First Choice
 

As of today the First Choice site is up at http://www.andymark.com/FIRST-Choice-Public-s/411.htm

Is there anything on here that seems to stick out to anyone? It all seems to be fairly standard stuff, but they do have the photoelectric sensor again this year...

Re: First Choice
 

Has anyone ever used rotary limit switches before? They were also in the first game hint invoice sheet.

Re: First Choice
 

We've used the Rotary Limit Switches several times.
We used it last year as the "bottom out" signal for our lift mechanism.
We used it Breakaway, again, as a kicker ready signal for our spring loaded kicker.

It's highly adjustable position wise. Which means you can mount it in a variety of places and positions. It's far more robust than the micro limit switches. I'd use it again. It's a good switch if you need something robust.

Re: First Choice
 

This is an error on my part! There is a roller limit switch in the game hint.

Re: First Choice
 

In regards to FIRST CHOICE, I see things that make up "train" parts. train wheels, rails...then out there on a limb is this linear encoder? That's like a magnetic motor...interesting stuff.

Re: First Choice
 

In 2009 we used them on our internal elevator

Re: First Choice
 

I find the Chassis Lift Kit interesting, in that it would tend to imply a possible bumper height change (more like 2010 than 2011).

The interesting bits, however are probably the unreleased parts at the bottom.

The rotary limit switches are delightful. Your choice of NO or NC wiring, two directions, tough as nails.

Re: First Choice
 

There's some interesting stuff on the FIRST Choice list, especially the lack of a Tetrix kit. (Yay!)

Also, just to throw something out there, read the FIRST Choice list with a grain of salt. Most (All?) of the items are donated, so they might not be needed or relevant to the game.

Re: First Choice
 

unless the tetrix kit is one of the unknowns at the bottom :eek:

Re: First Choice
 

Let me live in my delusional world where minibots never happened and the Tetrix kit doesn't exist.

Re: First Choice
 

It looks like they might be clearing out some parts. There were two gyros listed - one with headers like last year's, and one without headers like the 2010 variant.

Re: First Choice
 

I think some people have forgotten what the purpose of FIRST Choice is, not just here but on other threads. Before we start game speculation, we should remember that it's supposed to replace the costs and logistics of sending a lot of parts to teams by making most of those parts available but only if the team wants them. This allows them to put less stuff in the main KOP and make a greater variety of stuff freely available to teams.

That means that game-specific parts aren't really likely to appear on FIRST Choice, because everyone will need them; they'll instead be in the regular KOP. FIRST Choice is more like our run-of-the-mill KOP stuff that FIRST felt wasn't worth sending to everyone. They either wanted to add it to the KOP and decided it was too specialized, or they had been putting it in the KOP and seeing a general disuse of the item.

Re: First Choice
 

True, but, remember, the minibot parts kit (the extra parts) were in the FIRST choice and had to be hidden for obvious (now) reasons.

Re: First Choice
 

Last year the Tetrix offer on FIRST choice wasn't hidden before kickoff.
We could all see it by December 13 and speculate on why it was offered.

Re: First Choice
 

Since the 2010 wheel mounts was a rather specialized part specific to that year, and due to the fact that they had a tendency to cause the frame to deform when it moved, throwing off the alignment of chains in some cases, I wouldn't be surprised if AndyMark donated them just to get an overstocked item off of their hands. This doesn't mean they are inherently bad, but it wasn't worth buying them at full price (in my opinion). They would make interesting arm mounts, especially if they were used in conjunction with the nifty slew bearings donated by Igus :cool: .

Re: First Choice
 

i found the pneumatic muscles interesting, but that's just me. i don't remember if they were legal or not before now, but the availability of them is what caught my eye. everything else seems normal, including the linear stuff, we actually used the bearings by bwc (the double v bearings) for a crab/swerve drive.

Re: First Choice
 

The pneumatic muscles were available from FIRST choice last year as well.

Re: First Choice
 

i'd disagree somewhat... what if they are EXTRA game pices? kinda how the kit came with 3 tubes last year, they could have included in FC extra tubes and uber tubes...

Re: First Choice
 

Does anyone have any ideas about why they're offering a control station box? Have they offered this in years past?

This could be a possible element for controlling a mini-bot, or to be used in autonomous like that one year that I can't remember off the top of my head...

Re: First Choice
 

2008, when teams supplied their own IR remote and Game Hint #1 was the receiver.

No, it hasn't been offered previously. But, there are a number of possible uses, and many teams build a button box for their control station.

Re: First Choice
 

My idea: We have to mount them on our robots and members of the opposing alliance must use them to turn our robots off. Members of our alliance must then turn us back on.

Here's a link of a nearly identical (different colored buttons) button box:
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/SCH...-Station-6HK27
Perhaps it's an alternative to the STOP button on the Driver Station that must be held by the Drive Coach? Who knows.

What I'm more worried about are the 11 different items that will be released later. 11 different items that would give away part of the game? 11 game pieces? 11 field elements? Does that seem like a lot to anyone else?

Re: First Choice
 

Does it make a difference that 9 are parts and 2 are products?

Re: First Choice
 

Like Eric said, it has not been offered before. But I don't think it is worth reading into. I think this is simply a replacement as a more durable enable/disable switch or on/off for the robot status during testing purposes. But I could be wrong!

Re: First Choice
 

Has anybody heard about how many credits we get or how much stuff will cost? I thought that would be released today. It's getting close to opening for teams to make decisions.

Re: First Choice
 

i was wondering how many parts we were able to get from Andymark for free?

Re: First Choice
 

I guess I'm not alone in wondering how much "cash" I get and what things "cost"???

Re: First Choice
 

It was stated on the blog that the number of credits would be given at Kickoff.
I did not see it... I guess we still need to see what the
"CREDIT AMOUNT" is... We can't really even tell how many credits any items "cost" on the FIRST CHOICE site yet...

Has any one else seen more?

First Choice Parts ordering is supposed to start in about 7 hours...

????

Re: First Choice
 

I was wondering about the credits myself and just stumbled upon this http://www.andymark.com/v/FIRSTChoiceFAQ.html

This is copied directly from that link.

What is a FIRST Credit and how many do I get?
A FIRST Credit is a made up value based on the number of teams, and quantity of parts available. The number of FIRST Credits available to all teams and the FIRST Credit value of each item might be revealed during kickoff, or you may just have to wait until you login for the first time. Each team will get the same number of FIRST Credits. But if you watch the video closely, you'll see the point value of parts, and I'll give you a hint, you get 100 Credits to start!

Re: First Choice
 

Here are the credit values of each item.