pic: Suitcase Bot

[Tom Ore]

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[CENTURION]

That's awesome!

Looks like a bit of a pain to carry though.

Maybe you could integrate a detachable handle and wheels so it can be rolled like a suitcase?

[CalTran]

Originally Posted by CENTURION

That's awesome!

Looks like a bit of a pain to carry though.

Maybe you could integrate a detachable handle and wheels so it can be rolled like a suitcase?

Looks like it's already got a handle, so I dunno how much of a hassle it would be to carry. Given that it's only a drive base, and I'm guessing it travels sans-battery, it'd only weight 20-30lbs. Somewhat carryable, but probably hurts to carry by just that aluminum tubing!

[Tom Ore]

I haven't looked around yet, but I was hoping to find a suitcase with wheels I can pack it in. I'd pack the spare parts and tools with it also.

[DampRobot]

Just a top, making the handle out of round tubing makes things a lot more comfortable to carry.

Also, keep in mind that this thing will have to go through airport security, so you might want to consider mailing it to your destination rather than bringing it on the plane.

[AllenGregoryIV]

Very cool, but I'm actually more interested in the details of the Mentor Workshop in China. Do you know how many teams will be represented? Which teams? We have several teams from China coming to TX regionals but haven't heard much about how they are being supported.

[Tom Ore]

Originally Posted by AllenGregoryIV

Very cool, but I'm actually more interested in the details of the Mentor Workshop in China. Do you know how many teams will be represented? Which teams? We have several teams from China coming to TX regionals but haven't heard much about how they are being supported.

I don't have a list of the teams that will be there, but I'd expect most of the China teams that have registered already or started the registration process.

We talked last week about coming to Hub City as a third regional to help support the China teams. It gets a bit tricky, because the team is only allowed two out of state trips a year (champs is an exception.) We talked about having each student only go to 2 of the 3 regionals - so we'd need 2 drive teams. I don't know if that is going to work. Regardless, we'll probably have 2 or 3 mentors make the trip to help support the China teams if 525 can't compete there.

[BBray_T1296]

Originally Posted by Tom Ore

There's a business man in China driving the effort. We (FRC 525) met him in 2012 at champs and he was interested in starting FRC teams. One of our parents (who's from China) has kept in contact with him since. The business man was back in St. Louis at champs this year. He brought a cameraman and filmed in our pit for about 2 1/2 hours. He interviewed a couple of our mandarin speaking students for a special to be broadcast in China to attract schools that might be interested. (I never heard how that turned out, but he did attract schools from all over China.)

3 mentors from FRC 525 (myself included), 1 mentor from FTC 6420 and a student that graduated last year from our team are going to China to conduct a three day mentor workshop. (We leave on the Dec 22nd and get back on the 28th.) The workshop will be held at the school that competed last year.

From the "Registration 2014" thread

[Michael Hill]

Just a suggestion...you MIGHT want to check that if flying

You'd get quite a few looks from the TSA

[BBray_T1296]

Originally Posted by Michael Hill

Just a suggestion...you MIGHT want to check that if flying

You'd get quite a few looks from the TSA

And be careful when trying to ship batteries. We were on an alliance with a Brazilian team, who was not allowed to ship their batteries to the USA in any way. Luckily 148 was very generous and lent them enough for the weekend.

[Rebka]

How much does the bot weigh? My experience is that FRC robots are generally quite heavy.

The workshop in China sounds really cool. You'll have to let us all know how it goes.

And I'm really sorry but I find humour in the thought of putting a FRC robot in a suitcase.

I just looked at the pic again. So you can swap out the two different types of wheels? That is AWESOME.

[BBray_T1296]

Originally Posted by Rebka

And I'm really sorry but I find humour in the thought of putting a FRC robot in a suitcase.

Reminds me of a trip I took. We were on a charter bus for 22 hours, and there were no power outlets on the bus full of teenaged kids.

Boy was I the hero when I pulled a battery and power inverter out of my suitcase 2/3 of the way there, after everyone's phones had died

[Coach Norm]

Best of luck to you guys. We are competing with some of the teams from China as well. In addition, there were a few teams and representatives at the Asia Pacific Invitational this summer in Australia. If we can help out in anyway, let us know.

We shipped FTC robots and parts over this summer for the Asia Pacific Invitational. We specifically made a wood crate for one FTC Robot and packed the crate with expanding foam to match the robot. We also took components over in a large aluminum sided suitcase that was packed with the expanding foam around the parts. We checked the crate but made it so that it could be opened to be examined. We included zipties to be used to close the crate back up after inspection by security.

[yash101]

Whenever I go on trips, I pack my AGM battery, a boost converter, my laptop, and my broken iPod with a magnet on it's back. When it's dark, I just pull out the iPod, stick it to the bus's steel ceiling and turn it on to full brightness! I then have tons of light. Meanwhile, I can surf the inet on my computer by tethering my phone! I am the Savvy Traveler!

Originally Posted by BBray_T1296

Reminds me of a trip I took. We were on a charter bus for 22 hours, and there were no power outlets on the bus full of teenaged kids.

Boy was I the hero when I pulled a battery and power inverter out of my suitcase 2/3 of the way there, after everyone's phones had died

I am pretty sure that everyone eyed you with envy and the want to jack the battery and inverter from you when not looking! The sad thing is that this is no use on a plane.

Is it possible to apply for a TSA permit/license/background check or something else to allow a robot like this aboard a plane?

[orangemoore]

I checked the TSA list of special items and for some weird reason Robots did not come up. I guess a robot isn't special.