Rookie Team Shopping List

[Jacob Bendicksen]

Some other miscellaneous things...

Buttons! Many FRC teams give away buttons at the events that they attend, as it's a common way to get a souvenir from each team at the event. Order them or make your own - it just comes down to whether you want to pay a little more, or occupy some freshmen for a week.

Zipties - you can never have too many zipties. In as many lengths as possible. In as many places as possible.

Velcro - this helps immensely with holding electrical components down. Alternatively, you can ziptie them down, but velcro holds well and is quickly removable.

80/20 - we're fans of using 80/20 for prototyping. It's quickly adjustable and just about universal in compatibility. You can use it on your competition robot, but it's significantly heavier than other options (quickframe, 1x1, 2x1, etc.), so it might be better utilized in prototype mechanisms.

Motors - the most common motor in FRC is the CIM motor. It's available on AndyMark, and most other FIRST vendors. CIMs are great for drive bases and high-output applications, but if you need something smaller, mini-CIMs, AndyMark motors, and BaneBots motors, among others, are good options, as well.

Some sort of informational handout - as a PR guy, I can't stress this enough. It's fantastic to be able to have something to hand judges/potential sponsors/nice people that come by your pit. It'll give them something to remember your team by, beyond just a button, and it can also provide contact information, should they be interested in a partnership (or giving you an award).

Good luck! If you have any questions about PR stuff (or other stuff, for that matter), PM me.

[Nemo]

My suggestions:

Pick 2-3 fastener sizes and get a good selection of them including various screw lengths plus plenty of nuts and washers. As you know, I like 1/4-20, 10-32, and 8-32.

A selection of VersaPlanetary stuff is very nice to have. It is pricey to buy a pile of them and figure out what you'll use later, but you could always grab a couple of 1/2" Hex base sets plus a few gearing stages. But it might be wise to wait and see for potential upgrades to those products.

The wire we've used is "Machine Tool Wire" from McMaster. It is very nice, flexible wire. Get one big spool of red and black in 12 gauge and you're set for years. (source: Big Al). Costs something like $100 per 500 ft spool.

Dark Soul Chain Tool: don't forget to order one of these if you're going to use #25 chain.

The raw materials I especially suggest having around would be some 1/8" aluminum plate, 1x1 aluminum square tube, 1x2 aluminum rectangular tube, and a sheet of 1/16" or so polycarbonate. We get our polycarbonate for about $50 per 4'x8' sheet from a local supplier (Cope Plastics), which is much cheaper than buying little chunks at retail prices.

3/4" Plywood for bumpers; fabric for bumpers; pool noodles for bumpers

Be prepared to buy lumber for field elements, but wait and see what the game requires. Just set aside a couple hundred bucks for that expense.

Wired X-Box controllers

Laptop for programming and driver's station

1/2" hex stuff: hex stock, hex bearings, hex spacers, hex hubs, hex collars

[adciv]

Originally Posted by Nemo

Laptop for programming and driver's station

I would like to emphasize this. The Rookie KOP comes with a Classmate driver's station but I very much dislike it. I replaced ours a few years ago and we haven't looked back. I fully recommend not using it except in an emergency. From our experience, even a $300 laptop is superior to the Classmate for programming and as a Driver's Station.

Other than that, it's going to depend on your budget.
Anderson Power Pole Connectors (see mouser)
Proper Crimping Tools (See powerwerx)
ZipCord wire (Example, cheaper sources are out there)
For very neat wiring and you can buy 4 conductor 22 AWG Belden Wire from Mouser.
About 6 extra batteries (make sure you buy the correct part numbers)
2x Triple 6A chargers (From Andymark)

I should post our suppliers somewhere.

[AllenGregoryIV]

For battery chargers we don't use the Andymark ones because we find they are too expensive.

For a long time we have been using these chargers, they are similar to the kit of parts chargers but a little smaller and normally a bit cheaper. We've bought them for as low as $23.

http://www.amazon.com/Raider-AA-023-.../dp/B003Y3UFMS

This summer we purchased one of these that can trickle charge up to four batteries at a time with an adapter. We've been using it in our shop and haven't had any problems yet. We'll be doing some testing soon.