@pchild’s recent post on Tax Return Analysis of FIRST-Affiliated Organizations has got me thinking about the financial situation of teams and supporting organizations. So i propose the question: What benefit would your team see if you had an extra $1,000 USD?
Bonus Question: What benefit would your team see if you had an extra $2,000 USD?
It would make registration only $5,000
We could buy 5 Kraken x60’s
We could do something repsonsible like buy 1/8" hardwood to put under the carpet in our practice space, buy krackens, make a CNC Router only $3000, etc. or we could buy a used glass front retail display fridge.
It would cover the registration for our first two off-season events.
That is almost a full swerve drive base lol
$1000 worth of zip ties
It would be really close to buying a Bambu X1 carbon.
A lot of red bull.
One of the things I learned from @Nate_Laverdure is to always have a list of things your team wants to purchase for potential in kind donations, etc.
Currently on our list at $1k is an arcflat table with clamps, etc.
https://www.langmuirsystems.com/arcflat
It’s not something we really need but if someone wants to buy us something for around $1k that’s an option.
For less we have a thermal camera, heat shrink printer or a trim router on our list.
What use case do you envision for this? I used to have a work-issued handheld FLIR and can see potential for pit usage in FRC.
Upgrade from Harbor Freight to Home Depot for bulk packages of 3/16” and 1/4” drill bits
$1000 cover our registration cost for offseasons
$2000 Buy a very nice AC unit for our classroom. As nice as our shop is during the winter it is absolute horrible when you enter a previously sealed building with a metal roof after a high of 108 that day.
The idea would be able to see potential high current issues in wiring or motors, or other inefficiencies such as high friction areas making excess heat, etc.
I wasn’t sure what 253 would do (so many options, so little thought applied) but buying the stuff to set up a half field would be amazing. Of course the first step would be having space to set up or store the field…
We were using a automotive temp gun to check motors for a week or two after we fried our drive Krakens (300a stator limit) - I can see how a full thermal camera setup could make that faster and also help us spot stuff elsewhere.
Having used both the smartphone attachments and the full handheld units, I think frc would be fine with a smartphone unit. You’re looking for aberration, not a calibrated-ish temperature.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08R93WZ6H?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
It would certainly be fine, we try not to buy team things that have to be used specifically with phones, as it depends on which type you have, software installed, and other things. So a handheld unit is more readily available and of use by the entire time.
We have team-owned phones, super cheap Androids - primary use is scouting
It woud make me feel a lot less guilty for spending 1.6k per bot on vision…
I don’t need a thermal camera. I don’t need a thermal camera. I don’t need a thermal camera.