After reviewing pictures of team’s bots I have seen that some team’s have “professional” grade fields if you will, as in they look just like the ones that are used at competition.
So, two questions;
If you are one of these teams did you some how buy this field or did you build it yourself?
If you did buy or build yourself one of these high grade fields how much did that field cost (if bought inc. shipping)?
Thanks,
Erik
EDIT: After searching for another half hour or so I found FirstFields.com . They do not publish the whole field prices or shipping, and I can not call them atm. Does anyone know about how much these fields cost?
I know that FIRST will rent out the field for off season events. This is done all of the time but not real cheap. You must provide your own balls and carpet etc.
We did look into one and the cost was around $50,000.00 I believe and you would have to pay for modifications every year.
If you’re looking for FIRST fields, there are a few things you can do.
During the season, we built a mock up of about 1/2 the field to practice on. It wasn’t very expensive.
If you’re looking to host an off season or whatnot, a)you can contact FIRST and they have ones they can loan out…but like Steve said…it’s very very expensive.
b) What we do for BRUNSWICK ERUPTION is borrow a field from NASA, who comes up from Goddard…but these NASA fields may all be reserved already, or are going quickly. I believe they’re booked thru this coming off season, you can check with them or your nearest sponsoring NASA center.
Remember after every regional they’re looking for a team to take the carpet away, so volunteer for that, especially if it’s not too battered. Other than that, we formed a coalition of teams (SCRRF, Team SD) to help fund/build fields.
If any of the Connecticut or Western Massachusetts teams are interested in the carpet from the UTC in 2007 email me. I usually get the carpet to use for the UTC scrimmage. This year I got the carpet and split it between 176 and 173. I have a truck big enough to transport it. I have done that for the last few years.
For Battle at the Border, Team San Diego builds their own field.
The driver stations and sides were built last year and all that we had to do this year was build the goals. I’m not sure exactly what the cost was, but I’m positive it was cheaper than $50,000.
Join together with other teams in your area and form a “regional coalition”. Then go find/rent an empty retail storefront during build season. Go in together to but the common field elements (carpet, sides, etc). They don’t have to be out of the exact same “official” components.
Approach FIRST about renting ONLY the controllers for a short period of time.
Doing a joint effort with possible time slots for public and private practice/scrimmages will only help to heighten the general awareness of FIRST robotics in your area,
You could also build a field and use it for practice during build season and then host a scrimmage after competition season to cover the cost of building the field.
Something else to keep in mind is that if you don’t have an area you can keep the field set up you will have to have a place to break it down and store it in when not in use.