Are there Substitutions for Andy Mark Tiles?

[Brainstormers8644]

We are a rookie team and tried to buy the walls and tiles in the first week after the challenge was posted in early September. Andy Mark was out and has been out ever since. I have a new house with a new floor I installed and the robot is ruining it. I am really upset that Andy Mark is not prepared with needed materials. Is there another company that makes and sells the same tiles?

[FTC5110]

SoftTiles but gray out of stock eta 17 Nov http://softtiles.com/index.php?optio...art&Itemid=112
VEX but also out of stock until Jan 2015 http://www.vexrobotics.com/vex/produ.../278-1502.html

Be happy you don't have to ship them to New Zealand

[korimako]

Anyone try the harbor freight tiles? Little thinner, but they might be a cheaper substitute.

[orangemoore]

Anyone try the harbor freight tiles? Little thinner, but they might be a cheaper substitute.

We have used a similar solution. As long as you recognize that those tiles will not be even close to the same ones used in the competition.

If you are only concerned about your floor, cheap tiles could be the solution you are looking for.

[RHSRobotix]

I saw some gray tiles at Ross Dress for Less. Kind of strange, but a great deal. I think it was about $10 for 4 tiles and in store so no shipping! They had about 5 sets of gray but also other colors. You might want to give a similar store a try if there are not any ROSS stores in your area. We probably would have done it that way, but we already had our set of tiles that we ordered from SoftTiles.

[Andy Baker]

We are a rookie team and tried to buy the walls and tiles in the first week after the challenge was posted in early September. Andy Mark was out and has been out ever since. I have a new house with a new floor I installed and the robot is ruining it. I am really upset that Andy Mark is not prepared with needed materials. Is there another company that makes and sells the same tiles?

SoftTiles but gray out of stock eta 17 Nov http://softtiles.com/index.php?optio...art&Itemid=112
VEX but also out of stock until Jan 2015 http://www.vexrobotics.com/vex/produ.../278-1502.html

We (AndyMark) get our supply from Soft Tiles. We are sorry that these are not in stock as much as you and other teams would like them to be. It is difficult to gauge how many soft tiles to order and keep in stock here at AndyMark. For the past 12 months, we have sold 600% more than we did during the previous year. That sort of increased demand is not easy to respond to.

FTC5110 is correct, as VEX and Soft Tiles have experienced a hard time keeping these in stock also. The thickness of the soft tiles sold by AndyMark and Soft Tiles are rated at 5/8", but they are actually a bit thinner, at 0.57". Other sources (Harbor Freight, Sam's Club, etc.) have thinner versions which may work well for teams at their own practice fields.

We will be getting more in stock within one week, and then more shipments in early December and January.

Sincerely,
Andy Baker
President
AndyMark, Inc.