Low Cost Field BOM

[dez250]

i wat to point out one thing. Like others have said this is a low cost BOM for the field. I believe personally that on the official FIRST field, some of that plywood will be another material. I remember last year on the "cheap" BOM for the field, tht stated you could use plywood in replace for the lexan and HDPE.
~Mike

[edit]look at the image of 5" wheel casters i found, and they are from skyway (a FIRST supplier from past years)!
The large Black one is the 5" caster, i cant find a price though to verify that this could be the "casters" for $22 each.

[SarahB]

Originally Posted by SuperDanman

Good point. On the other hand, steel pipe is also on the list... if they felt it was necessary for steel piping in one place, I'd think they'd have steel piping for all the places its necessary. Unless its something crazy like they expect contact with the 3" piping, but less contact than is needed for the 2" piping... I wish I knew.

Maybe the steel part is just for the most critical part that could be damaged by normal practice while the PVC is for less critical parts. For example, if there were posts around a puck-like piece as some people have suggested, one piece could be made from the steel so that a team could practice pulling themselves up while the others are just there as dummy pieces to represent other steel bars. Or something else could be done with the metal for the most load baring parts while the rest are PVC to represent the rest of the steel on the actual piece.

[MichalSkiba]

how about this:

The steel piping would require the robots to limbo under it to reach the ramp platform (3/4 ply wood). PVC guard rails as oppose to lexan and a massive amount of screw suggests a ramp.

?? Could the 3 casters be underneath the ramp (MOBLE RAMP ), and form only a fraction of the full size object, like a slice of pie?

Perhaps if the ramp is moble then the flanges would keep the piece of pie anchared. But then again, how can a robot push a massive structure with 5 inch casters that requires 3 632 grams (8 pounds) or screws?

[patrickrd]

Can anyone confirm whether the 5" casters are swivel casters (meaning they can point in any direction), or fixed wheels (such as the skyway ones mentioned above)? If they are fixed wheels (that can not rotate) then I think, given there are three, that it is definately something that rotates about a pivot point in the center, such as a carousel. The wheels would be tangent to the circle. I sure hope not, I really really hate carousels

But can you imagine robots fighting not to be thrown off a rotating carousel?

[Edit]I bet these wheels are swivel casters. McMaster #30305T14. 5" diameter, 2" thick. $21.78 each.[/Edit]

[JVN]

Originally Posted by Andy Grady

Lets look at the facts...

...

Either way the game should be very interesting.

I'm with Grady on this one.

We spent waaaaaaaaaay too much time this afternoon going over the list together (and we'll probably continue to do so all week long...)

Good Luck Guys, we'll find out Saturday.

John

PS - Aidan, happy now?

[Raul]

OK, I studied the list a bit better now. Here is what puzzles me the most:

How do you mount the 3 casters??
There are only 8 carriage bolts, you would need 12 to mount the casters. And they are too long anyway. There are only 2 hex bolts - maybe it was a mis-print and it should be 12 not 2?? But 3/8" bolts seem about the right size for this size caster.

What are the 3/4" deck screws used for??
What could you possible hold with 3/4" deck screws other than maybe some carpet?

Here is another clue - they are not specifying the caster part number. This means that the height or strength of the caster is not super important.

[team222badbrad]

Whatever the goal/field object I think is triangular. 3 casters in each corner and the 3/4 plywood is probably for the base.

I also noticed a mistake on the BOM... It lists 2x4x8 twice on the list. One has the quantity of 5 and the other is 1. Since the lumber dimensions are listed in order from least to greatest, the other dimension should probably be 2x8x8.

I am almost positive all this stuff makes up several different parts of the field, not just one. I mean how could 3 casters support all this weight, unless the casters are used for something totally different......

Bad Brad

[sanddrag]

I think the key to figuring this out will be to determine just what the two lonely 1/4"-20 hex bolts and nuts are used for.

[Joe Matt]

Three ideas:

1.) Having a moving gate to get across the field.
2.) A spinning door, like the ones they have in hotels. There are three parts to the circle and it spins to let robots through.
3.) LOTS OF BLUE MAN INSTRUMENTS!

[team222badbrad]

The key to completing the field object is to find a person who is going to install all 8 pounds of 2-1/2" Deck Screws...

[Ryan Foley]

Originally Posted by JosephM

Three ideas:

1.) Having a moving gate to get across the field.

hm, maybe he's onto something. A sliding gate as a midfield barrier. That could be interesting.

now, just like typical games, all our guesses about some rotating object will be wrong and the use for the casters will be something we never even thought of.

but just to combine the popular guesses, the field will include a rotating 3 sided staircase (so a pyramid of stairs). I think it would be fun.

[DanL]

Originally Posted by JosephM

3.) LOTS OF BLUE MAN INSTRUMENTS!

....
I love you.

+rep

[Kevin Kolodziej]

At first I thought the 7 sheets of plywood would be for the outside walls..driver stations...to be replaced by diamond plate. But why 7? You only need 6 for those. That would also account for some of the lumber because of the shelves. But unless they are suggesting you build the field boarders with PVC, I don't think those are for the outside walls. Besides...there are no connections listed.

Next guess: the 7 sheets are for a midfield barrier, to be replace with plexiglass. Think about it...last year, the field was 53 feet long, If I remember correctly. 7 sheets 8' long would be 56 feet long...cut a bit off and you have a nice 4' wall down the middle of the field. Problem is that it isn't supported by anything...unless you use PVC...but again, no connections are listed.

How about that rotating goal? Remember Torroid Terror? How many casters did that goal have (I don't know...I didn't start FIRST until '99...with the beloved puck!). I think that is a very likely idea.

Toilet flanges - we've seen those before, in 2002. They held the center PVC pipe in the goal. Note that there are 2 flanges and 10' of 3" pipe - meaning two 5' pipes either on the same goal or completely away from whatever has the casters. If all the smaller PVC surrounds the central pipe like 2002, that would be way too similar...I wouldn't want to see it.

There are a lot of decking screws. Now, I'm not the biggest handyman around, but when I think decking screws, I think deck...and there certainly is enough plywood to build a deck...and enough lumber to build 4" steps up to it. Think about this though...would FIRST be mean and stick to a rather standard stair (7" rise, 11" run....4" rise, 13" run) and make it difficult to climb without a really specialized mechanism, but more practical for future stair climbing Segway applications....or would we get nice big 36" platform staris so that the robot can fit on the tier all at once. Do this and there is probably enough to make a two or three tierd pyramid in the middle of the field with a spinning goal on top.

And a steel bar at the top that is rotating with the goal that you have to pull yourself up off the tier at the end of the match like 2000. =)

Don't forget the traffic cones!

Maybe I need more sleep...

Kev

[Caleb Fulton]

I don't know about anyone else, but the last time I had that much PVC and plywood, I made an 11-foot spud gun and a large target...

[Greg Needel]

i could see a 3 sided platform 2 with stairs and 1 a steep incline 45 deg + on casters so it moves around on top of this will be a pipe that you have to put rings around but around that is pvc pipe so you can directly do it.. all the plywood isn;t going to be plywood...alot of it will be used to build the structure but the rest will be the dividing walls on the ends of each sectons so robots dont fall off....thats my best guess now



days<5 we shall see