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Re: Vex Versachassis
I more see VersaChassis as a nice addition to a market filled with already excellent products. By no means to I think that teams that use VersaChassis are gaining any significant advantage over teams that use the kitbot, another COTS drive train assembly, or even build a custom drive train in a reasonable amount of time. The kitbot has only gotten better, and there will always be advantages to custom-designing a drive train that meets your exact needs. As Chris is Me said, it's all about tradeoffs, and I can bet there will be teams that don't use VersaChassis that beat teams that do.
As for price comparisons, with VexPro, basically any drive train is incredibly cheap. Using essentially the same drive train my team used last year, I'm calculating that it will be around $900 per drive train this year for my team. This is down from $1200 last year, which is incredible. It's possible as we optimize that it will get even cheaper. Bottom line is, this is an excellent looking product, and I have no doubt that teams will put it to good use during 2014, but it is not the be-all end-all of COTS drive trains or drive trains in general. Seriously, people, calm yourselves down! Also, note that the VersaChassis bearing blocks are currently listed as being available January 15th. |
Re: Vex Versachassis
Another thing that I noticed is that the shipping for the 3 CIM gearbox, it says it will ship on the 15th of January.. that and another part.
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Re: Vex Versachassis
I think VersaChassis looks like a compelling addition to the COTS drivetrain market. Definitely a unique solution to the placement and management of wheels on a tube.
We've been providing COTS and custom chassis solutions to teams since 2008 and we've yet to work with a team that didn't truly appreciate the time and effort saved by not re-engineering a stick with wheels every season. Interestingly, a lot of FRC teams have plenty of cash but are extra tight on time and know-how. COTS chassis systems fit this niche really well. The price point for VersaChassis is amazing as well...though the source of these components likely isn't domestic, for what it's worth. Hopefully our SimpleTube Chassis will be an equally compelling option for teams looking for a COTS solution in 2014. |
Re: Vex Versachassis
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I too don't think it puts veteran teams at a disadvantage if they choose not to use the Versa Chassis or Vexpro parts. I wouldn't say finishing your drivebase a few days earlier is a game changer either. We finished both of our drivebases by the end of week two and received a parts from Vexpro and AM a few days before. Never had we finished the drivebase that quickly but it didn't change our season. The best thing teams can do is comprehend their resources and what they can accomplish. This starts before the build season when you analyze your resources and again in week 1-2 when you see the game, prototype, and understand the best fit for your team in the game, not what the championship robot will be. Using the Versa Chassis can help some teams (so will the Kitbot as it takes the same amount of time to build and many will have it day 1) but its just a stepping stone to success. Teams need to find what works for them and build upon it. For some it may probably be the Versa Chassis but for others it just might be the 2014 kitbot, or the 2013, or a custom welded tube frame, or their own WCD, or a swerve drive, or mecanums, or..... The new products look amazing and I can't wait for 2014. Thanks to everyone who worked on them! |
Re: Vex Versachassis
I wouldn't say disadvantage
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Re: Vex Versachassis
I still have a question, is the system still a good buy when the gearboxes won't ship until the 15th of January? That's a week and a half after build season starts
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One thing that I really like about the VersaChassis system is that you can build inventory and still maintain a lot of versatility. You can basically order parts for the drive, and decide while they're in the mail how you're going to configure your drive. Before, there were always some long lead AM, BB or SDPSI products that you needed to order early, and once you ordered them, you really couldn't change what type of drive you wanted. Now, you could probably change your drive multiple times per season, without reordering anything! I'm also excited about the idea of being able to buy one of these systems and testing out manipulator prototypes on it really quickly. If you're in the one day shipping zone, you can buy most of these parts on kickoff day, then spend all of week one working with prototypes on an actual drive base (which very well could end up being your final one). A lot of the things people miss in prototyping are stuff like driver alignment or precision issues that suddenly becomes apparent when the mechanism is being driven around on a robot instead of by humans. Getting a DT really early could help with finding a lot of these types of errors early in prototyping, when you can still change it, rather when the actual robot comes together in week 6. |
Re: Vex Versachassis
My take on Versachassis and Versaframe:
At this point, our team is going to start transitioning towards more customizing in the future. However good of a transition to more customizable options(such as tubing and sheet metal) Versachassis and Versaframe are, it's still a large transition that relies a lot on experienced mentors who can think in the mindset, and we will need to build our CAD team and ensure they are able to handle the pressure they will be in. Currently, our team uses 8020 for rapid iteration of prototypes and we keep those fine tuned components on top of an 8020 chassis that is designed around whatever driving constraints we set on the team. Yes, it would save us time in designing the drivetrain if we were to switch to versachassis, but in order to focus on manipulator prototyping, we use 8020. Having a uniform 8020 chassis and frame allows us to slide and test our prototypes in various positions and prototype more efficiently. In turn, our CAD team is not pressured as much to create exact components and prototypes can literally be stuck on top of the robot when we find them to be effective enough. During the next offseason, we may purchase some Versaframe and VersaChassis components to play around with, but before we switch to a more customized option, we need to lay the foundations of iterative design and prototyping down and have the team be able to prototype effectively before we move on to fabricating custom parts and using something more custom such as VersaFrame. In order to ease the transition, our entire team needs to have this crucial prototyping knowledge and experience, have a solid CAD team that can handle the pressure, and our technical mentors need to be ready to make the transition in the academy of thought customizing brings to the table. |
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It's awesome, it's so darn useful being to rivet/bolt on anything anywhere w/o drilling in place or custom layout. |
Re: Vex Versachassis
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-Travis |
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