to share?
If you e-mail me a pic, I can put it in our gallery, or even the gallery on CD.
media AT team237.com

Also, any idea of an approximate weight when empty (re: minus robot, batteries, and what not)?

Re: crate design and construction
 

thanks for the props on the crate, elgin ;)
that one has been around for at least 2 years that i know of, if not more (ricky q would probably know best). Very durable and lighweight, I doubt that it will be retired any time soon!

Re: crate design and construction
 

And yet I showed this to the people in charge.. and it was shot down..
Oh well, we'll see how our new (wood) one turns out.

Re: crate design and construction
 

So far our guess is the crate will weigh under 200lbs empty. Mark weighed the materials so he has a rough idea. The frame is made of poplar glued and screwed together. We'll post pics when it's finished.

Re: crate design and construction
 

I completely understand ... and not oddly enough, we've been through the same things. Last year, our crate was also made entirely out of plywood (extra $$ -- overweight). However, this year one of our team members is using his drafting/engineering skills to design a crate that is both more functional and expense-conscious. Personally, I like a double purpose in things ... and specially in this case it is very helpful.

GOOD DECISION!!

Re: crate design and construction
 

Did you know that a Poplar tree will completely explode if hit by lightning because of the density of the sap inside? :ahh:

Anyways, to see some progress on our new Battery cart, Crate, and Cart, go HERE

That was our first meeting, so not a lot happened...

Some planning, and a little bit of building.
Notice Nikki hard at work screwing those aforementioned poplar pieces into place.

Re: crate design and construction
 

w00t! Our parts came in and tonight, in about 2 hours.. the raw material was cut, fitted, and pieced together to get our cart 90% done.

CAD (11-30-04)

Then 2 weeks later:

Actual cart (12-14-04) Weighing in at only 25 pounds without a platform, it's awesome.

Next up is the crate which is moving right along.

Re: crate design and construction
 

=O Who's super cool adidas shoes are those? :ahh:


Actually working on it was really fun, minus the whole nail's being too light and turning 180 degrees and almost putting a hole in my hand... yeah :yikes:

Re: crate design and construction
 

What SIZES is everyone's crate?

I assume we don't have to build a 4 ft x 4 ft crate do we? What size have you built that seems large enough for everything that you want to put in the crate?

Re: crate design and construction
 

FIRST releases that information when they release the rules. (So you'll know folowing the kickoff). FedEx imposes certain rules regarding size and weight. Exceeding those rules results in fees. If you're interested in shipping information from last year to give you some concept of what it should be like this year, visit: http://www2.usfirst.org/2004comp/11-...corporated.pdf or you can access all the documents available from FIRST at: http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/doc_updt.htm

Hope that helps.