October 20, 2013

Field Perimeters and IR Beacons

There have been some changes to the field perimeters and IR Beacons for this season.


Field Perimeters
For the 2013-14 season, AndyMark has changed the design of the FTC field perimeters. FIRST in Michigan bought 3 of the new fields to support our events. There are some minor differences between the old and new perimeter designs:


Old fields: 140 5/8" inside rails
New fields: 141" inside rails

Old fields: Plexiglass at center of 1" rail ~3/8" from flush to inside of field
New fields: Plexiglass at inside edge of 1" rail ~1/16" from flush to inside of field

Old fields: 12 1/16" high
New fields: 12 5/16" high

We will use either all new perimeters or all old perimeters at a given competition, and FIRST in Michigan FTC will let you know in advance which type of field/perimeter will be used at each competition.

Photos are available on the FIRST in Michigan site Resource page showing new (rings, built in corner hinges, offset plexiglass) and old perimeter styles (pipe fitting couplers, centered plexiglass).

IR Beacons
HiTechnic has changed the design of their IR beacons for this season. Our intention is to continue to use the old style IR beacons (like the ones used last year) since the new beacons have been out of stock and unavailable to teams. If there is a need to replace any of our existing beacons with the new style beacons, we will let teams know as soon as possible.