Does your crate have a function besides being a crate? Nope, just a basic crate. We've always discussed building a workstation crate, but we're too lazy.
What do you like or dislike about your crate? It's really heavy, and not very functional.
What do you look for or want in a crate material? Wood is easy to build with, and it's fairly durable.
Do you use the crate in the pits? We always keep our crate at Nationals, and use it for storage. We put a padlock on the latch, and we can lock tools, computers, and other stuff up overnight or when we go out for a match.
How old is the crate you are currently using? 5 seasons. We built it for the 2000 season, and it's still in good shape. We patched a few gouges and repainted it black in 2003, though.
When in the six weeks do you start thinking about the crate? We always think about building a new crate around the second week or so of build, then we just decide it's easier to forget about it and reuse the old crate.
What did you do with the old one? The last "old" crate we had was from 1999, and we used to store that year's robot inside it. When we disassembled the 99 robot, we also scrapped the crate (it was a flimsy piece of junk anyways)
How much other stuff do you pack with the robot? Just the robot, cart, and batteries. It weighs too much to throw in anything else.
How overweight was the crate this year? With the above items (robot, cart, batteries) it weighs almost exactly 400 lbs. Our joke is that we can't even pack a screwdriver in the crate without it going over. We actually packed a screwdriver in 2000, and got charged an extra $400 for weighing in at 401 lbs. Oops.
