Competition Equipment

[maclaren]

Another sucessful year of competition over and now one to start preparing for.

Regionals went fine but there was some turmoil that I feel lead to inefficencies and lost time. Our work area was cluttered and disorganized, it was very hard to find tools when you needed them and once used they disappeared.

So this brings me to my question, which is:

-First what is your team #, name, years of participation, and what regionals did you attend?

Team#: 997
Team name: Zipties and Electrical tape
Years of participation: 2
Regionals event: Seattle, WA.

-What tools other than the items on the prescribed list did your team bring to your regionals?

Our team brought a small drill press, equiped with a cross slide table, a good vise, a sawzall, a close quarters drill, and a vise brake for bending sheet metal.

-What computer did your team bring for programming, if any?

We brought a desktop and a laptop. The desktops power kept getting unplugged which made the programmers very angry.

-What organization system did your team employ to keep clutter to a minimum?

We brought the plastic totes that were generically labeled only on the lid, which is a problem when you don't know where the fasteners tote is and you have to lift all the tote in the stack to find it. We also brought a couple of small tool boxes which tools were simply thrown into.

-What did your team use to transport your robot to the playing field? and how effective was it?

We brought a metal cart with three shelves. The robot sat on top and assorted tools, odds and ends, nuts and bolts, and raw materials were strewn on them. The cart also had a power strip bolted to one end. It was wholely inadaqute. the power strip kept getting unplugged, tools were lost on the cart, it was a mess.

-What goodies did you bring to pass out to other teams?

We prodced plastic injection molded keychains with our team # and school name on them.

-What are you hope to do next year to make your pit area and regionals experience better?

Next year I hope to bring a minature band saw, a better vise, and cordless drills and a cordless sawzall. Better organization is a must including part bins, tool belts, and colorcoded and clearly labeled bins. For programmers a dedicated laptop, an UPS for the desktop, and a stool for the desktop user. Possibly tool belts for the mechanical team so that tools are at hand and not lost.