Budget and material

We are a new team and we want to know what budget you recommend and what material you recommend to start.
for the moment we only have a workshop, however we are missing things for the construction of the robot, besides we will only go to regional ones.

You are going to get vastly different answers depending. I’d start by stating what you have. If you have a shop, machines, etc. Basically what are you starting with?

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Hi and welcome!

Your first budget will be partially contingent on if you are in a district or regional model, but either way it’s very hard to run a rookie team with less than $10,000. You’ll end up buying a LOT of things because you presumably have nothing, and that adds up quick. I would check out two guides: Spectrum first $1000 and Spectrum first $10,000, which will give you an idea on how to allocate your funds to some degree.

It’s also worth noting that this year, the Kit of Parts (which you get as part of registration) will include a fully complete drivebase and mechanism to compete with. This would be a great place to start, especially if your team is inexperienced.

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Let’s step back a bit.

You’re in a regional, so just one event. Make sure your registration for that is paid (I’m assuming it is from this point forwards).

The registration includes one KOP drivebase, an AM14U5 or similar, plus some sort of mechanism (or instructions for same). This gives you a robot that can function, but will likely want a few upgrades at some point.

Three questions I’d like you to answer.

  1. Approximate location? (Doesn’t have to be exact, but a state would be nice. Or the regional you’re going to. You could also post your team number and you’ll be easier to find.) Reason for this is so that a mentor team has a chance to find you and offer assistance, or to help you reach out to the local folks more effectively.
  2. Approximate size of the workshop? (garage, classroom, empty warehouse?) Also, if known, what power sources are available and is it subdivided into rooms at all?
  3. What tools does the team currently have in the workshop, if any?

The first thing I’m going to tell you to purchase is NOT what you might think.

3/4" plywood
2 1/2" nominal pool noodles in round, petal, or hex, solid or hollow (get lots of these, before they’re gone)
Rugged, smooth cloth, e.g. 1000D cordura, in red AND in blue.

These are not optional parts; they’re used to build the bumpers that your robot is required to have (per R401-R410 in the Game Manual). You’ll want to do your own research on how much you’ll need to spend for these in your area, but if I were you I’d try to buy them pretty quickly (especially the pool noodles, they’re likely to be discounted around this time of year).

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For those unaware, Walmart (at least in all the NY stores I’ve been in), usually has good bumper fabric in stores with a fabrics and crafts department (Part of hardlines, usually located near home goods or sporting goods). This is what it looks like and I’ve usually seen both red and blue in stock. It’s the “rougher” texture side of generally preferred bumper fabrics amongst teams, but I can speak for 5881 when I say that we haven’t had a need to source it else where. Usually there are enough members of the team shopping at Walmart anyways that they check in on the stock and let the mentors know when to order if we are low on our own stock.

EDIT: Technically, this fabric option is lighter than what is recommended. Usually I don’t make recommendations like this under that circumstance… this is an expierence over matching numbers thing. We found this fabric at Walmart one year, and was only comparing the fabrics compared to some samples the team had from our rookie season. We did not know the 600D rating when we first bought it, but that didn’t stop us from using it, they passed inspection with no question, and other than small rips and tears you’d get with any bumper fabric (just patch with electrical tape), no real problems.

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One item that varies greatly among teams is travel costs. If your competition is close by, this can be zero or nearly so. If, like us, where even the closest one requires busing and hotel rooms, it can be a significant expense (in fact, it is by far our largest).

Travel ( lodging and food) is normally our largest budget item last season we spent around ~9500 total for three events, thats traveling to one event (~5.5 hrs each way, hotel for fri, sat and sun nights, and food for the weekend; ~7300), food for a second event (no travel needed only about 1 hr drive; ~500) and travel / food for DCMP (about 1.5 hrs away, had very good rate on hotels here so we didn’t spend alot; ~1500)

Edit: this does not include registration cost for DCMP just the travel costs.

David_IsMe Not sure that is a helpful number without context. How many are you bringing to each event? Does your situation allow private vehicle transportation or do you need a bus? Etc.

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A cart for the robot is critical for getting the bot to each match and to have an elevated workspace to fix the robot.

A couple furniture dollies joined by 2x4s works well for this purpose.

I generally try to only buy stuff I know we will use before the build starts. That does mean some items are out of stock. If something obviously is needed at kickoff order then. Otherwise, design and purchase as needed.

For stuff now look more towards tooling and prototyping materials. Wood both plywood and 2x4s, something the cut it and metal. Tools for measuring, assembling, electrical and making parts. Power drills and screws. Some basic storage.

You can make really limited stuff work to get ideas for prototyping even just using drills to rotate intakes. You are mainly trying to get reasonable idea that it will work and what parameters work better, and the rest will come through the design and iterating after you build the mechanism. At least for us there is always a week (usually week 3) where we are waiting for parts to arrive, so you aren’t way behind to not have things on hand. As you go on you’ll do better at predicting what things to keep in stock.

No buses, parents/ mentors driving for cost savings, we had ~32 students and ~10 mentors travel ±5 persons. We also try to book and extra room for each of our events to donate to volunteer staff so they aren’t crammed like worms. When I get home I can get exact number of rooms / rates if thats helpful.

I want to say we had about 15 rooms total at ~150 a night for 3 nights for our travel event around 6750 total. Will update these figures later when I get home and can look back at receipts.

Helpful info. Travel costs and need for bus transport is a huge variable. It is to a certain extent a tax on rural teams. No “home event” for small townies with the nearest place to play a couple hours away.

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