Frequently Asked Questions

How can our team access 3D printers, laser cutters, and CNC routers?

Here are a few options for you:

  1. Get to know your local makerspaces. Many libraries, universities, and tech schools have these technologies available for use.
  2. You may also want to try talking to other FTC/FRC teams in your area that may already have access and see if they're willing to help you out. You may be surprised by how many connections some teams already have.
  3. Ask local companies. They may be even be willing to donate materials or more advanced manufacturing techniques such as waterjet cutting or CNC milling.
  4. If you're willing to raise some funds, it may be worth investing in a 3D printer for your team. There are several good cheap 3D printer options available on the market, just make sure you do some research before making your purchase.
  5. Join the baseBot discord and get to know other baseBot-using teams. Some of them may be willing to help you out.

We hope that one of these options will work out for you. If not, we're hoping to offer a laser cutting and 3D printing service in the near future

Why GoBilda?

When you start to look into FTC building systems, you'll start to notice a few patterns. Literally. GoBilda is based on an 8mm grid, which is common among other building systems such as Tetrix, REV, and AndyMark. There is also a huge selection of unique and incredibly useful parts available within the GoBilda system. We promise, we're not sponsored by GoBilda (yet). We just think their build system is really cool and useful. You will find, however, that the baseBot ORIGIN ecosystem includes some of the best parts of other FTC build systems.

Unfortunately this does make it difficult to use Actobotics or VEX parts with baseBot because they are not metric-based. The only exception is if you're using 6" wheels, which are based on VEX 3/8" ThunderHex and VEX VersaHubs to allow you to use a wider variety of 6" wheels.

What inspired baseBot?

baseBot ORIGIN was designed as a more versatile alternative to the AndyMark TileRunner drivetrain. The plate system is based on FTC 10355 Project Peacock's FIRST Relic Recovery robot "The Enterprise," which was constructed from waterjet cut aluminum. When designing this robot, we were continuously frustrated by having to design from nothing. We wished we had a starting point, or a base bot from which to sculpt the final design. Thus the idea of baseBot was born. baseBot PHOENIX builds on this idea, but incorporates a lot of changes suggested by the community. This makes it an altogether more streamlined and rhobust design.

Whose idea was this?

Heyo, I'm Kyler, alumni of FTC Team 10355 Project Peacock and FRC Team 12:09 The Robohornets. I was a founding member of STEAM POST 26 in Tulsa, OK, which is the organization of Project Peacock (10355), Mouse Spit (11572), and Leviathan Robotics (14906). You may also recognize me as an Oklahoma FTC game announcer. I'm currently studying architecture at the University of Oklahoma. I'm the designer of baseBot ORIGIN and baseBot PHOENIX. Nice to meet you!

Are there any teams already using baseBot?

For the time being, there are only a couple of teams using baseBot for the Skystone season that we know of. Team 10355 Project: Peacock is working on designing their robot using the baseBot system, as is team 8490 Mamaroneck Robotics. If your team is using or planning to use baseBot, let us know on the Discord! We would love to see what you're working on and feature your robot in the community gallery!

I have a different question, possibly one less frequently asked. Where can I ask it?

If you'd like to ask us a question, you can either tweet it at us (@baseBotFTC) or you can join the baseBot Discord which can be found on the "Community" page. Someone will try to answer your question as quickly as possibly. And if your question is good enough, it just might end up here on this page 😉