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Originally Posted by Karthik
This is much more in line with I typically see. The typical VEX team around here spends $2000 in their first year on parts. In subsequent years they're spending about $500 a season on additional parts.
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Definitely this. Last year for our large 24" college bot we spent maybe around $3500, and that was not only a larger college level vex robot, but it was also probably the densest robot any of us have ever worked on.
That $3500 also included raw materials we had to buy such as delrin, sheet metal, etc. which aren't components high school teams get to use.
Finally we lumped in a bunch of new tools into that amount as well as last year we were stuck building the robot at my apartment, definitely no machine shop.
We're on pace to spend less than $1000 on our college robot this year, and that is including all of the custom parts (machined delrin, sheet metal, 3D printed, etc.).
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Originally Posted by <R7b> Official VEX Skyrise Manual
Any parts which are identical to legal VEX parts. For the purposes of this rule, products which are identical in all ways except for color are permissible. Note: It is up to inspectors to determine whether a component is “identical” to an official VEX component.
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Also, if you're smart about where you buy things, things can get cheaper quickly. Things like standoffs, fasteners, zip ties, rubber bands, latex tubing, velcro, foam, spacers, washers, pneumatics, and tools can all be bought at other online retailers/distributors such as McMaster, MSC, etc. or even at stores like Walmart, etc. As long as you make sure a component is identical to what VEX sells, you're okay. There's even more provisions for things like fasteners, where they opened the rule up and said:
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Originally Posted by <R7c> Official VEX Skyrise Manual
Any commercially available #4, #6, #8, M2, M2.5, M3 or M4 screw up to 2" long, and any commercially available nut to fit these screws.
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Maybe the best example of where you can save money is the pneumatics. Rather than have to buy one of the kits on VEX robotics, you can buy individual pneumatic components that you need directly from SMC and you're cost will be greatly reduced. You just have to be very careful that the parts you order from McMaster are also offered and identical to what VEX sells.
In general, look over <R7> in the manual to get an idea of what parts it is okay to use outside of items sold by VEX. Also make sure, only VEX Robotics Design System products are legal. You cannot use VEX IQ or VEX Pro parts on your robot.
Hope that helped some.
-Nick