pic: Prototype FLL Table

[Rich Wong]

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[Alex Cormier]

It looks sweet and shinny but I see one big problem. With the old wood style, teams could split it right down the middle and fold it up for demos and ease of transportation/tear down. Anyone else?

[EricH]

That's only one side of the full table. And, as detailed in the other thread on these tables, they disassemble into side rails and a bottom for transport. Not an issue.

[GaryVoshol]

Is there a 3.5" tall wall adjacent to the south side of the mat? If not, many teams will be sorely vexed.

[NorviewsVeteran]

Something I would look into is painting the inside of the rails matte black, to prevent robots from becoming interested in the wall rather than their intended target.
Am I saying if you don't it will happen? No, I'd just like to make sure it doesn't.

[GVDrummer]

Awesome!! What is its total weight?

[Josh Drake]

Originally Posted by GaryVoshol

Is there a 3.5" tall wall adjacent to the south side of the mat? If not, many teams will be sorely vexed.

Looks like maybe the inside of the table was built as 4' by 8', whereas the mat is more like 3'9" by 7'9". May need to be fixed for rev. 2.0 But still a very cool idea!

[EricH]

Originally Posted by GVDrummer

Awesome!! What is its total weight?

I'm thinking that tech specs can be found in the first thread: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/34265?

Originally Posted by DRAKE343

Looks like maybe the inside of the table was built as 4' by 8', whereas the mat is more like 3'9" by 7'9". May need to be fixed for rev. 2.0 But still a very cool idea!

FLL mats have always been too small for the tables... In this case, it's an optical illusion due to a lack of black paint. The right side wall has a lot of reflection.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Gorgeous looking table, I hope we get to see an entire set of these because that will be impressive.

Originally Posted by EricH

FLL mats have always been too small for the tables... In this case, it's an optical illusion due to a lack of black paint. The right side wall has a lot of reflection.

Not ALWAYS, time was (way back in the Volcanic Panic days) when the fields were tape lines on a white background and a good percentage of the field elements were wood the table was the right size Also, is there any reason why they do that?

Anywho. Gorgeous board, hopefully the insides can be done black at least.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

Also, is there any reason why they do that?

Ease of removal, I think. The problem is that you have to line it up right for teams because there will always be some team that is using distance from the wall on a fairly precise movement, and if your field is set up wrong (i.e., the black border line being under the wall instead of next to it), it'll throw them off and they complain.

Psst... My point on the mats still stands... Volcanic Panic and before didn't use mats...

[Josh Drake]

Originally Posted by EricH

FLL mats have always been too small for the tables... In this case, it's an optical illusion due to a lack of black paint. The right side wall has a lot of reflection.

If you look at the left side (north) you will see the sheet of Duralock touching the wall. That gap and the one on the left (south) look to be a good bit more than the usual half inch. Maybe Rich can elagorate

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by EricH

Ease of removal, I think. The problem is that you have to line it up right for teams because there will always be some team that is using distance from the wall on a fairly precise movement, and if your field is set up wrong (i.e., the black border line being under the wall instead of next to it), it'll throw them off and they complain.

Psst... My point on the mats still stands... Volcanic Panic and before didn't use mats...

Bah! That is true, Volcanic Panic didn't use mats. This will teach me to interchange mats and fields. (No it won't) I must say that I preferred the old wooden fields, probably cost more to make but they were certainly gorgeous. I would kind of like to see one of them (painted) placed on one of these tables.

I guess that removal makes sense, easier way might be to just have a corner that you cut to make it easier to remove. Lining up is a HUGE issue for teams and field setup issues shouldn't be a factor.

[Rich Wong]

Originally Posted by NorviewsVeteran

Something I would look into is painting the inside of the rails matte black, to prevent robots from becoming interested in the wall rather than their intended target.
Am I saying if you don't it will happen? No, I'd just like to make sure it doesn't.

Folks,
Sorry for the delay response,
1. This is the prototype so we decided to not paint it flat-black because the manufacturer made a mistake with the dimensions and will need to re-cut each side.

2. Some of you have a sharp eye and noticed that the manufacturer MILGO/BUFKIN read my diagram wrong. They made the inside dimensions 4'x8' instead of the outside dimensions.

3. The weight is less than 15 pounds, the final version will be about 1-2 pds less.

4. Not sure if MILGO/BUFKIN is planning to sale them to teams and other FLL regionals; we are in discussion.

MILGO/BUFKIN is donating 25 tables to the FLL program in NYC.