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Unread 06-01-2009, 06:41
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Leav Leav is offline
Spud Gun Division
AKA: Leav Oz-Ari
FRC #3316 (D-Bug)
Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Rookie Year: 2005
Location: Technion, Haifa, Israel
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Re: Source for Orbit Ball

Quote:
Originally Posted by BrentJ View Post
How are the teams in Israel / England / Germany doing at getting the field floor and game ball?

Some years depending on the game it might not be so critical but the field for this year definitely is.

Any thoughts?
Well, we have multiple problems this year.
  1. The crater flooring is a problem. if we would have gotten a sample in the kit we would know if we have anything compatible here, but we didn't.
    (just got off the phone with our regional director, she ordered a sample and will find a solution for the Israeli teams <-- she's awesome if you didn't notice )
  2. Orbit balls are a problem. the poof balls were available for purchase online in 2006 so that the shipping was a killer, but at least we had balls. we're looking into where to get these as well, because we don't think FIRST is going around wallmarts and buying up 5 or 6 at a time for the regionals.
  3. Bimba cylinders were also a problem, but our regional director solved that a long time ago: she contacted bimba and made sure that they pool all the israeli orders and ship them once a week. she takes care of customs and distributing to the teams. (did I mention she's awesome?)
  4. Any team can do an AndyMark order on their own if they want to, but again shipping and customs are a hassle and time wasters. we pool andymark orders twice a week and Alisha (our regional director) takes care of that as well.
  5. In the past IFI orders were also pooled.
  6. Also FIRST has special rules in place for international teams which in general state that if you can not get the exact part which is allowed in the KOP you are allowed an identical part from a different manufacturer. I think this mostly applies to pneumatic cylinders which have the same dimensions across multiple manufacturers, and yet teams are restricted to bimba cylinders.

It isn't as easy as it is in the states - but we don't do this stuff because it's easy...

That's all I can think of at the moment. let me know if there is something else you had in mind.

-Leav
__________________
"We choose to build robots this season and do the other things; Not because they are easy, but because they are hard."
-Paraphrasing JFK

Participated in FIRST as a student: 2005-2006 (But still learning every season!)
Mentor: 2008 - ? (Team 2630 2008-2011, and Team 3316 since 2013)
Engineer: 2011 - ? (B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Mech. Eng. from the Technion IIT)
FIRST Volunteer - 2007 - ? (MC, FTA, FIRST Aid etc.)