New coach to VRC here. After searching instructions on how to connect the Spin Up Field elements to the portable field, and finding nothing, Today my team worked with me to figure it out.
First of all, all the shorter bolts that work on the regular competition field need to be replaced by the longest bolts that came with the field elements to be able to secure to the portable field walls.
Where the net post attach to the wall, again use those long bolts, but on the bottom attachment point, to attach, I found we had to put the long screws on the inside with a backer plate on the outside, then slide the bottom net post support over the heads of the screws.
To secure the net was the trickiest, since there was no way to attach the rubber net clips. Instead, there were these nail head axel looking things along with some 3 hole widgets, friction connectors, a bridge shaped 2 hole clip, and some rubber axel collars. We figured out to put the nail head axel through the 3 hole widget, drop that assembly through the holes in the net area, use the bridge shape clip to the 3 hole widget to the net utilizing friction connectors. Secure this to the rail with the rubber axel collar.
Since my team are all SpEd students, and the directions did not label overtly the sizes of the screws on each page, I pre-assembled all the parts with all needed screws and nuts attached—this took about 5+ hours—I am not fast.
Setting up the field alone took my kiddos 45 minutes the first time. Connecting these elements took me and my team almost 4 hours.
Again, we do not work fast, and we were using mainly the basic Allen keys for most of the kids because we only have 2 of the kind with the plastic handle. I may have 2 more, but I have to find them since admin moved which portable classroom I’m in.
Note that I only give extra help on the field since it has to be constructed a specific way, and is needed for developing the robots. When it comes to the robots, I only give the basic AR Class instructions for construction and programming—the students have to work together for designing, building, and programming. They have to come up with their own improvements. YouTube helps with ideas.
