Basic Tools for FTC and FRC

[treffk]

I found quite a few threads while searching about more of the advanced tools when looking for what basic tools a new team may need to build a kit bot. Not having spent much time actually building the robot while on a team, I'm a bit lost on what would be necessary.

If a rookie FRC team has $50 (if you go a bit over that is okay) to buy tools as they do not have any available to them to help them build their robot what would be the priority to be purchased?

I'm also curious about how this question would apply for FTC.

The list I came up with, with my little knowledge is this: Prices are all from Home Depot's website from items available in store.

• 42 Piece HDX Screwdriver Set - $9.88
• HDX 5 piece plier set - $10.97
• Husky Metric Short Arm Hex Key Set (10 piece) - $4.97
• HDX 10 piece Combination Wrench Set - $9.88
• Husky File Set 3 piece - $6.97
• HDX 12 foot measuring tape - $2.94
• Empire 9" Polycast topedo level in yellow - $0.98
• Workforce 10 oz Steel Rip hammer - $4.98

For a total of $51.57

Note: The screw driver set includes drill bits. The plier set includes needle nose pliers, diagonal cutting pliers, channel lock pliers, slip joint pliers and a crescent wrench.

[Mark McLeod]

Depends on what tools they can borrow from home too.

Other basic necessities:
- safety goggles
- hacksaw
- drill
- a clamp or two
- calipers
- small items like sharpies

I'd trade the hammer for a soft mallet

[Andrew Schreiber]

For FRC, the question you are asking needs to be: What does a team need to put together the KoP and get driving?

(Aside, this would be a great to have a list on the product page for the KoP Andy!) (Ok, there's a tool kit, but it was NOT easy to find, thanks Mark)

Wrenches (various sizes including at least one Metric wrench for the PDB*)
Hacksaw
Allen Keys
Wire Strippers
Wire Crimpers
Various Screwdrivers
Wago Tool
Ethernet Cable
Sharpies
Electrical Tape
Safety Glasses
Wire Connector Ring Terminals (wire to ESCs)
Plywood
Zipties
Wire (red and black)
Some method of labeling wires



* may change with the new PDB

I haven't sourced these but I feel like many folks have access to a lot of this already.

[Mark McLeod]

AndyMark AM14U Tools Kit (am-2830)

[AllenGregoryIV]

Here is what I would get with $50 and starting from completely nothing and none of the students had parents with anything.

Dollar Store (Dollar Tree, etc)
Allen Wrench Set SAE = $1 (I actually have been buying a bunch of these recently, I'd probably end up getting two of them for the team)
Vice Grips = $1

Home Depot
Hack Saw - $4 at Home Depot


Harbor Freight (for the free stuff watch for an Ad, they're free about every other month or so, SnipSnap is a smartphone app that always has the latest Harbor Freight Ads)
Tape Measure - Free
Multimeter - Free
Flashlight - Free
File Set - $7

Target
Corded Drill - $18 at Target

Walmart
Socket and Bit Set - $9 or something similar
Drill Bit Set - $13

That's pretty close to the $50 and you could scale down some of the stuff.

[nicholsjj]

$50.00 is very low compared to team registration fees so I'm going to cheat a bit and add a $50 grandmother donation. I'm looking more at the FTC/VRC type builds as the listed AM tool kit is a really nice example for FRC. I agree that getting 5 sets of Allen wrenchs is very important (we go through about a set a year). $5. I believe that we use our Jigsaw( $30) and cordless drill( $40) more than any tools during the year. Add in a tape measure (~$5), engineering notebook ($10), and sharpies ($10) and I believe I have to skip lunch for a week to afford drill bits and jigsaw blades.

[treffk]

Originally Posted by nicholsjj

$50.00 is very low compared to team registration fees so I'm going to cheat a bit and add a $50 grandmother donation. I'm looking more at the FTC/VRC type builds as the listed AM tool kit is a really nice example for FRC. I agree that getting 5 sets of Allen wrenchs is very important (we go through about a set a year). $5. I believe that we use our Jigsaw( $30) and cordless drill( $40) more than any tools during the year. Add in a tape measure (~$5), engineering notebook ($10), and sharpies ($10) and I believe I have to skip lunch for a week to afford drill bits and jigsaw blades.

You are right $50 is pretty low but I have known teams to come to an FRC competition with their robot still in boxes with very few tools as they couldn't get any outside support besides one non-technical mentor. I chose the $50 amount based on the fact Home Depot and Wal-Mart can give gift cards of up to this value without contacting corporate.

[Mark McLeod]

Andrew alluded to the tools that will be needed with the new 2015 Control system, so as the Beta system now stands:

PDP (Power Distribution Panel)-

• 2mm metric allen key to remove the cover over the input power feeds.
• 5mm metric allen key to attach the input power feeds
• Wire strippers
• 16-18 AWG wire for the CAN/PCM/VRM/roboRIO feeds
• The 6 AWG connectors must be the right size (to fit inside the protective cover) and you must have a correct crimper (CTRE recommended this swedge tool: http://www.cableyard.com/LENCO-Swedg-On-Tool_p_29.htm) to attach them, or purchase premade ones from places like AndyMark.

roboRIO-

• Fine tipped screwdriver (not usually found in a bulk screwdriver set) to use with the 4 screws in the power connector (same one as the old cRIO 4-slot uses).

PCM (Pneumatics Control Module)-

• Tweezers to change the jumper from 12v to 24v solenoids

The VRM (Voltage Regulator Module) just needs wire strippers.

[Ian Curtis]

Anything you could pay full price for at a hardware store can be sourced much cheaper from a local garage (with permission!) or Craigslist. I know spending school money through Craigslist can be impossible, but if you have access to cash, it is really easy to save big on quality stuff.