First Choice

[Chexposito]

i found the pneumatic muscles interesting, but that's just me. i don't remember if they were legal or not before now, but the availability of them is what caught my eye. everything else seems normal, including the linear stuff, we actually used the bearings by bwc (the double v bearings) for a crab/swerve drive.

[PAR_WIG1350]

Originally Posted by Chexposito

i found the pneumatic muscles interesting, but that's just me. i don't remember if they were legal or not before now, but the availability of them is what caught my eye. everything else seems normal, including the linear stuff, we actually used the bearings by bwc (the double v bearings) for a crab/swerve drive.

The pneumatic muscles were available from FIRST choice last year as well.

[ratdude747]

Originally Posted by Ninja_Bait

That means that game-specific parts aren't really likely to appear on FIRST Choice, because everyone will need them; they'll instead be in the regular KOP. FIRST Choice is more like our run-of-the-mill KOP stuff that FIRST felt wasn't worth sending to everyone. They either wanted to add it to the KOP and decided it was too specialized, or they had been putting it in the KOP and seeing a general disuse of the item.

i'd disagree somewhat... what if they are EXTRA game pices? kinda how the kit came with 3 tubes last year, they could have included in FC extra tubes and uber tubes...

[joe5joe7]

Does anyone have any ideas about why they're offering a control station box? Have they offered this in years past?

This could be a possible element for controlling a mini-bot, or to be used in autonomous like that one year that I can't remember off the top of my head...

[EricH]

Originally Posted by joe5joe7

Does anyone have any ideas about why they're offering a control station box? Have they offered this in years past?

This could be a possible element for controlling a mini-bot, or to be used in autonomous like that one year that I can't remember off the top of my head...

2008, when teams supplied their own IR remote and Game Hint #1 was the receiver.

No, it hasn't been offered previously. But, there are a number of possible uses, and many teams build a button box for their control station.

[Ernst]

Originally Posted by joe5joe7

Does anyone have any ideas about why they're offering a control station box? Have they offered this in years past?

This could be a possible element for controlling a mini-bot, or to be used in autonomous like that one year that I can't remember off the top of my head...

My idea: We have to mount them on our robots and members of the opposing alliance must use them to turn our robots off. Members of our alliance must then turn us back on.

Here's a link of a nearly identical (different colored buttons) button box:
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/SCH...-Station-6HK27
Perhaps it's an alternative to the STOP button on the Driver Station that must be held by the Drive Coach? Who knows.

What I'm more worried about are the 11 different items that will be released later. 11 different items that would give away part of the game? 11 game pieces? 11 field elements? Does that seem like a lot to anyone else?

[Christopher149]

Originally Posted by ZehP

What I'm more worried about are the 11 different items that will be released later. 11 different items that would give away part of the game? 11 game pieces? 11 field elements? Does that seem like a lot to anyone else?

Does it make a difference that 9 are parts and 2 are products?

[alectronic]

Originally Posted by joe5joe7

Does anyone have any ideas about why they're offering a control station box? Have they offered this in years past?

Like Eric said, it has not been offered before. But I don't think it is worth reading into. I think this is simply a replacement as a more durable enable/disable switch or on/off for the robot status during testing purposes. But I could be wrong!

[Flalex72]

Has anybody heard about how many credits we get or how much stuff will cost? I thought that would be released today. It's getting close to opening for teams to make decisions.

[Cw1671]

i was wondering how many parts we were able to get from Andymark for free?

[Jim Wilks]

I guess I'm not alone in wondering how much "cash" I get and what things "cost"???

[Bob Steele]

It was stated on the blog that the number of credits would be given at Kickoff.
I did not see it... I guess we still need to see what the
"CREDIT AMOUNT" is... We can't really even tell how many credits any items "cost" on the FIRST CHOICE site yet...

Has any one else seen more?

First Choice Parts ordering is supposed to start in about 7 hours...

????

[treffk]

I was wondering about the credits myself and just stumbled upon this http://www.andymark.com/v/FIRSTChoiceFAQ.html

This is copied directly from that link.

What is a FIRST Credit and how many do I get?
A FIRST Credit is a made up value based on the number of teams, and quantity of parts available. The number of FIRST Credits available to all teams and the FIRST Credit value of each item might be revealed during kickoff, or you may just have to wait until you login for the first time. Each team will get the same number of FIRST Credits. But if you watch the video closely, you'll see the point value of parts, and I'll give you a hint, you get 100 Credits to start!

[Mark McLeod]

Here are the credit values of each item.