Your Shipping Crate

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by jonathan lall

Does your crate have a function besides being a crate? It doubles as a work table; flip it on its side, and you're set. It looks good too, so it's a huge poster.

What do you like or dislike about your crate? It's a little flimsy, chips, and is sometimes difficult to reassemble, all due to its plywood construction.

What do you look for or want in a crate material? Lightness is the most important thing, because we all know the difference between a 399 lb. crate and a 401 lb. one. Of course we also want it to be durable and rigid enough to work off of.

Do you use the crate in the pits? Work table, remember? Are you listening to me?

How old is the crate you are currently using? It's been used only this season.

When in the six weeks do you start thinking about the crate? About three weeks in, a few people not on the team put together a little group to make it.

What did you do with the old one? Good question. It's in pieces right now and I think we reused the wood for odd things like mechanical prototypes.

How much other stuff do you pack with the robot? Max, two batteries, controls, and our disassembled cart. We will not go overweight.

How overweight was the crate this year? You aren't listeing to me! This interview's over.

Not so fast. The old crate (< 2004) doubled as a work table when standing upright (the base was removed to form a cart). The 2004 crate was far too big for that (owing to the first robot in years that actually occupied most of the allotted size restrictions). We used the side panel to extend our workspace by placing it flat on top of a table, but the crate itself was put away in storage.

The new crate also had the capacity to store several more batteries and miscellany, but due to weight issues, we only sent it with a bare minimum.