FRC Blog - Get Ready to Make FIRST Choices

[PayneTrain]

I hope teams who didn't get a PDP in FIRST Choice did so knowing they would not receive one in the tote this year.

[Sperkowsky]

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

I hope teams who didn't get a PDP in FIRST Choice did so knowing they would not receive one in the tote this year.

Any team pre 2014 probably understands you don't get the control system in the KOP.

But rookie teams from the 2014 and 2015 may very well not understand.

Our team personally only use fc credits on the PDB. We purchased the VRM, and Robo Rio separately.

One thing I wish they had this year in FC was the new radio. Would have been nice to have a spare without having to spend money on it.

[PayneTrain]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

Any team pre 2014 probably understands you don't get the control system in the KOP.

I have been in FRC 8 years and this is the first year we will not have a power distribution board of any kind in the kit since i joined. Unless I dreamed the last few years, I'm pretty sure every team got the Blue NI PDB in the kickoff tote every year until 2015, when we switched to the black CTRE PDP. This year, non rookie teams will not have a new one in their physical kit.

[Chief Hedgehog]

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

I have been in FRC 8 years and this is the first year we will not have a power distribution board of any kind in the kit since i joined. Unless I dreamed the last few years, I'm pretty sure every team got the Blue NI PDB in the kickoff tote every year until 2015, when we switched to the black CTRE PDP. This year, non rookie teams will not have a new one in their physical kit.

Not really happy about not getting a PDP in the KOP, but I understand. As FRC continues to grow, the KOP will continually get smaller. The growth of FRC teams will put pressure on teams to do 'more with less'. It is a downside of FRC growing so dramatically.

I guess that means teams' marketing/PR squads will become more valuable as they service the team's sponsors.

[GreyingJay]

What were teams doing with a new PDP every year (but none of the rest)? Move the Rio but leave everything else?

[Christopher149]

Originally Posted by GreyingJay

What were teams doing with a new PDP every year (but none of the rest)? Move the Rio but leave everything else?

With a new PDP and digital sidecar? Cluttering up our space - we should have at least 6 each, with only two each actually on robots.

[Wetzel]

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

I hope teams who didn't get a PDP in FIRST Choice did so knowing they would not receive one in the tote this year.

I missed that this was happening, but fortunately we got one in FIRST Choice anyways.

[Libby K]

Originally Posted by GreyingJay

What were teams doing with a new PDP every year (but none of the rest)? Move the Rio but leave everything else?

I know for some of our robots, control systems are still on (and ...well, mostly functional...) we use our 2013 & 2014 robots for demonstrations all the time.

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by GreyingJay

What were teams doing with a new PDP every year (but none of the rest)? Move the Rio but leave everything else?

Basically, yes. We had a few spares, so we could keep several robots functional at once. We would just move the 4-slot cRio to the new robot every year and make room for a 6-slot if we wanted to keep the robot up and running. It was pretty nice, because you didn't have to mess with too many wires or plugs - disconnect power, Ethernet, the cable to the sidecar, and any breakout boards and your set. Then that stuff plugs into the replacement easily enough without having to worry about screwing up port numbers. It's not that easy with the roborio, though.

[GeeTwo]

Originally Posted by GreyingJay

What were teams doing with a new PDP every year (but none of the rest)? Move the Rio but leave everything else?

Our air cannon outgrew the 4-breaker maxi block and automotive accessory fuse panel we had been using, so we upgraded it with an old PDP. It has an arduino brain, so we didn't need the RIO or sidecar.

[ahartnet]

Originally Posted by GreyingJay

What were teams doing with a new PDP every year (but none of the rest)? Move the Rio but leave everything else?

I would suspect it'd go one of a few ways:
1) Keep previous years robots intact for demonstration (or showcase). This is what I hope to do with Pearadox, and will drive me to continue to purchase a new PDP every year that it doesn't come in the kit. It's really neat seeing the progression of some teams for low/middle of the pack end robots to top-tier, or if they're an old team that's been successful for a long time what a top-notch team in 2005 looks like compared to a top-notch team in 2015. It also gives newer students a first-hand, up-close look at past solutions to problems.
2) The old PDPs had a metric screw and I know we occasionally had students try to force a 1/4-20 nut on it (or maybe I have that backwards...I already can't remember) and it could cause the bolts to sheer off. We occasionally need a replacement part.
3) side projects, such as a t-shirt cannon.

[Christopher149]

The stud on the old PD board was metric.

[Mark McLeod]

Originally Posted by Aren Siekmeier

I'm also curious how much stuff doesn't get claimed each year. I suppose it simply gets added to the next year's inventory. Perhaps they give out more FIRST Choice credits than they have stuff, knowing they won't be used?

Since no one else wants to do the math...

The quantities and credit values represented in round 1 of FIRST Choice

• 2,038,160 Max round 1 credits (quantity available * credits per item)
• 3396 = number of teams those credits would be equivalent to (Max round 1 credits / 600 credits per team)
• 1,896,000 Max team credit (600 credits * 3170 teams)
• 948,000 credits were in play (50% of teams participated so 1,896,000 * 50% equal to less than half the available items)

So there must be left over items.

[rsisk]

FIRST Choice goodies arrived from Andymark today 12/12! Nice fast shipping from our pals at Andymark!

[Ari423]

Originally Posted by rsisk

FIRST Choice goodies arrived from Andymark today 12/12! Nice fast shipping from our pals at Andymark!

We got ours at 4:00 on Friday, which is really fast delivery! I wasn't expecting them until mid-this week. I hope this trend continues into the build season.