For a team hoping to build two robots next season with a custom drivetrain (with COTS Gearboxes which we already have), what would you reccomend buying before the season starts?
I have a list which I will link, but whats not included is about 60 ft of aluminum 2 by 1 box tubing which was donated, some custom versaframe knockoff gussets we made, and pneumatic components which we get for free. Is that amount of tubing enough? How many versaplanetaries is too many? Our budget is between $1000 and $2000. I recognize that it will vary from team to team, but what are some essentials to have before each season begins?
whatever you make your belly pan out of
rivets. Lots of rivets. Get some #20 drill bits also.
Gussets. Your custom gussets from last year cannot be reused.
Figure out how you’re going to attach your bumpers. Get that hardware.
Pneumatic hoses and fittings
Encoders
Is the $1K - $2K the total remaining build budget? If so, then I’d actually hold off on getting anything right now. It’s not much to play with.
I can definitely relate to this, not only forgotten about, but also under-estimated. We probably placed 3 or more separate orders for Anderson connectors this past season cause we kept running out (we also build 2 robots).
As far as wire goes, I would strongly recommend taking a look at PowerWerx for bonded wire. They’re a bit cheaper than AndyMark, especially if you’re buying in bulk. If you use Anderson connectors like we do, you can also buy those from them in bulk.
Someone asked how I’d spend $2k on consumables. I did this before the VEXpro price increases, so it’s now surely more than $2k, but it might be a good jumping off point:
^ This is the correct answer, however if you already have some VPs and a few ratios, I would prioritize other things before more VP stage options. They can be useful for prototyping, but every time we’ve tried to preemptively get stage option varieties, we inevitably end up not using some at all and buying a bunch more of just one reduction. With that said, some stages do run out of stock mid-build season, so if you’re not going to have your robot figured out by then, having some is better than having none.
As a general note, if this is your first time building 2 robots, my advice would be make as many decisions as you can early. It’s usually better to be “wrong” early than “right” late for a lot ofreasons, but when you’re building 2 robots things compound quickly both in terms of build schedule and ordering parts. With 1 robot you can sometimes get away with one-offs if the thing you want is out of stock, with 2 robots it can balloon into a wholescale redesign very quickly, if you’re trying to keep the two robots identical.
60ft of 2x1 should be plenty for your chassis, and I would suggest anything more than what you have should be purchased in-season after you know if you need more for what you’re building.
YMMV, but I would recommend more than 25ft of 12AWG bonded wire/zipwire. The PowerWerx suggestion is a good one. We purchased 50ft before last season for 2 robots and still had to order more. Now, we had some pretty long wire runs last year, but since you’ll probably use it again it’s not a bad idea to get extra.
Do you have a control system for a 2nd robot already? You can get most of 1 complete control system between FIRST Choice and the AndyMark PDV, but you’ll want to make sure to fill in the holes (i.e. second radio, speed controllers, etc) at least, and figure out if you’re taking a 2nd one off of an old robot, or if you need to purchase a whole 2nd set. I notice you have Victor SPXs listed, do you already have enough Talon SRXs for drive, or are you planning to use the Victors as standalone?
I more or less said the same thing to someone in a rep. If you can hit 20:1 and 100:1, that gets you things that spin at about 1000 RPM (RedLine/775pro) like intakes and shooters, and things that spin at about 200-300 RPM (100:1 RedLine/775pro, or 20:1 CIM-class) for things like arms. With a proper belt or chain reduction afterward, you’ll get just about anywhere.
I agree with PowerWerx, I’ve bought from them before and have been very satisfied. (But then, I’ve also been happy with random eBay buys of wire. I’m maybe not the best judge.)
