Here is a cart we developed over the years. And here is how we did it.
First off we are not a rich team. We are a hyper-scrounging team. If you had to buy all of this stuff from scratch it would cost a fortune.
- The cart is a laptop charger / storage cart we got for free from surplus.
- The inverter we acquired over time.
- The printer was donated.
- The battery OR'ing box we built with parts from Digi-Key.
- The Laptop was a donated surplus from a sponsor.
- Up the back to the cart are two pieces of 8020 framing - to hold the monitor.
- On the back of the monitor is sheet of aluminum that mates the monitor to the 8020.
- The monitor is one we bought for 1,000 uses, about $ 250 bucks for a 43" Insignia TV, $ 140 bucks for a 32" Insignia TV.
- 12 VDC Supply is something we recently acquired.
At the bottom of the right side bay you can set 3 robot batteries, which will power the TV monitor and laptop for 4 hours. If you plug in the DC supply to the wall it has a higher voltage than the batteries, and it supplies power to the cart and inhibits battery drain. So you may see us plugged into the wall with the presentation 'up' and we pull the wall plug and roll down the street. It is very tough to see through the blackness but on the upper right door, ziptied is a cloth bag, that holds a handheld presenter. The cardboard trays are 'drawers' to stow documents, gaffers tape, etc. The red pad under the printer was a donation from a team at a regional, one of those kneepads that you use when working on a robot. We use it to cushion the printer. There is a sound system on the inside top deck, used to support video, say when shown at a corporate outreach event.
The main usage of the cart is corporate demos, school demos, outreach, screens for FLL or FTC tournaments, and in our lab, for teaching and learning in a workgroup setting. And it is perfect for going to competitions and supporting pit displays, printing, document storage, and Chairman's presentations. During outreach when we have robot cameras in play for say shooting a ball or target type things, the crowd can have the same view as the driver, with the DS, Dashboard, and video. For certain audiences that can be a crowd pleaser. We can also lock it, to protect assets we may stow away. And it is awesome being able to go to an outreach event or school self-contained, and not having to deal with the random technology that one might encounter.
In the aggregate, covering that many bases makes it a very useful and versatile asset.
If all you want to do is Chairman's you could get away with an inverter, robot battery, a tablecloth, a cheap utility cart, and a monitor and laptop.
Our solution worked out for us because we got our hands on a bunch of stuff for free or cheap and use it for ton of different things. This thing is in near constant use.
So if you describe a vision of what you want to get to to your teams partners, sponsors, and friends, who knows what might show up. Good Luck!
