VEXPro 2014 Product Initial Impressions

[Paul Copioli]

Originally Posted by Michael Corsetto

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Unfortunately, for certain applications, an 18" length of hex shaft isn't long enough for what we want to do. Of course, if we need the straightness, then we can make an alternative method work out. Out of curiosity, does holding a flatness tolerance on the 36" pose manufacturing difficulties, hence why it wasn't specified in the drawing? Just wondering, one thing on my wishlist for next year would definitely be 36" hex shaft with a better flatness tolerance, but I understand if this is economically unfeasible.
-Mike

Mike,

We just forgot it on the drawing. We were so focused on getting the Hex right, we didn't even think about specifying a flatness or straightness. Like I said before, the 3' shafts we had in stock were the remaining shafts from last year's purchase. Our new drawing has the straightness specified for our new purchase order. I am certain our supplier will push back on the straightness requirement for the 3/8" shaft, but at least the specification will make them pay attention to it.

Paul

[cadandcookies]

My team is absolutely in love with the VersaWheel DT-- I've never seen our wheel assemblies go together so quickly. Can't wait to see them in action.

As a team that ordered almost all of our drive train components from VexPro, I've been nothing but impressed by how everything "just works." We had some changeover in our drive train group, so products that minimize the amount of time they have to spend adapting and forcing hex shafts into round holes are much appreciated.

[jwfoss]

Over here on 558 we've been waiting for our VEX/WCP parts just like everyone else. Now that they have arrived, we couldn't be happier. In fact, VEX went above and beyond and drop shipped the hubs to us when we had ordered them from WCP.

The new 2014 VexPro Drive in a Day Chassis looks great, and has already gone under the mill for some modifications. It's exactly what we were looking for, and I really like the improvements from last years design.

In typical fashion we will be running colson wheels with dead axle hubs. This new iteration (based on the original design I worked with WCP on back in 2011-2012) are excellent and everything went together as expected today. We'll share some more images when the chassis is fully assembled.



Nothing quite like a fresh box of Colsons...

[Nirvash]

While we haven't purchased as much from VEX as other teams, what we have gotten has been great, Versaplanetarys are great and were very easy to assemble.

[waialua359]

Our team buys products from all of the better known COTS suppliers such as AM, VEXPro, BaneBots, McMaster, WC Products, Cross the Road Electronics, etc.

The one thing that stands out to me the most:

The presentation of the VEXPro/WC Products GearBoxes and how you choose your options.
Any person who is new to FRC can figure out what they "really" want by looking at the "Specs for Dummies" like me, especially giving FPS specs on the different size wheels.
In the past, we used our own experiments/experiences to judge what we wanted in terms of torque, speed, and drivetrain setup. We would change a variable or two based on past memory to determine how to adjust for a subsequent game.
It takes the guesswork out of us trying to figure out exactly what we want, saving us precious time and energy during an intense 6 week build season.

After doing 15 years of FRC, having more COTS supplier options is a whole lot better than the days of building your entire drivetrain/gearbox from scratch.