The Ohio State Research and Development team allotted a budget of $160 for the construction of the prototype robot. One of the initial goals of the team was to spend as little of the budget as possible in case of motor failure or breakage of other parts in the future. Over the period of seven weeks, the team used 67.99% of the budget, spending $108.78 and leaving $51.22 remaining in the budget. Therefore, if the motors and encoders were to burn out or break, the group would have enough money left to replace the most expensive parts. The final amount left in the budget was $44.35, leaving $115.65 remaining. The team used about 72% of the budget. A chart showing the budget decreased over time is shown below.
An extensive budget report listing the official names of each material, the date purchased, the quantity purchased, and the effects on the budget can be found below.
The motor category had the most expenses compared to the other purchases, summing at $65.10. This category included not only the Vex motors, but also the Futaba servo motor, the micro servo motor, and Vex encoders. Electrical items were the second most purchased category totaling at $14.02 due to the team buying eight microswitches, as shown by the image below.
The team achieved the goal of conserving its budget, although there were some materials purchased that they ended up not needing for the success of the robot, such as the string, the line following kit, and much of the MDF.