Sealed encoder group buy?

[Wendy Holladay]

1912 will take 8

[James Tonthat]

Originally Posted by craigboez

Any idea what the future plans are for this item? I was considering using one, but don't want to pick something that will be obsolete soon.

Also you wouldn't want to use something that isn't considered COTS anymore.

That being said, we've been pretty invested in the S4's and have a decent backcatalog of them. It's a great product, I just wonder what they're doing with it.

[ToddF]

All,
I'll call US Digital again today and see if I can get a fuller explanation of the cryptic statement on the webpage.

In the meantime, updated order commitments:
2363: 8
696: 4
192: 8
4063: 4
1836: 8
1912: 8

Total: 40

[peirvine]

Hi, I am Peter from the Fighting Calculators, team 2175, and we would like 4 of them. Thank you for doing this!

[ToddF]

Just talked to the customer support rep at US Digital. She said the message comes up because the stock on the modules is limited at this time. She assured me that there are no plans for the S4 or E4P encoders to be discontinued. They are working to resolve the inventory issue, but plan to continue to supply them to FIRST teams.

I get the feeling that they might not be able to support an order of the magnitude necessary for the module to be incorporated into a consumer product with volumes of tens of thousands, but have no trouble supporting our small quantity orders.

[ToddF]

We are up to 44. Hopefully we'll reach 50 next week, and I'll be able to put in an order. I'm going to investigate the most cost effective method for shipping. I expect to purchase these with my own personal credit card. I'll be asking teams to send a check ASAP after the order is placed so I can pay the bill when it arrives. My statement date is the 28th of the month, so I'll shoot for placing the order around the end of the month to give as much time as possible to collect checks.

[ttldomination]

I'm curious about how you guys could go about interfacing this piece into a design?

Would you pop on a chain and use this as an idler, or perhaps just design to gear it in?

- Sunny G.

[Joey Milia]

Originally Posted by ttldomination

I'm curious about how you guys could go about interfacing this piece into a design?

Would you pop on a chain and use this as an idler, or perhaps just design to gear it in?

- Sunny G.

What 192 plans on doing is connecting the shaft of the encoder to one of the shafts in our gearbox using a flexible shaft coupling. The coupling doesn't have to be flexible but it'll just make our lives easier. I saw this set up on the gearboxes of a few teams this year, namely 1717 and 118. 118 had a very nice set up with a 3D printed mount for the encoder that spaced it making room for the coupler, we plan on doing something similar.

[T^2]

Originally Posted by ttldomination

I'm curious about how you guys could go about interfacing this piece into a design?

Would you pop on a chain and use this as an idler, or perhaps just design to gear it in?

- Sunny G.

This year, we used stock ballshifters, so we used the sub-optimal encoder setup with which those came.

Next year, I plan to incorporate the encoder mount into the first stage of our (custom) gearbox by extending the shaft out of the bearing, boring a slip-fit hole for the encoder shaft into it, cutting a 'x' pattern with a band saw, and then using a shaft collar to clamp the shaft in place. The top of the encoder will probably be held by a 3D-printed mount.

[craigboez]

Originally Posted by T^2

This year, we used stock ballshifters, so we used the sub-optimal encoder setup with which those came.

What was sub-optimal about it?

[T^2]

Originally Posted by craigboez

What was sub-optimal about it?

The delrin gear to which the encoder gear was connected was press-fit into the ballshifting shaft. Over time, it started slipping, which required us to superglue it in. It was also very difficult to center an S4 in the encoder mount.

[ToddF]

Here are some photos taken while scouting the dc regional. Our cad team is modelling a bracket which will be printed on our makerbot. The shafts can be connected by a short piece of surgical tubing, used as a shaft coupling.
https://picasaweb.google.com/1099928...oderMountIdeas

[Ted Boucher]

Team 237 is in for 6 of the S4s. Please send me a PM with your contact information so we can get a check to you.

Do the prices that you have been quoting include the appropriate cables/connectors? If not, it would be nice to order those in bulk too.

[Mr. 1033]

Is anyone on this thread using C++? My team often has visions of awesomeness but comes up short with the coding to make it happen. If we had some C++ support I would feel more comfortable commiting to an order of 6-8.

Let me know.

Thanks for doing this!

[Wendy Holladay]

Have you placed the order?

When you have please let us know the price and where to send the check to