Re: Banebots RS-775 Case Short
 

Not at all hard, just requires a judicious application of non-conducting materials. In our 2011 robot it happened by accident. In our 2012 robot it happened by design.

In this picture are the two from our 2011 robot. They are both mounted to wood and are chained to an axle supported by plastic (rulon) plain bearings. They have worked flawlessly through driver training, a Week 0, GSR to 3rd semi-final match, Palmetto to 1/4 finals, and many more hours of demos.

http://i.imgur.com/iPZAZ.jpg

Here is a picture of our prototype shooter, the motors and everything metallic they are connected to are mounted in lexan plates, no problem.

http://i.imgur.com/b018x.jpg

Re: Banebots RS-775 Case Short
 

rather nice prototype you got there!

Re: Banebots RS-775 Case Short
 

If so, that's a step in the right direction for BaneBots' customer service.

But do you think you could prod FIRST to take official notice of this fact, and clarify their position on the legality of the different motor types, and their specifications? (As is, depending on the particulars, it could be a repeat of BaneBots' mystery motors from 2009—we never did find out what the plastic-endcapped motors were, or what FIRST thought of them.)

Re: Banebots RS-775 Case Short
 

Got an order of RS-775 motors in today, and this is what I saw when I opened the box. Doesn't exactly make me encouraged about their quality control, when the motors aren't even securely packed and are rattling around inside the box. I'll report back once I've had a chance to test them tonight.

Re: Banebots RS-775 Case Short
 

Update: Art and I tested the whole shipment - we had 3 out of 16 motors with case shorts. It's an improvement from last year's results, but still much worse than I'd consider acceptable.

Re: Banebots RS-775 Case Short
 

I guess that's why we are pretending they don't exist. Thanks for the data.

Re: Banebots RS-775 Case Short
 

Ughh.

Thanks for the update Jeff.

Re: Banebots RS-775 Case Short
 

Amen to that. No Banebots at all costs here.

Re: Banebots RS-775 Case Short
 

The 550 motors, p60 line of gearboxes and Cimulator are all great products; unsure as to why you'd avoid them at all cost.

Re: Banebots RS-775 Case Short
 

It's more of an ethical issue than a practical one - if they have crappy 775s and continue to ship them out, I don't trust their quality control overall when I have reputable companies with better service to supply me with motors.

Re: Banebots RS-775 Case Short
 

Might I ask: do all the motors appear to be identical? Or does it look they are not all made by the same manufacturer...

Re: Banebots RS-775 Case Short
 

All of the Banebot RS775 motors we have (both existing ones from 2011 and the recently arrived ones from 2012, including both case-shorted and non case-shorted motors from both years), look completely identical. They both even have exactly the same writing printed on them:
in the exact same location on the flux ring.

The only difference is the 2011 motors were shipped with an orange Banebots sticker on them.

Edit: If Banebots did supposedly switch to a new supplier, I'm wondering if these are the remainder of old motors from last year they had in stock?

Re: Banebots RS-775 Case Short
 

If all the Styrofoam is in the box, how do you know BB is at fault? Shipping companies don't intentionally damage goods, but they move a truly monumental number of packages and occasionally stuff gets dropped/run-over/what have you.

Re: Banebots RS-775 Case Short
 

That's four very high power motors your skipping out on for your robot (the 550s).

Re: Banebots RS-775 Case Short
 

"Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me."

A lot of teams are naturally gun shy about these motors because of the huge failure rates teams saw last year. I'm not surprised at all that some teams are taking a "better safe than sorry" attitude when it comes to the 775's. Much like most things in life, it comes down to the risk to reward ratio. Is the higher power available from the 775's enough to justify the risk of my robot having severe electrical issues? Each team's decision will be based on just how risk adverse they are and how high of a risk they view the situation as. I know on 1114 we'll be giving these motors another chance, but at the first sign of trouble they'll be introduced to our arbor press.