pic: SPARK Motor Controller from REV Robotics

[Cory]

Originally Posted by mwmac

BTW, $60 - $25 = $35...

He knows that.

[Michael Corsetto]

Originally Posted by Cory

He knows that.

Although apparently rusty on my excel operators...

[Ty Tremblay]

Originally Posted by Michael Corsetto

Although apparently rusty on my excel operators...

Just say you were trained by Yoda.

"Sixty dollars minus twenty-five dollars equals not forty five dollars."

[Tom Bottiglieri]

Originally Posted by Ty Tremblay

When selecting speed controller by number of colors, the choice is clear.

[AdamHeard]

Clearly Vex must answer the talonCube.

[cbale2000]

Originally Posted by Joe Ross

Do you have any data on this?

There was a doc that was out a while back that I can't seem to find at the moment that showed it pretty well, but even the link that Conor posted above showed the variation between at least 2 15kHz motor controllers (original talon, and jaguar). If I find the document I'm thinking of that included the newer motor controllers as well I'll post it.

[Greg Needel]

Originally Posted by Tom Bottiglieri

When selecting speed controller by number of colors, the choice is clear.

This is pretty funny. We don't think many people will chose their motor controller on LED color, but we did it for very practical reasons.

If you have ever tried to quick glance to see the status of something on your controller you will know that trying to decipher single color blink patterns isn't always easy. By adding an RGB leg we have 7 colors (we are not doing mixing at this time) and it just makes things easier. Want to know if you are in brake vs coast? What color is your neural position led (blue =brake, Yellow = coast). We will be releasing a full chart of the colors and blink patterns and hope that it will help some teams will like the added feedback....and all the pretty colors

[Tom Bottiglieri]

Originally Posted by Greg Needel

By adding an RGB leg we have 7 colors (we are not doing mixing at this time) and it just makes things easier. Want to know if you are in brake vs coast? What color is your neural position led (blue =brake, Yellow = coast)

That's a pretty cool feature.

[KrazyCarl92]

Originally Posted by Greg Needel

By adding an RGB leg we have 7 colors (we are not doing mixing at this time) and it just makes things easier. Want to know if you are in brake vs coast? What color is your neural position led (blue =brake, Yellow = coast). We will be releasing a full chart of the colors and blink patterns and hope that it will help some teams will like the added feedback....and all the pretty colors

As long as we still have red. I appreciate the comedic relief of having to explain multiple times each season that "No, blinking red doesn't mean it's about to explode or that anything is wrong."

On a more serious note, as someone who likes to use lights on motor controllers to help troubleshoot problems on robots I look forward to having some additional information at my disposal when I peak into a robot with the SPARK. Hopefully it can be put to good use!

[GeeTwo]

Originally Posted by Greg Needel

This is pretty funny. We don't think many people will chose their motor controller on LED color, but we did it for very practical reasons.

If you have ever tried to quick glance to see the status of something on your controller you will know that trying to decipher single color blink patterns isn't always easy. By adding an RGB leg we have 7 colors (we are not doing mixing at this time) and it just makes things easier. Want to know if you are in brake vs coast? What color is your neural position led (blue =brake, Yellow = coast). We will be releasing a full chart of the colors and blink patterns and hope that it will help some teams will like the added feedback....and all the pretty colors

Are your motor controllers section 508 compliant? As a former U.S. Government purchasing agent, I'm doubting now if I could have bought any of these motor controllers for Uncle Sam. Oh! blinking lights! Red and green mean different things, with no other distinctions! Fortunately, (as far as I know), we only have one color-blind person on our team this year (red-green), and he's not working controls.

[NWChen]

Can REV provide an estimated release date for the Spark?

[Greg Needel]

Originally Posted by NWChen

Can REV provide an estimated release date for the Spark?

Any day now..... We have loads of them in stock processing through Amazon's warehouses. As soon as they reach all the fulfillment centers they will be available. Amazon has to load their warehouses all around the country with stock so that you can get them via amazon same day and next day with prime.

Here is where they will be available from. http://www.amazon.com/REV-Robotics-S...dp/B0187YCAFI/


If teams really want to get their hands on them soon, you can contact us directly via email and we can sell them directly. (note: this is not what we really want to do, but are willing to until amazon comes online.) contact [at] revrobotics [dot] com

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Greg Needel

Any day now..... We have loads of them in stock processing through Amazon's warehouses. As soon as they reach all the fulfillment centers they will be available. Amazon has to load their warehouses all around the country with stock so that you can get them via amazon same day and next day with prime.

Here is where they will be available from. http://www.amazon.com/REV-Robotics-S...dp/B0187YCAFI/


If teams really want to get their hands on them soon, you can contact us directly via email and we can sell them directly. (note: this is not what we really want to do, but are willing to until amazon comes online.) contact [at] revrobotics [dot] com

Using Amazon is brilliant for teams.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

Using Amazon is brilliant for teams.

I've been selling products on Amazon myself for about a year and a half now, growing into a solid part-time job (which pairs nicely with my other part-time job, customer support for a software company used by Amazon sellers). The more I learn about their fulfillment system--the one that's in service now, forget the drones--the more I'm astounded by its scale. It's a tremendous boon to small operations like REV or my business, as I know it would be way more expensive for me to have my own warehouse space and staff picking/packing/shipping for me.

One protip for the masses: Once you see the Spark go from "unavailable" like it is now to back-ordered, that means there is inventory checked into Amazon's fulfillment system and it's safe to order. When big quantities (I've found 20 is "big quantities") of an item get sent to Amazon, Amazon will usually tell a seller to ship it all to one facility* and then they'll split it all out to other warehouses across the country over a few days. Your order would then get picked and packed as soon as one hit the right destination warehouse.

*Greg, if those Sparks are getting shipped to CVG3: My sympathies.

[NWChen]

Originally Posted by Greg Needel

Any day now..... We have loads of them in stock processing through Amazon's warehouses.

Thanks Greg, I see they're up now. Get your Sparks!