Good Morning and Happy 4th of July everyone!
I am starting a new team in Fowlerville Michigan. While I am an experienced mentor from a couple of years now I am struggling with getting a full list of all the tools I would need to start the team. I have found some sponsors already but I wanted to know if any of you have a list of ALL the tools you use on your teams? Perhaps a spreadsheet is out there somewhere? Any help would be greatly appreciated! My email address is [email protected]!
These threads have some helpful suggestions:
https://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=152992
https://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=146102
https://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=152728
https://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122844
In the future, it’s good practice to use the search feature (middle of the orange bar on the top of the page) or search Google with the keyword “site:chiefdelphi.com” at the end to see if someone else had asked the same question recently.
[edit]I also fount this doc from FIRST in Maryland with some good suggestions [/edit]
A lot of things are great to have, but aren’t strictly required. Here’s my list of things I literally could not do without:
*wood for building team elements and prototyping
That’s about it. Everything else is optional. Stuff won’t get done in the best / fastest way, but it will get done… eventually. We used way more than that, including welding equipment, but you don’t need to.
As former rookies, we know what it is like to start a team if you want to PM us on Chief Delphi or email us at [email protected] we would be happy to talk to you and walk you through the whole process! We have lists and documents that can help you get through the season and we can also send you some tutorials if you are interested. Let us know what you are interested in and we will be glad to help! We had an exceptional first year competing and it ended off on the Einstein Field at the Houston Championships!!! We would love to help you out, let us know how we can help you!
DM Robotics
FIRST Team #6314
I think I have exactly what you’re looking for! This past fall, my team got a road case fully stocked up with all of the tools we use at competition/out of the machine shop for daily meetings etc. I’m not sure where the final document is, but here is one of the initial drafts of the spreadsheet with our order list. This document features order links, prices, organization (which won’t help you too much), and while I don’t quite know what was going on with the color scheme or any of that as I wasn’t too involved with this project it should be a big help!
Any questions and I can try to answer or forward to another student who was more involved. Hope this helps!
[Not intended to be a complete list; trying to leave out stuff already mentioned unless I’m adding something.]
What tools you need is absolutely dependent on how you build your robot. If you’re starting with a recent KoP chassis, one of AndyMark’s toolkits is appropriate, as they include the proper Allen and hex drives; a way to cut the chassis down to your requirements is also necessary. If you decide to do a VersaFrame chassis or do VF manipulators, a hack saw and hand riveter that supports 5/32" blind rivets is essential, and a miter box strongly recommended.
In general, the more you standardize your fasteners, the fewer tools you will need. Note that many of the standard FRC parts require specific tools; standardizing on these is great for reducing your toolbox, but may not be the least expensive solution overall, as 10-32 allen cap screws are generally several times as expensive as screwdriver-driven 10-24 machine screws. On 3946, we eschew 10-24 in favor of 10-32, but otherwise favor coarse SAE threads. For certain motor mounts (e.g. NeveRest series), there is no alternative but metric threads.
You will also need some basic electrical tools - a wago tool (or small stout straight-blade screwdriver) to insert/remove wires from the PDP, several pairs of pliers (cutting, gripping, needle nose, stripping, crimping), and the allen wrench for the PDP main connector (5mm?) are essential. As with mechanical, what additional tools you will need is determined by how you wire your robot. You could get a number of crimping tools, a soldering iron, or both.
Metal/wood stock cutting: A miter box with wood-cutting back saw and hack saw that fits the miter box is the minimum; I recommend adding a couple of miter/bevel saws, one with a wood cutting blade, and another with a non-ferrous metal (aluminum) cutting blade. As an intermediate (or additional) stage, a portable band saw with a metal-capable blade is awesome. OBTW, when you make bumpers, pool noodles respond awesomely to a sharp back saw in a miter box.
Some tools which are not strictly essential but highly useful for the cost are a heat gun (shrinking insulating tubing, working polycarbonate, sealing the end of ropes), a cordless rechargeable drill/screwdriver or three, and a small Dremel or similar tool set. Try to keep the Dremel tool as the last refuge, but there are so many cases (especially at competition) where it can get in and do the job so much more efficiently than anything else that it just doesn’t make sense not to have one.
Going back to the utterly generic and not strictly necessary, I’d absolutely recommend investing in a moderate size mechanics tool kit, with combination wrenches, ratchet/socket set, allen wrenches, (all SAE + metric) and a variety of screwdrivers. There is just such a wide application of this toolset that I can’t really imagine a robotics team (or for that matter, my car) not having it.