When does FIRST usually release the field build material list? Did I miss it?
They only did that in 2022 as far as I can recall because of some oddly specific stuff needed for the field. If they do again it’ll likely only be a couple days before kickoff
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Thanks.
Ok, next question, what do team typically pre-buy to build their field elements? I would assume 2x4 and plywood sheets. How much of each?
We usually just wait to see whats actually needed and then go to Lowes or Home Depot to get it when needed
On kickoff, the home elements will list cut sheets and show what each piece needs to make them.
We usually take a few minutes to check if any leftovers from one element can be used on another, and make a master list of all the parts before running to Home Depot.
Obviously not the easiest answer for sun, but every year the supplies change, from quantity or thickness depending on the field.
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Unless you’re planning to build a field for scrimmages or otherwise inviting other teams, it’s also a good idea to set your priorities for tasks first, or you may spend a lot of resources (both material and build effort) on field elements you won’t use, or that you could have greatly simplified or that you need to modify to cope with your practice space if you don’t have it full time.
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We typically build a full field. We are among the few teams in our area with enough space to house a full field. So we make it our responsibility to get that field up and available to all those in South Central Michigan.
Typically it has taken us 3 or 4 week for us to finish the field because only one mentor and a handful of team members work on it. This year our goal is to have the field up by the end of week 1.
So to that end, we are hoping to pre-buy some of the building materials so that we get started at kick off.
It would be nice if FIRST released a material build list every year.
Our build and field space is in a mall. We are required to treat all wood with a flame retardant. It takes some time to paint and treat all wood. It would be nice if we had a list of wood so we could do the treatment preseason.
Fair enough! Your team falls squarely into the “unless” phrase at the beginning of my post.
Even given that, I have seen more efficient layouts [especially of plywood pieces] posted here on CD within about a week of kickoff. If you prioritize pipes and linear lumber and oddball pieces on week 1, you may be able to save resources.
As your limiting resource for the field build seems to be the size of the build crew, this sounds like a great opportunity to reach out to other local teams for occasional help [they will be helping themselves as well, after all], and recurring local volunteers, former mentors, and parents who don’t have the time to mentor, but might be willing to show up and help the field build along on specific dates and times.
I’m not ready to mentor right now, but I’d be willing to give two or three Saturdays to build a field, especially if it would help multiple teams, and (as an RI) if it gave me a place to do unofficial pre-inspections as competition season approached.
One thing I would strongly consider doing is finding trusses of the same type that FRC uses. That may speed up some of the build time on some of the elements, as it becomes “how did they put them together this year” rather than building a wooden version.