I’m starting to look at putting together my budget for next year and thought I’d start a thread about new or not-so-common parts and tools that teams think are a must have (or are at least useful). I’m thinking of things like these:
Screw drive magnetizer/demagnetizer like this
Color coded screws and/or shoulder screws like these
High Strength lock bars like this
Please add the small item(s) that have had a big impact on your program.
If you look, you can find a torx t15 tip that will reach ALL the way through a 1x3 c-channel.
These will allow you to speed up assembly more than any single item you will ever buy. This is a premium pair. You can get cheaper ones.
Nutdriver modification so it fits nuts that are close to the side of a c-channel.
They’re a little expensive (and not exactly “new”), but…
Robosource colored screws are honestly so incredibly nice to have, especially if your program is lacking in organization. Just memorize what color is what size and you’re set.
Hmmmm. With colored heads maybe you could use an automatic sorter at end of season!
Plano prolatch boxes. They are more expensive than the Harbor Freight or Amazon “XYZZY Company” boxes. I have ones that are 10+ years old.
https://www.basspro.com/SearchDisplay#q=prolatch
Latches don’t break, lids seal tight over compartments. Clear plastic so you can see in from either side. Labeled with what is in them, makes it easy to find the right box and hone in on the part you need. At this point I have 60+ of them between IQ and V5 parts.
I have a black rolling bag that holds 7 of the trays (pretty heavy with V5 parts, not too bad with IQ) but it’s nice to have an easy way to transport parts. My pair came from a yard sale, their father was a salesman, used the cases to carry catalogs.
The Plano boxes are great. We’ve been using the 1363 system for about 10 years (5 years competing). We occasionally need to use something separate for larger stock, but we give each team one of these to organize and use daily… and then basically grab and go for competitions.
For the first 5-6 years (2006-2012) I used the 1363 too. Stored on a wire rack, one box per team. It was manageable until I got to 10 teams and the range of parts grew. There used to be a picture on the forum of the racks. They also came in pink which some of the teams liked.
The biggest upgrade was a hook and eye (ie Velcro) strap about 2" wide that went around the box across the top, front, bottom, back. It kept the main top latch closed and the flap door also shut. Accidental tray dumps were no longer an issue.
They came in a few sizes, the one that is blue had 4 thinner drawers and most of the sensors had off season home there. The bigger yellow one took the 3700 size drawers.
Thanks for the reminder of a long time ago!
From 2009 one of the earliest times this was talked about. Storage of Vex parts?
Pricey, but we are using these. Waterproof and strong enough to jump up and down on.
forgive my naivete but what are the forceps for?
Pretty much everything… like another pair of fingers.
Need to put a spacer on an axle in a tight spot?
Need to hold a nut where you can’t get a wrench on it?
Have a chain lift and need to ‘fish’ the chain through a tight spot?
etc.
We occasionally use them to place a nut or machine screw in tight places where fingers do not fit.
Pretty much everything… like another pair of fingers.
I have a few of these. I give them out with the advice “go look at the robot and think, ’ is there a better way to design it? Can I make this easier to repair under pressure?’ and decide.”. Lots of times they think of an easier design.
In FRC, the design had to pass a fixablity review. Can anyone fix it? What specific tools are needed. Do we need to bring a fifth grader with strong finger strength to all the events? Most times we changed the design. Other times we built special tools. My favorite was a Z bend screw driver with a socket welded on it.
If you look at the best robots, you can get to the guts pretty quick. I’ve stolen Bailey design of a 1x1 beam on a 0x3 pin as a quick release. Catapult is broken, pull six pins, pull it out, repair, insert and push the locking pins in. If I had to pick a Rapid Relay build tip, that would be it.
To add to this, try to build your robot modularly i.e. make the different mechanisms easily attachable and detachable.