I thought I’d share what we are doing as we build components for our practice field. While I hope what we’re sharing will help others I’m selfishly hoping some of the folks here have better ideas.
As soon as the products went up on the AndyMark site yesterday we ordered a full field of April Tags with bases and two Crescendo Stages. We also ordered 48 Notes.
From there I downloaded the Crescendo specific field drawings and started reading and working on how we could replicate them to meet our organization’s goals. In short those are we want it to be safe to use, anything a robot interacts with should be as close to the real field as we can make it, anything a human interacts with should be as close to a real field as we can make it.
We started with the stage because it’s likely to be the most complex and require the most custom manufacturing. If we can source the triangular truss block we hope to have this done in two weeks for our first field setup.
GE-24200 Stage assembly
- GE-24201 Stage Top 2 purchased through AndyMark
- GE-24202 Stage Vinyl Logo Don’t build
- GE-24203 Stage Vinyl Base Polycarbonate Don’t build
- GE-24204 Stage Face Filler Poly Don’t build
- GE-24305 Stage Chain Purchased through AndyMark
- GE-24207 Podium Cut from existing stock of red/blue HDPE Need 1 each color
- GE-24208 Chain Plate with Fasteners Need 12 composed of GE-24206, 209, 213
- GE-24206 Chain Plate Shim Source similar product locally
- GE-24209 Chain Polycarbonate plate Need 12 Water jet cut from 2023 charge station ramps
- GE-24213 Chain metal plate. Need 12. Specifies .250" A36 steel. Explore fabricating from slightly lighter C-channel. If the polycarbonate plate is made slightly larger, the zip tie holes can be in the poly only and only need to drill for the screw eye.
GE-24210 Base Truss Assembly
- GE-24211 Triangular Truss Block Need 2, Total Structures part number not findable on their web site, call them and other vendors. We don’t want to build this as it’s a major structural component. If we’re forced to, the first plan would be to order the parts from a truss manufacturer.
GE-24220 Wall Assembly need 6
- GE-24221 Endgame Weldment. Need 6. Top bar (6) use 1.75" square tube from 2019 cargo ship base. Downward bars (12) explore pricing of 1.5" to 1.75" aluminum 90 degree angle compared to square tube. Bottom bar, want to secure on our field with 1/4" pins Need square tube. Use existing stock if possible.
- GE-24222 Wall Poly (6) Make from Coroplast
- GE-24223 Stage April tag base. Don’t make, instead cut .125" polycarbonate to fit at bottom of door opening and mount the tag behind it with tape.
GE-24230 Flap/Pole Assembly (6) purchased from AndyMark
GE-24240 Chute. If we make, make out of Coroplast. Skip for V1 of field make if needed later. The April tag base keeps the flap/trap from moving too far forward, this seems to prevent it from moving too far backward. That will need to be replicated at some point even if we don’t have chutes.
GE-24250 Stage Lateral Support skip except for modified 24253
- GE-24253 Center brace. Make 6 from polycarb with holes in position so 1/4" pins can drop through corresponding holes in Wall Assembly base.
Have this cut on the school waterjet from last year’s charge station ramps.
Stage Transport
The two existing carts that were used to transport the hangar truss in 2022 and the charge stations in 2023 can be used for most of the stage. If the four-foot truss segments are stacked up to the right on one side of the cart the wall assemblies 40" wide can fit to the left. Might need to build some custom hangars for them. If the 5 foot legs with the corner cubes attached are stacked to the right on the other side of the cart, the remaining 2 feet of space can be used to store the chains, truss bolts, and lateral support.
Note to self: fix the wheels on truss cart 1 so it isn’t so precarious on the truck liftgate.
GE-24300 Speaker
We’re going to diverge from the real field in a number of ways. The speaker panel is 46" wide, the AndyMark field perimeter dummy loading/scoring stations are 49" wide. Doing it this way will make our field 3 inches wider than the competition field. No teams noticed last year that making the double substation using the 49" AndyMark loading station sections made the field 5" wider, they were informed and universally the response was “OK.”
With the AndyMark panels we can put the speaker base in front of it velcro it to the carpet and for the scoring opening we’re going to build it as a hood that sits on top of the AndyMark scoring station supported by the window frame and the aluminum crossbar 18" behind.
Doing it this way should be a huge timesaver.
Subwoofer Base
I’m thinking making it out of 3/4" plywood covered with 1/4" HDPE. That will require running some braces from the front of the subwoofer back to the wall to support it. Externally it will have the same surface and dimensions as the real field so bumpers should interact with it like the real field.
If it’s built monolithically it will be a challenge to transport. If we can build it so it’s 3 bumpers plus the internal structure that will pack up much better. Build choice will depend on if we can pin a modular subwoofer base together well enough to withstand robot’s crashing into it.
The decorative panels that divert notes that miss can be Coroplast
Speaker
Two robot interacting parts are the HDPE internally for the notes to slide against and the aluminum front frame. It’s unclear if the HDPE is important or we could use Coroplast again. I’ll slide a note across both plastics as soon as I can to see if there’s a marked difference in friction. It’s unclear if the Speaker front frame needs to be aluminum.
The side frames can be 3/8" plywood covered with .125" polycarb on the inside. They should follow the dimensions of the side frame except they should have an extension tab on the bottom of about 2" designed to wedge between the drivers station glass top frame and the support bar in the back.
Transport
If the sides come off, the whole assembly should pack nicely. Look into using hook and loop tape to attach the top to the sides.
GE-24000 Source
We’re going to reuse the loading station frames from 2019. These have been cut so that 1.5" OD pipe or dowel can be inserted to make them the correct width. They already attach to the field corners so the base frame can be finished very quickly. Because the 2019 loading stations allowed the bumpers to go under the wall, that space will be filled with a plywood assembly that occupies that space and is strong enough to stop a robot.
The area below the chute can be covered with Coroplast. It’s not transparent but shouldn’t affect sightlines. The area above the chute will need to be polycarbonate we’ll use .125" so the human players can see the robot.
We’ll skip the chute assembly for V1 of the field. On week 2, human players can slide notes into robots through the slot between the Coroplast and polycarb.
Transport
This should break down well for easy transport. At least at v1. The cross bars are held in with 1/4" pins. Pull off the polycarb and Coroplast front and they lay flat The uprights and crossbars can also go in the existing cart.
GE-24100 Amplifier
For v1 of the field this will be a sheet of Coroplast with a hole cut into it either gaff taped to the field border or with hook and loop tape.
Transport
Much thought will need to go into working out how this can break down for transport.
