Low Cost Field BOM

[Andy Brockway]

FIRST has released the field BOM. It is located in the Documents section

Plywood, 2x lumber, PVC pipe and 3 casters.

Let the speculation begin!

[dez250]

Originally Posted by Andy Brockway

FIRST has released the field BOM. It is located in the Documents section

Plywood, 2x lumber, PVC pipe and 3 casters.

Let the speculation begin!

wow...i can only imagine what we will be doing with a toilet flange!
~Mike

[Todd Derbyshire]

Hopefully this means a moving goal of sorts or at least we are assured that something is moving part

Originally Posted by Andy Brockway

FIRST has released the field BOM. It is located in the Documents section

Plywood, 2x lumber, PVC pipe and 3 casters.

Let the speculation begin!

[Katie Reynolds]

Here for those wondering.

Only three casters this year? and a 4'x8' sheet of plywood? Hmmm ... Maybe it's a giant ramp on wheels!!

[Yan Wang]

Maybe FIRST is trying to throw us off this early in the season...

Nick Elser: yep
Nick Elser: I got it
Nick Elser: the casters, screws, etc are just to throw us off
Nick Elser: the robots just have to look cool
Nick Elser: whilst the human players jump onto the field and beat each other
Nick Elser: it will be hot

[patrickrd]

My initial thoughts are that there is a single, complicated moving object. There is a LOT of wood on the BOM, and the 5" diameter casters, those things are designed to support a lot of weight. I wouldn't be surprised to see a moving platform that robots can climb onto. This could be like 1999 (or maybe it is just wishful thinking). In any case I think the wood is probably for a rather complicated moving platform (let's call it the puck). Another possibility I thought of is stairs, judging by the quantity of the 2x4's and 2x6's. Maybe there are stairs in addition to the puck? What do you all think?

- Patrick

[JVN]

Originally Posted by patrickrd

Maybe there are stairs in addition to the puck? What do you all think?

Maybe it's a puck with stairs on it? A giant, multileveled puck on wheels....

[Wetzel]

Originally Posted by JVN

Maybe it's a puck with stairs on it? A giant, multileveled puck on wheels....

Lets call it a wedding cake.

Wetzel

[IMDWalrus]

For some reason, I get the feeling that whatever this is we'll be building will be some kind of elevated playing field piece. I remember someone mentioning having extremely tall goals (maybe like 2002, but much taller) as part of the playing field...maybe that's what the PVC is for...

[Andy Grady]

Lets look at the facts...

Fact 1: Last time there was 3 casters on the playing field, there was a rotating triangular goal.

Fact 2: Smaller flanges were used to support the bars on the puck in 99, the goal posts in 2001, and I believe the center post in 2003.

Now the curious parts...

1. Tons of Plywood and 2 x 12 wood.

2. There is a ton of PVC, but there is also 1 length of 2" steel pipe...kinda odd for a low cost field. So it must be important.

3. There are 2 thicknesses of plywood. Thinking maybe the thicker plywood must have some sort of ability to hold multiple 130lb robots.


With the evidence involved, I have come to the conclusion that there is some form of either, A. Multilevel Platform, and 1 Goal on casters or B. A triangular Stairpuck and multiple PVC goals.

My reasoning for A would be due to the fact that there is so much lumber that some form of large structure is going to be on this field. With only 3 casters, it would be hard to make a structure that big work effectively on wheels, so they would have to be part of the goal(s). I would guess multiple goals, so I think the current BOM only shows the materials for 1.

My reasoning for B would be due to the fact that once again, there is alot of plywood and only 3 wheels for the whole playing field. The goal structures would be PVC to protect from long falls, though that would probably work in both cases. The steel bars would act similar to the original puck in 99.

Either way the game should be very interesting.

Good Luck,
Andy Grady

[dez250]

i wat to point out one thing. Like others have said this is a low cost BOM for the field. I believe personally that on the official FIRST field, some of that plywood will be another material. I remember last year on the "cheap" BOM for the field, tht stated you could use plywood in replace for the lexan and HDPE.
~Mike

[edit]look at the image of 5" wheel casters i found, and they are from skyway (a FIRST supplier from past years)!
The large Black one is the 5" caster, i cant find a price though to verify that this could be the "casters" for $22 each.

[MichalSkiba]

how about this:

The steel piping would require the robots to limbo under it to reach the ramp platform (3/4 ply wood). PVC guard rails as oppose to lexan and a massive amount of screw suggests a ramp.

?? Could the 3 casters be underneath the ramp (MOBLE RAMP ), and form only a fraction of the full size object, like a slice of pie?

Perhaps if the ramp is moble then the flanges would keep the piece of pie anchared. But then again, how can a robot push a massive structure with 5 inch casters that requires 3 632 grams (8 pounds) or screws?

[patrickrd]

Can anyone confirm whether the 5" casters are swivel casters (meaning they can point in any direction), or fixed wheels (such as the skyway ones mentioned above)? If they are fixed wheels (that can not rotate) then I think, given there are three, that it is definately something that rotates about a pivot point in the center, such as a carousel. The wheels would be tangent to the circle. I sure hope not, I really really hate carousels

But can you imagine robots fighting not to be thrown off a rotating carousel?

[Edit]I bet these wheels are swivel casters. McMaster #30305T14. 5" diameter, 2" thick. $21.78 each.[/Edit]

[JVN]

Originally Posted by Andy Grady

Lets look at the facts...

...

Either way the game should be very interesting.

I'm with Grady on this one.

We spent waaaaaaaaaay too much time this afternoon going over the list together (and we'll probably continue to do so all week long...)

Good Luck Guys, we'll find out Saturday.

John

PS - Aidan, happy now?

[Clark Gilbert]

Originally Posted by patrickrd

My initial thoughts are that there is a single, complicated moving object. There is a LOT of wood on the BOM, and the 5" diameter casters, those things are designed to support a lot of weight. I wouldn't be surprised to see a moving platform that robots can climb onto. This could be like 1999 (or maybe it is just wishful thinking). In any case I think the wood is probably for a rather complicated moving platform (let's call it the puck). Another possibility I thought of is stairs, judging by the quantity of the 2x4's and 2x6's. Maybe there are stairs in addition to the puck? What do you all think?

- Patrick

That's almost like what i was thinking, but then I thought...how much of this wood if for the actual field? and not the goals. I see a return of the puck.