[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by Andy Baker

Here is team 45's pit from 2006.

This thing folds up into a rolling structure that is about 4 ft. wide x 10 ft. long x 5 ft. tall. It takes about 5 minutes to set up. We bring it to the events with our trailer, along with a large tool box and totes.

When set up, it is just under 10 feet tall.

The material we used to create this is Creform, which are thin-walled steel pipes with plastic coating. Creform has fastening hardware, tubes, and accessories available to do much more than what we have done.

One regret in making this canopy is that it is too wide when folded up. It really needed to be within 32 inches wide so it can fit through a door.

Looking at McMaster-Carr, I see that they classify this stuff as "Steel Clamp-On Structural Framing System".

If you are designing something similar to this, plan for it to be no bigger than 9.5 feet x 9.5 feet x 9.5 feet.

Andy B.

Creform is interesting stuff, Andy. It's technical specs for the standard 28mm pipe indicate 0.7mm (about 1/32") steel wall thickness and 520 g/m (about 0.35 lb/ft) weight. That should provide more than adequate strength. About how much does your pit structure weigh?

I'm guessing (after a quick review of the Creform site and of the McMaster-Carr page you cited) that your team didn't buy the material from McMaster. I base this on the standard pipe lengths that Creform lists, which are 2.5m, 3.0m, and 4.0m. The 3.0m length (~9'10") is just about right for the FRC pit height limit, while the standard McMaster-Carr pipe length is 8' -- a little short if you want to get your signage near the FRC height limit and provide headroom inside your pit.

Did you find a local source for Creform in metric lengths?