New Vex Mecanum

[idahorobot]

Has anybody tested the new 2015 Vex six inch mecanum wheels?

How well are they doing?

[FrankJ]

We are building chassis this weekend. I expect the new wheels to perform about the same as the old ones. Durability is the issue. Time will tell on that.

[Ether]

Originally Posted by idahorobot

Has anybody tested the new 2015 Vex six inch mecanum wheels?

Yes. Vex tested them:

Originally Posted by Aren_Hill

We have tested the new ones until we wore the rubber off the rollers, no more broken tabs.

If you have any concerns, please contact me at prosupport@vex.com and I'll talk you through what we did to make them better, and how they'll work awesome for your design.

[Foster]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Ether again.

I swear Ether is one of the few people that searches posts for an answer before he posts. Thanks Ether for setting a good example!

[wilsonmw04]

Originally Posted by Ether

Yes. Vex tested them:

The OP might have been asking for real world testing. After the issues with VEX's last iteration, I would consider that prudent.

[Mike Marandola]

Originally Posted by wilsonmw04

The OP might have been asking for real world testing. After the issues with VEX's last iteration, I would consider that prudent.

Wouldn't real world testing be competition? So the next best thing would be the kind of testing that Aren did.

[ehochstein]

Originally Posted by Mike Marandola

Wouldn't real world testing be competition? So the next best thing would be the kind of testing that Aren did.

Perhaps they did competition test them? I haven't seen any data on CD or the VexPro website with test data. All I know is that they were tested and that they were tested...

Originally Posted by Aren_Hill

...until we wore the rubber off the rollers, no more broken tabs.

Unless you email VexPro, you probably won't know how the wheels were tested. For all we know they could have tested the wheels with a 50 pound robot, which is unlikely but without data we don't know.

[Tim Sharp]

We bought a set of the new rollers and installed them on last year's machine. We've been running it around the shop as vigorously as possible for the last two days. We have experienced zero breakage and only normal signs of wear.

We have decided that Vex solved their issues from last year and we have confidence in the new design.

[wilsonmw04]

Originally Posted by Tim Sharp

We bought a set of the new rollers and installed them on last year's machine. We've been running it around the shop as vigorously as possible for the last two days. We have experienced zero breakage and only normal signs of wear.

We have decided that Vex solved their issues from last year and we have confidence in the new design.

If I remember correctly, most folks would have said the exact same thing at this point last year.. Last year's model failed after more than a few hours of usage.

[Monochron]

Originally Posted by ehochstein

Unless you email VexPro, you probably won't know how the wheels were tested. For all we know they could have tested the wheels with a 50 pound robot, which is unlikely but without data we don't know.

FYI Aren Hill IS Vex, he is one of the engineers there. I'm sure he'll provide more data on their testing if you ask.

[Tim Sharp]

Originally Posted by wilsonmw04

If I remember correctly, most folks would have said the exact same thing at this point last year.. Last year's model failed after more than a few hours of usage.

Correct. We can still tell a difference though. The signs of looseness and fatigue showed up early last year. They didn't start breaking until after extended use. We aren't seeing the looseness occur yet. I'll post an update after another week or so.

[GilaMonsterAlex]

We have a set as well, and will hopefully be running them Saturday. We'll post any info as we go along.

[idahorobot]

Originally Posted by wilsonmw04

The OP might have been asking for real world testing. After the issues with VEX's last iteration, I would consider that prudent.

Exactly the purpose of my post.

[Kyler Hagler]

So driving a robot around with mecanum wheels on FRC regulation carpet wouldn't be "real world testing"? Well, I live about 20 minutes away from IFI (where Vex HQ is) and out of the 15+ times I have been there to pick up parts, last season, only maybe two times I didn't see robots driving around doing things. I can vouch and say I know VEX test their products in a "real world" format because I have seen it and talked to VEX employee's about it.

[Aren_Hill]

All, the testing we completed with the 6" mecanums was fairly simple, four wheels, properly oriented, test bed weighed up to 150lbs (max robot with batteries and bumpers), and then handed to a High school intern who has no regard for the safety and well being of the wheels.
He was then told "break these" and came back after several hours of driving with the rubber worn off the rollers, no broken tabs.

I later found out his testing included driving around on sidewalks and over significant bumps and door jams, in addition to running around on FRC carpet.

Note, we are also working on specific testing on the current field with additional weight for the game pieces, we expect positive results given the previous testing described above.

Hope this answers your questions,

-Aren