Where have the Spikes gone
 

I was on the VEX website recently and I found that Spike relay modules weren't listed anywhere. What has happened? Is IFI discontinuing them?

I figured that this would have been noticed and mentioned on these forums, but a search turned up nothing. Does anybody (perhaps someone involved with VEX product development) know what is happening?

Re: Where have the Spikes gone
 

I remember that the beta teams last fall were given non-spike FRC relays to test... they were obviously non-IFI.

Re: Where have the Spikes gone
 

I believe they are/were out of stock and weren't able to get new production till early summer. I don't think they are being discontinued.

Re: Where have the Spikes gone
 

I'm not sure about spikes, but FIRST is set to release the Davis Relay module in place of the Spike for 2013.

Re: Where have the Spikes gone
 

Are there CAD files or pictures available?

Re: Where have the Spikes gone
 

Or better yet, any sort of information page for them?

Re: Where have the Spikes gone
 

I have some pictures of the new relay, and a comparison shot of the two relays. I'll post those as soon as a get to a desktop, but for right now here's a link to a forum post about the relays. Just remember that this is all from beta and may have changed.

http://forums.usfirst.org/showthread...3046#post53046

Re: Where have the Spikes gone
 

Did these fail the beta testing and get delayed a year?

Since those appear custom made for FRC, why won't the vendor at least put WAGO terminals on them? Those are much more secure for unterminated wires. (Or, if they're interested in wires with connectors, maybe Anderson PowerPoles or screw terminals for ring connectors?)

Nice of them to incorporate several outputs and parallel relays into one module.

Re: Where have the Spikes gone
 

AFAIK, they were set as a 2013 release at the time of the beta... My only guess to why would be related to production, as you would have to test it TWO beta seasons in advance since it could presumably take one year of advanced notice to have enough final-revision product made for the KOPs and the like. It's not like the kinect which was a pre-existing product that was already in production.

Re: Where have the Spikes gone
 

There are some benefits and drawbacks.

Those two 20 amp fuses are misleading - if you run it from a 20 amp breaker on the PD board. For us, the 40 amp slots are usually pretty close to full or filled, so running it through a 40 amp breaker may or may not be possible for your team, depending on design.

You can already run two different objects/lights/etc off a single spike now. You just have to run your ground back to the input ground for the spike, and power a different item off each prong.

So far, this product seems to be an answer to a question that hasn't been asked.

Re: Where have the Spikes gone
 

Here's two pictures, one of just the new relay, and one of the two relays side by side.

Re: Where have the Spikes gone
 

No the spike is not discontinued. It is on the VEXPro product pages.
as far as I know, FIRST is still supplying the Spike I the 2013 KOP.

Re: Where have the Spikes gone
 

Are they solid state or mechanical?

Re: Where have the Spikes gone
 

Paul I don't see it in the VexPro pages.

Re: Where have the Spikes gone
 

At the Beta Test team get-together in St. Louis, we learned that there was a list of things to address for a production version of the David relay module. The connection method was one of them.

Re: Where have the Spikes gone
 

Had a minor issue in our e-commerce system, the page is back now.

http://www.vexrobotics.com/products/.../217-0220.html

Re: Where have the Spikes gone
 

Here is a link to the VEXPro product page: http://www.vexrobotics.com/products/vexpro

The Spike is right underneath the Victor. It is out of stock because FIRST is the only customer (and FIRST teams) so they will be back in stock in time for the FRC season.

Re: Where have the Spikes gone
 

I promise, it wasn't there yesterday. Someone must have noticed the omission and fixed it.

Re: Where have the Spikes gone
 

Yup wasn't there when I looked yesterday. I even did a search for it and the only thing that came up was the fuse for the spike.

Re: Where have the Spikes gone
 

Nope - it was known going into the Beta test that these items would not be used in the 2012 season. FIRST was putting them out there for testing regardless so they could get feedback and improve them before they (if they) are made available and legal.

We tested the new relay this past year and loved the form factor and the fact that you have a ground on the output side (in addition to fwd/rev) to give you more options for wiring your loads. The SPIKEs have always been pretty nice but they are a bit bulky and the outer shell always seems to split top from bottom for us (hot glue is pretty much a given here). If the new ones are made legal it will be nice to have a more compact option (this year our bot was so small we found ourselves having to make artificial surfaces to mount electrical components!); price, reliability (yet to be seen for the new module!), and the need for compact form factor will lead us to which we'll use in the future if both become legal. Both seem to be good options.

Re: Where have the Spikes gone
 

Are they solid state? Any specs on frequency you can switch them at?

Re: Where have the Spikes gone
 

The specs we received during beta did not indicate max switching frequency. I also do not see anything in the documentation that specifies them as solid state; I don't recall if they were at all "clicky" but I do remember thinking "these things switch more quietly than a SPIKE".

Re: Where have the Spikes gone
 

I also remember them being quieter than the traditional spike, but I could definitely feel the clicks when running it. As far as frequency, we were using the dual relay to switch lights on/off, and it was fine at 20ms. However, those were LED's, not motors.