Shop Space and Spare Parts in VA Needed

[Mr. 1033]

All,

FRC Team 1033 is in desperate need of help. The school we worked with decided to not fund or allow us to use our space or parts from past seasons.

We received a grant and I personally have donated the remaining money needed to allow our team of 10 girls to participate in this year's season.

Come Saturday, we will start our season with only a veteran's kit and no shop to build in.

If anyone here knows any possible contacts for shop space/tools in Richmond, and or can let us borrow parts until the end of the season please send me an email at paulelathrop@gmail.com.

The school does plan to start again next year but this year we are on our own unfortunately.

I thank you all for reading and assure you that the girls and I and very excited for Saturday!

Thanks,

Paul E. Lathrop

[Sperkowsky]

I doubt that I could convince my mentor to give you "Free" spare parts. But, we can give you stuff for a very very reduced price. Please PM me with stuff you need and I can see what we can do.

[protoserge]

Also contact FIRST / FIRST Chesapeake and make them aware of your issues. There are some FIRST hardship grants to help teams out in bad situations.

[mrmummert]

Hello...

Luckly your in Richmond. There are a lot of local teams in your area (like 384,422,1086,etc.) that might be able to help out. Also Richmond has a lot of buildings that have a lot of empty space...but that's a different story.

Anyway besides First Chesapeake don't forget to contact Virginia First.
The best two people I'd say to contact would be Sally Sylvester (who is local in Richmond and is the Virginia First FRC director) or Kevin Pardus (Virginia First senior mentor also a mentor for team 2890 in Chesapeake) Both their
e-mails are on the Va. First site under staff listings.

It would also help if you let people know what parts you might be looking for.
I don't know what spare parts we have we could spare (I'm with team 1610 down in Franklin) but knowing what you have or don't have would help. Space and tools you need now. Parts....you might want to see what game we're playing and what your team wants to build to determine what parts you'll need. Also if you can't access your old ones your gonna need
a Roborio and a programming/drivers station lap top, joy sticks/game pads, batteries/chargers...etc. Try to recontact the school and impress on them that you really really need access to that stuff.

[PayneTrain]

Originally Posted by mrmummert

Hello...

Luckly your in Richmond. There are a lot of local teams in your area (like 384,422,1086,etc.) that might be able to help out. Also Richmond has a lot of buildings that have a lot of empty space...but that's a different story.

Anyway besides First Chesapeake don't forget to contact Virginia First.
The best two people I'd say to contact would be Sally Sylvester (who is local in Richmond and is the Virginia First FRC director) or Kevin Pardus (Virginia First senior mentor also a mentor for team 2890 in Chesapeake) Both their
e-mails are on the Va. First site under staff listings.

It would also help if you let people know what parts you might be looking for.
I don't know what spare parts we have we could spare (I'm with team 1610 down in Franklin) but knowing what you have or don't have would help. Space and tools you need now. Parts....you might want to see what game we're playing and what your team wants to build to determine what parts you'll need. Also if you can't access your old ones your gonna need
a Roborio and a programming/drivers station lap top, joy sticks/game pads, batteries/chargers...etc. Try to recontact the school and impress on them that you really really need access to that stuff.

Yeah, I emailed him.

[GreyingJay]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

I doubt that I could convince my mentor to give you "Free" spare parts. But, we can give you stuff for a very very reduced price. Please PM me with stuff you need and I can see what we can do.

I still appreciate that you offered to help my team when we started afresh. Luckily, things have gone fairly well with fundraising and sponsorship. We are not swimming in cash, we can't afford to buy tools (everything is donated or borrowed) and we're not sure yet if we can afford the parts for a practice robot. But, we will get by!

Our build space this year is a storage cage behind a gym. The cages next to ours are filled with volleyballs and other sports equipment. The cage is even smaller than a typical FRC pit, measuring about 6.5' by 9'. But, it's our home for this build season. We are allowed to spill into the hallway but we have to be wary of people using the gym and coming back there to grab sports equipment.

It's going to be a challenge. But we're excited!

[wilsonmw04]

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

Yeah, I emailed him.

Same.

[346CADmen]

Team 346 may be able to help you out.
Do you have a place to see kick-off.
We work out of LC Bird in Chesterfield, may be able to assist in space.
Will contact via email to confirm.

[PayneTrain]

Originally Posted by wilsonmw04

Same.

Has he gotten back to you?

[Mr. 1033]

Hey Everyone,

I think I have responded to everyone. Sorry for the delay. The outpouring of support is truly amazing and representative of the FIRST set of programs.

We will be at kickoff at VCU tomorrow and will head to a parent's house to do inventory and discuss the season.

Thanks to you and the community, we have several leads on space that the team and I will discuss tomorrow (Just need to make sure we can get there with transportation).

In terms of tools, the only tools the team has currently is the equivalent to a starting tool kit from Target (the tools in my apartment). Many of the options for space have included their tool usage. I foresee us purchasing a few key tools but overall feel ok about tools now at this time.

Which takes us to parts....
The team, and each of the 13 years I have been a part of FIRST have been blessed and able to purchase parts from AndyMark etc to make our builds as easy as possible. Although I am terrified about the change in team dynamic, I believe this may be a way for us to think innovatively and use interesting materials for the build.

I am praying, literally, that the veteran kop will contain the needed electronics for the season. If not, I think motor controllers will be the biggest issue for us as a team has already said we could borrow their extra robotrio etc. Does anyone know if this is typically in the kop for veterans? I haven't been a rookie in 13 years and can recall what the differences in the kop are.

In terms of other parts, cims, gearboxes, 1/4 bolts+ nuts and aluminum are what I think we could be looking for. I guess we will all have a better idea come tomorrow.

Again, I cannot thank each of you who responded as well as those who simply took time out of their day to read this thread.

I will update everyone as I get more information.

Thanks,

Paul

[PayneTrain]

Paul, the kit this year will not have any of the core 4 control system parts in the tote, as confirmed through FIRST Choice. While not as obvious right now, there will probably be no motor controllers in the kit either.

I'm expecting you will get a total of 4CIMs in the kit, between the tote and the kitbit.

If you have not gone through FIRST Choice yet, I have some suggestions on what you could select. You also have a variety of PDVs in TIMS beside FC, including the CTRE PDV, which can net you 3 Victor SP motor controllers.

Don't worry about parts.

[ARGSJasonTaylor]

Sorry that I am getting to this so late. Do you still need help? We don't have a ton, but could likely help out with some parts. If you don't mind coming down to Petersburg, I have a full shop in my classroom with a bandsaw, drill press, milling machine and metal lathe. If you have any specific needs, shoot me an email and I will see what I can come up with for you. We have been blessed with some very generous donors and sponsors.

Jason Taylor
jtaylor@args.us
Team 5546: A.R.T.

[Justin Montois]

Originally Posted by ARGSJasonTaylor

Sorry that I am getting to this so late...

Same. Let me know if you need anything. We'll be happy to help.

jmontois340@gmail.com