Team Project: New Years Eve Ball Drop

[Andy Baker]

Originally Posted by Fruity Pebbles

I'm pretty sure that if the price was right (my team always seems to be low on money) that my team would probably try and do it . Or we could team up with one or several of the other local teams (such as 1062, 1390, 1543, 1604 which are all in the same school district.).

The cost is not minimal, and it would not be something that a FIRST team could just buy. Your idea of teaming up with other FIRST teams in your area is a good idea. Your team(s) could build the ball and operate the lowering of the ball on New Year's Eve, while your city organization could pay the price for the hardware.

We really don't know what the hardware costs are, exactly, since we have been putting this on for 8 years (there are costs each year). Also, with this new design, we don't know what all of our costs are yet.

If your team(s) went to their local Chamber of Commerce or Downtown Association or their city government, you could say that the hardware for this project could be as much as $4,000. This price would include parts for the structure of the ball, circuit boards, LEDs, fasteners, power supplies, wiring, packaging, and other stuff involved with building the ball itself. This cost would not include the mechanism needed to raise and lower the ball (we use a motorized winch, a control box, and a operator pendant).

Like I said, if there is a strong interest, we can evaluate what exactly our costs are with the ball hardware. At that point, we can give a more exact number.

Andy B.