**FIRST EMAIL**/Advance Materials List and Autodesk Virtual Kit of Parts Information

[Tom Bottiglieri]

Originally Posted by JohnBoucher

Very, Very difficult to roll a sheet of Lexan, even 1/8"

The 1/8" thickness might allow you to get away with a slight curve, but for the most part I agree: No rolling of the lexan will be done this year.

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by Tom Bottiglieri

The 1/8" thickness might allow you to get away with a slight curve, but for the most part I agree: No rolling of the lexan will be done this year.

Heat guns could solve that.

[Noah Melamed]

We curved lexan on our front hardware shield in a 90° arc. While bolting it down we heated with a heat gun for 15-20 minutes. Wheen I took off the pieces after they had been bolted at that angle for over a year the Lexan sprung back flat with only minor deflection. maybe we did something wrong but im pretty sure you won't get too much of a bend.

[Don Wright]

After further thought and discussion with some people, I believe I was incorrect on my assumption that we wouldn't have to drive on the lexan. Not that this means anything to anyone...

[Nitroxextreme]

In regards to the bending of lexan...
Last year we made a lexan "hood" out of 1/8 Lexan and it had a slight bend in it...this bend however slight it was stayed consistent

This was acomplised by the use of a heat gun

[1075master]

if u read up on one of the items it is called luan! the person who works at home depot and found out the mailbox thing also gave us info that luan is very flexible. it is used as a sub floor in damp areas. yes it is for damp areas but keep in mind water is messy and bad for the robots so its DEFINETLY NOT being used for its water proof purpose but probably more for its flexibility.
i also just thought of the fact that they are trying to keep the field cheap so the lexan could be used as part of an end zone that the players stand behind because it may be an obstacle for the human player as in '04. but 2 sheets? that makes me a bit skeptical that i'm somewhat correct. but hey its just a guess!

[DUCKIE]

So I'm guessing no CMUcam cuz theres no green paint. hm...so whats Montanas green heights?

Was there green paint on the list last year?

Because that is not what FIRST used on the vision tetras. (Or atleast... thats not what my team OR Mike Wade's field used.) They used the roll of green "sticker-like" material stuck to a piece of plastic. Three of which were then attached to each vision tetra. (Which I think came in the kit of parts.)

I think they will keep the cam... just like keeping autonomous... because they are a challenge.

[1075master]

Originally Posted by DUCKY

Was there green paint on the list last year?

Because that is not what FIRST used on the vision tetras. (Or atleast... thats not what my team OR Mike Wade's field used.) They used the roll of green "sticker-like" material stuck to a piece of plastic. Three of which were then attached to each vision tetra. (Which I think came in the kit of parts.)

I think they will keep the cam... just like keeping autonomous... because they are a challenge.

see its things like that that screwed people up. first gave us the exact colours to use on the tetras but when u even slightly deviate from those colours everything gets screwed up. people had a hard time because of the lights being different when you go and use tape thats not going to be the exact colour of the competition tetra you are going to have problems.

[generalbrando]

The lexan and diamond plate will be driving/manipulation surfaces of great importance. In 2004 they didn't have us get lexan for the top of the platform...there wasn't that much shoving and it was level. But in 2003 they had us get the HDPE because it's slick and the copper mesh because it was the ramp. They were important driving surfaces - difficult driving conditions and lots of shoving (king of the hill).

My guess is that since there's 96 sq ft of special surface here, we've got another ramp to deal with! Woe is me. I hope I'm wrong

[ChuckDickerson]

Originally Posted by M. Krass

(This is why I hate lumber.)

Yea, every time I have to use the new less-than-original size 2x(whatever)lumber on my old house it drives me crazy. Everything now is about 1/8 smaller than it was even 20 years ago.

One thing I have always wondered is how is lumber sold in countries that use the metric system? Do they buy 4cmX9cm boards rather than 2x4s and 1.2mX2.4m sheets of plywood rather than 4x8? Seems kind of odd to me either way. Why would a country that uses the metric system sell a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood? Maybe their dimensions are totally different and you would buy a 1m x 2m piece of plywood. Anyone know what the European version of Home Depot sells? I wonder if the International teams have a problem finding 10' 2x4s and 4'x8' sheets of 1/8" Lexan?

[sanddrag]

The lexan will be put on the bottom of moveable goals so they slide around. That is my prediction.

[Mark Pettit]

Originally Posted by raf4far

So I'm guessing no CMUcam cuz theres no green paint. hm...so whats Montanas green heights?

After reading your post, I went and checked the old 2005 advanced materials pdf file and saw that only the "Sunny Summer" color was included on the advanced list last year. Green, blue, and red were not on that list (probably to throw us off).
I am not counting on robot vision systems (CMU or otherwise ) to be going away, especially based on the list. I just hope that my team will be more successful with vision should it be there for us to utilize this year.

[Dave Flowerday]

Originally Posted by 1075master

first gave us the exact colours to use on the tetras

Actually, FIRST initially told us to use a certain color of spraypaint last year that ended up not even remotely close to the real tetra colors. As I recall, they released the "real" green material (which was a plastic adhesive type thing) after some prodding. Perhaps this is why some teams claimed that the camera didn't work well at the competition - if they had been practicing with the green spraypaint, the real tetras looked completely different.

[GaryVoshol]

The Lexan and diamond-plate are optional - they could be substituted with smaller pieces or other materials.

My guess - the lexan will enclose or bound something. It's clear so the audience can see what's inside, but it is not critical for the operators to see it. (Maybe because the robot is "seeing" something autonomously?) Thus for practice a team could substitute cheaper plywood.

[BrianR]

Hey, has anyone noticed that these carriage bolts are 16" long? I have no clue what is on that list that would need bolts of that length. Corners between 2x4s? Any ideas?