VEX PRO. To use it or not to use it.
 

As the build season approaches, I am, along with other team members, building a bit of a CAD library of bases to use this year. However, I recently found the new line of VEX Pro stuff. I want to use their bearings, shafts, wheels, collars, sprockets, and ball shifters. Has anybody had any issues about them such as cracking wheels or deforming plates. Our team has run into cracking issues before, so I just want to make sure they don;t have the same issue. It seems like high quality, lightweight, relatively inexpensive stuff for us to use, I was just wondering if anybody had anything to look out for.

Note: Not trying to bash VEX, they always make high quality stuff.

Re: VEX PRO. To use it or not to use it.
 

There is a huge thread about it already; http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...hreadid=109868

No teams have product in hand yet. Most people are assuming the quality is high, as the people behind the line are great.

Re: VEX PRO. To use it or not to use it.
 

The problem is that no one, outside of IFI, has ever touched any of the vex pro stuff. They haven't shipped anything yet; we have ordered some products from them with the intent to get a feel of them before full utilizing them in our robot.

But that being said, I do expect everything to be solid the very least.

Re: VEX PRO. To use it or not to use it.
 

Historically, I have found IFI/VEX products to be mechanically beyond reproach, and the same goes for their customer service. We have had electrical issues before (not from the VEXPro line), mainly traced back to the parts' foreign manufacture.

Since the VEXPro line is relatively new and publicly untested, it is a risk to use their systems. But, they've got some of the best & brightest on their staff, so it's a calcluated risk.

Re: VEX PRO. To use it or not to use it.
 

Awesome. Their shifting gearboxes are so lightweight and well put together. Also, in the sprocket description, it says that they are "black anodized for superior performance"....Sounds like my kind of place :D

Re: VEX PRO. To use it or not to use it.
 

Historically speaking, few companies have launched brand new product lines without a few discoveries along the way.

When Vex (IFI at the time) first launched their wheels in 2006 they had some significant challenges. You can read about them here. Over the years, they made improvements and they've resulted in a reliable product.

It doesn't just effect Vex. When Banebots launched a new kit gearbox, teams were picked by whether they used them or not. Their failure rate was just that high. Again, over the years they've rectified a majority of those challenges and have a quality product offering.

Vex has some incredible talent on their team, but even Apple, one of societies pillars for quality, who's products "Just Work," can have issues from time to time on new product launches. (Antenna gate anyone?)

I have faith that Paul, JVN and crew will work tirelessly to rectify any issues that arise but it is too early to tell what issues will arise and where.

Re: VEX PRO. To use it or not to use it.
 

I'd love to know how a superficial layer of black oxidation increases performance...

Re: VEX PRO. To use it or not to use it.
 

Everybody knows computers with red LEDs run faster, but computers with blue LEDs run cooler. It's like that!

Re: VEX PRO. To use it or not to use it.
 

We do have a sense of humor sometimes.

Re: VEX PRO. To use it or not to use it.
 

The blower drive pulleys (toothed belt type) on the supercharger drive on my old Chevy are black anodized...it increases durability by several times, compared to non-anodized pulleys (30k miles with anodizing vs 10k without).

I'm not sure how this relates to robots...but don't take such things too superficially.

Re: VEX PRO. To use it or not to use it.
 

At Peachtree 2011, I told Sean's team that our robot was wrapped in racing tape*, which added ten horsepower. They picked us.

*Yes, Racing tape. That was what it was sold as--we picked it because it was close to garnet and we didn't have a chance to paint before ship.

That said, there IS always a risk with new products; almost every launch of a new car comes with at least some service bulletins, software launches are usually followed a week or two later with a .1 update, and so on. But if anyone's going to hit at least a double on the first at-bat, it's the IFI crew.

Re: VEX PRO. To use it or not to use it.
 

Oh man, I should've told him our robot was powered off unobtanium. Man, can't believe we missed that trophy by that much.

- Sunny G.

Re: VEX PRO. To use it or not to use it.
 

Sense of humor? What is that?

In all seriousness I love the product line though.

Re: VEX PRO. To use it or not to use it.
 

I heard JVN designed a lot of the mechanical VEXPro stuff - makes me confident about the quality.

Re: VEX PRO. To use it or not to use it.
 

Good to know. It looked quality, and when I look at the site, all I see it weight savings, good prices, and black anodized.