![]() |
Re: Vex Versachassis
I personally love all the addition of all these high end quality (but not high end prices) being added to the FRC market. It is really driving the sport and will help bring more teams up to a highly competitive level.
While our team will still keep our own frame building methods, last year, and very likely this year will buy our entire drivetrain from VexPro. One thing that may be good or may be bad is this: Teams don't really need to make their own custom drivetrains anymore. Practically every option is available quicker and as cheap as a home-built machine. A custom drivetrain may only be marginally superior to a COTS one nowadays. Perhaps this tampers with innovation on our parts, but it sure helps out a lot of us. You are arguing whether the slight time delay of ordering a drivetrain puts off the advantages of one, but consider the time and effort your team put into the offseason to develop these drivetrains. Now you can focus on other improvements, like spreading FIRST and helping the community; you can focus your attention to bigger and better things. You know for a fact that come build season, a drivetrain just as good as you could have devoted your effort to is just waiting in a box somewhere in Texas or Michigan. I'm just waiting for the 2015 product release when they announce the Versa-Swerve drivetrain. :P |
Re: Vex Versachassis
All,
Many points have been made in this thread so I will try to address these from VEX's point of view: After evaluating the successes and failures with the sales of our products last season and sifting through all of the customer suggestions and comments it was clear to us that increasingly more teams are using the WCD style drive bases. Since our strategy since the original kitbot back in 2005 was a primarily sheet metal drive base, we saw that we needed a solution to offer the teams that prefer the live axle solution. We also noticed that some people prefer open plate designs for their gearboxes. It seemed logical to approach WCP to see if there was a way that we could partner. RC and team were very receptive to our ideas and an agreement was made very quickly. During the process of reviewing what each company was planning for 2014, the VersaChassis was born. We were working on the 1x1 custom tubing and gusset plates and they were working on a flexible system to mount the WCD to a 2 x 1 framing system. The VersaChassis was born. We did not create it because we thought it was the least expensive option. We did not create it because we thought it was an FRC game changer. We created it because we needed a solution for teams that wanted to use this style of drive but didn't have the means to make CNC parts. One thing to keep in mind with cost is that the VEXpro Single Speed and Ball Shifter Gearboxes all include the 12 tooth aluminum pinions and their respective mounting hardware. The WCP versions have so many possible options that they are broken out as a separate option. Paul |
Re: Vex Versachassis
I'm not sure if I came across as whining about prices. In case I did, I think the 2014 Vex Pro prices are perfectly fair given the apparent high quality of the product line and the prices of products available elsewhere.
|
Re: Vex Versachassis
Quote:
This is definitely going to become an interesting year for teams that have the financial headroom to skip the kitbot. I look forward to seeing a few of these on the field. |
Re: Vex Versachassis
Quote:
Quote:
Andy |
Re: Vex Versachassis
Quote:
(Or, really for those who run rookie quick builds so they weren't trying to figure it out as they go) |
Re: Vex Versachassis
Quote:
|
Re: Vex Versachassis
Quote:
Silly Non-Disclosure Agreements. |
Re: Vex Versachassis
Quote:
|
Re: Vex Versachassis
Quote:
http://www.andymark.com/AM14U-s/510.htm -they got rid of the links to the quick upgrade packages around 20 minutes after I put this up I really like the idea of quick upgrade packages (giving it comparable abilities to the versachassis if I had to guess). The best part is it is sheet metal! |
Re: Vex Versachassis
Quote:
|
Re: Vex Versachassis
I know the people at Vex often visit here, so I have a concern I'd like to address and see if they have a response.
I love the VexPro products; we binge-bought gear boxes, motors, and parts last spring, and we're really looking forward to using them for this year's game. When VersaChassis was unveiled, it significantly changed our plans for the structure of our bot. Today, I bought about $700 of the chassis parts in anticipation of using them. My concern is the delivery date. The email I received simply said that it was on hold due to extended lead time. When I called, I was told that they were hoping to ship "sometime in January". While I understand that this may just be a way of avoiding broken promises, I am concerned that we have now invested our budget in materials that might not arrive in time for us to actually build a robot. If I can't get some assurance that we will be able to use the parts, we will probably have to look at other options and cancel the order. Hoping to get some feedback. Thanks! |
Re: Vex Versachassis
Quote:
To whoever is responsible for that, I feel like forcing teams to choose blindly was a horrible idea. |
Re: Vex Versachassis
Quote:
"Forcing us to choose blindly" is putting it a bit melodramatically; they needed to know our choice far enough ahead of time to allow the kits to be put together in sufficient quantities. I felt that we had enough information about the kit bot (sheet aluminum frame with Toughbox Mini gearboxes, likely with 4" wheels) that we could easily make the decision that fit our team's needs the best. |
Re: Vex Versachassis
Quote:
|
| All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:46. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright © Chief Delphi