FRC Blogged - An Early Option

[thefro526]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

I'm a little confused as to how FIRST expects teams to be ready to order parts before knowing what their robot is going to even roughly look like. Won't this just encourage people to start "pre-building"?

Chris, I think you're underestimating the magnitude of what's going on here.

Sure, FIRST isn't telling us the game objective and they're not releasing the entire KOP. Yes, it may cause teams to pre-build and perhaps waste a bunch of time with a system - but I believe these teams will know the risk they are taking when they decide to pre-build.

But in reality, this is nothing but a good thing - IMO. At least now we'll know what speed controllers are legal, some of the legal motors, and I'm sure a bunch of other handy parts as well. Look at the motors specifically, if there are a bunch of 500-series motors in the KOP again, now a team can purchase low risk (often the most used and often out of stock) parts like pinion gears, small reduction transmissions, etc. In the case of speed controllers, this is a perfect opportunity for a team to say "Well, the 884, the Jaguar, XXXX and ZZZZ are legal this year. We need some new speed controllers, so let's look at our options now and stock up."

The software is really neat too, having it available ~4 weeks prior to Kick-Off gives teams more than enough time to upgrade their software and get accustomed to it - instead of having to do it in week one or two of build.

Needless to say, I'm really happy about this. I think it's a big step in the right direction.

[MichaelBick]

Sorry for repeating a question if it was already askedu. Do we know if items bought with the voucher will be considered KOP?

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by MICHAELABICK

Sorry for repeating a question if it was already askedu. Do we know if items bought with the voucher will be considered KOP?

2013 rules will decide this for sure, but the 2012 manual says:

[R10]
The Kit of Parts (KOP) is the collection of items obtained via any of the following KOP channels:
Via the Kickoff Kit (items are listed in the 2012 Kickoff Kit Checklist),
Via the Virtual Kit (details on the Kit of Parts website),
and via FIRST Choice.

The Virtual Kit was defined on the FIRST website as:

Virtual Kit – these items are available to teams directly from the supplier either via download or custom order. The list of participating suppliers includes:
Product Donation Vouchers
-Automotive Recyclers Association - use your PDV to get additional motors for your robot
-BaneBots - use your team's code in TIMS to get BaneBots items
-DigiKey - use your PDV to get DigiKey parts
-Inventables - use your PDV to get Inventables parts
Other Free Parts
-Bimba - select up to three pneumatic cylinders using Bimba’s custom order form.
-Gates - request additional free Gates components here.
Software Downloads
-Altium Designer – board design software
-Autodesk – CAD tools (their Kickoff Kit CAD files are available here)
-PTC – CAD tools (their Kickoff Kit CAD files are available here)
-Diamond Bullet Studios - A simulation of the 2012 FRC Game available to all FRC teams.