Our wonderful sponsor Outback Manufacturing has finished running off components for this year’s game. If there’s ever been a year for tracks, this is it!
Wow, that looks great! Looks like you’ll be busy putting together…
Are the three sided roundish tubes an extrusion, or milled?
O.o lol it’s an expensive way of doing what we did loool
Very nice. Where is the like button when you need it. I may have to sneak over and see this in person.:rolleyes:
Any idea of the weight?
An estimate on cost of 1 system would be nice too please. PM if you don’t want it published.
Hmmm… If Santa left it for you, then it must be illegal. He delivers in December and that is before the build season starts 
PS: Oooh! Shiney!
Santa did not leave the parts, Samta did.
Read the subject line
Oh! Is that Santa’s less reputable cousin, the one who sells stuff out of the back of his sleigh?
Milled. They’re referred to as a tri-lobular boss. They sandwich the two sideplates together. Definitely go check one out if there’s an Outback sponsored team at your regional(s).
You’re welcome to! Or rather, go see 997’s, as we’re a bit of a drive from Corvallis…
Weight for one assembled chassis (not including gearboxes, motors, pulleys) is 12.4 lbs. Insanely rigid and tough, with plenty of mounting for several team’s superstructures.
Actually, since Outback teams work with Outback, it varies from team to team. Some teams buy their own stock, and the machine time is donated, some team buy everything. It really varies. If you’re interested, shoot me an email and I can put you in touch with someone at Outback.
Nope, Samta is my play on the name Sam, for the leading machinist on the west coast, owner and head guy at Outback Manufacturing.
If some teams are paying for them, what is the cost of the entire unit?
I’m really curious on the cost of this system…
If teams are paying for this system as a package, then does the entire system cost less than $400? It looks like every part is fabricated, just the cost of the machinists time would exceed $400. This doesn’t even begin to touch on the cost of material.
This must mean that Outback is selling these systems to teams at a substantially reduced rate and taking a loss, right? Could any FIRST team call up Outback and get this system for $400 or less?
Beautiful, although I’m kind of curious who is running their robot on one tread…
Looks like to me its not all one piece. So, combined it could be upwards of $1000, but if you break it into individual pieces, they’ll be less than $400.
I was wondering that too, until I saw the box of parts that made its way down to California. All teams have been well taken care of, and then some.
Say, wasn’t I supposed to send a part file to someone on your team? I recall something about that, but I’m really not sure… Toughbox adapter plate or something?
This is somewhat close to the correct answer for this. For those concerned about pricing: Don’t worry about it. It’s on a team by team basis, and each team can probably work something out with Outback. If you’re really interested, I’d suggest getting in touch with Outback to find out how it would work for your team. If you need help doing so, email or PM me and I’ll be glad to help.
Do people really think we’d invest this much time and effort for something even close to not legal? It’s not worth showing up to the competition and being even slightly into the gray area.
Anyway, I forgot to put spec’s for our drive system:
-Final drive speed is slightly below 9fps under load
-Chassis weight as shown is 12.4 lbs. Expected to be sub 30 with motors and gearboxes
-Each unit is module, and can be dropped out of the robot should repairs be necessary
-Each track unit is incredibly rigid when bolted together, and each module is reversible to allow use on both sides of the tracks
-Gearboxes will be hobbed out of single block of aluminum with a mating plate to allow quick changes of components
Any technical questions I can answer about these?
Yes, for a handful of teams there is a special deal… but what if 1000 teams wanted a base? No way he’s giving the good guy price then.
Should that situation arise, it would be dealt with. I don’t see the purpose in delving into “what if” scenarios, as they don’t reflect the current state of reality.
It does reflect the current state of reality. Are these COTS components? Are they parts fabricated by a sponsor as a donation? If so were they made in the 6 weeks? Was the amount the team paid just the material costs, not an unfairly low price on machine time?
These are serious issues, you can’t just bend the rules and get away with it. If you completely answered the first set of questions, I wouldn’t be inquiring further.
Whatever it costs, I’ll bid $1000 asap via paypal.
LMK!
Not for a real FRC entry, but for fun at our shop.
EDIT: I’ve decided to clear this up to ditch the issue. Here’s how it works:
-Teams begin by requesting sponsorship. If Outback accepts, they then buy the material for a drive base.
-Outback donates the machine time to fabricate a drive base.
-Teams buy the belts and pulleys through Outback, a Brecoflex vendor
That being said, PLEASE ask me if there’s any questions. Don’t assume, I’m here to help!
I’m not sure about the part Craig, I’m at school right now 2 hours away from my team 
I’m hoping they send me some pics of everything though, I’m excited to go to SVR this year