Robot crate construction question

FIRST General Forum
1

Hi, I’m the leader of a rookie team and we’ve going to build our robot crate someday soon.

We looked for some stores that sell OSB plywood, and all of them sell it with maximum dimension of 35.8in x 71.6in (910mm x 1820mm). We’d like to build our crate as large as possible (meaning a little smaller than 4ft x 4ft x 5ft), but we see that cannot make it large as long as we build the crate with one piece for each side. Are we allowed to put two pieces of plywood together to make it a large piece? I know it’ll have less strength…

Thanks!

2

Are there other types of plywood you can buy, that are larger? We use OSB here in the US because it is less expensive than normal plywood…not because it is better.

3

Sometimes crates get wet so I wouldn’t build it out of OSB.

4

On a side note:

Look up crate designs from other teams. Some teams design their crate to become part of their pit.

5

I’ve seen several crates that open into two halves, and are used as the back wall of the pit. Those teams often have vertical boards mounting their tools integrated into the design.

6

Why do you need a crate? Unless you are buying into worlds or shipping. We leave ours in the bag and roll it into regionals on a cart. We had to build a crate last year due to qualifying for worlds. I see no reason for needing a crate at this point.

7

OP is on a rookie team in Japan. :slight_smile:

8

Yes, it’s always a good idea to look at the “location” of someone asking an odd question.

9