What COTS parts would you like to see?

[Munchskull]

An electric solenoid for momentary shifting that is packaged for easy swap in use with the vexpro/WCP shifters.

[RyanCahoon]

1/2" (-0.001") round solid aluminum shaft stock (for less than the 3x mark-up over VexPro that McMaster currently sells it for)

[Tottanka]

Originally Posted by Cothron Theiss

1/2" hex bore bevel gears.
I'm sure there are others I could think of, but that's what pops into my mind right now.

+1.
Also, iv'e been dreaming of a Versaplanetary Worm gearbox sage, with any reduction.

I would also like some improvements in the Ballshifters. (the nuts should be molded in and not put there, they keep falling into the gear and are a nightmare to get out. The CIMs seem to loosen up from time to time. The adapter for the Pancake cylinder should be made out of something more durable).

I would also love it of someone started selling good chain breaking and assembling tools for both 35 and 25.

[marshall]

Parts to make the construction of bumpers easier. I know Andy had a design for a corner piece and I still want to see it made. It would make the lives of those who help other teams with making bumpers every year much easier.

[messer5740]

More avalibity of parts. Many COTS items were sold out or on back order for much of the build season. A great example of this is the pneumatic wheel storage...

[jwfoss]

-4"x1.5" and 4"x2" Aluminum Wheels with 1/2" Hex Broach
-Anti-backdrive stage for VersaPlanetary
-Disc Brake set up with 1/2" Hex or "Standard" Sprocket Hole Pattern

[roboruler]

Originally Posted by messer5740

More avalibity of parts. Many COTS items were sold out or on back order for much of the build season. A great example of this is the pneumatic wheel storage...

That is very difficult for suppliers, it is almost a gamble, as they have to buy or fabricate parts in advance, and if they are not useful for a particular season then that is a huge burden on them. A way around it is to get certain suppliers like Andymark and Vex in the loop in terms of the season so they can plan ahead, but it is really not ideal at all.

[BoilerMentor]

Originally Posted by s_forbes

The COTs parts available through Vexpro, AndyMark, and McMaster made all of our design work very easy. I'm glad we have so many parts available now compared to years ago!

One part we end up making a lot of, and isn't easy to do if you are a low resource team with no mill/lathe, is spacer inserts for tubes. These let you do through-bolt connections that can be tightened without crushing the tube, so you actually have a strong bolted joint. For VexPro in particular, spacers like this that fit their Versaframe extrusion sizes could be very useful for some teams.

In years past where crushing box was an issue, we would rip down a piece of scrap hardwood on a table saw to fit snugly within a tube and just use that. Does exactly what you're after and would be way easier to position and use than a round spacer. I can see positioning one of those little round spacers and lining it up with the bolt holes being a royal pain, especially if it's deep in a tube that's already attached to the robot.

[BrendanB]

3/8" hex gears that are slightly thinner. 1/2" hex has been amazing however for some applications you want to use gears but the current hex line from Vexpro just seems overkill and you are throwing extra weight and space where you don't need to.

+1 for a Versatube spacer.

1/2" hex bevel gears. Would have come in handy this year but with only 3/8" available and all of our existing system being 1/2" hex it made it just about impossible to integrate.

After this season, a non plastic dead axle hub for 6" and 8" wheels would be nice but this is mostly game dependent.

[jijiglobe]

A mag encoder that's compatible with all the AndyMark gearboxes that take USDigital optical encoders (same mounting geometry and all). 694 has had a bad time with the optical encoders, as the break easily, and can get ruined by dust.

[Bkeeneykid]

Originally Posted by Munchskull

An electric solenoid for momentary shifting that is packaged for easy swap in use with the vexpro/WCP shifters.

I would love this, it seems to be legal. Pneumatic actuators under a 1" stroke are legal, and it's just a matter of getting a correct mounting. I'd imaging if there's a standard size of solenoid actuators, it's just a matter of getting a shroud around it that's the same dimensions as the pancake solenoid from VEX to swap in the ball shifter.

[Eric Scheuing]

Originally Posted by jwfoss

-Anti-backdrive stage for VersaPlanetary

This and the right-angle adapter would be incredibly useful.

Originally Posted by roboruler

7075-T6 is the best alloy for aluminium gears available.

What about steel though? Especially with the smaller gears, the weight increase isn't going to be that significant, and if case hardened, I can't imagine you'd see much wear.

[Scott Kozutsky]

http://www.amazon.com/Park-Tool-Scre.../dp/B01EONOJ78 for 35 or 25 chain. It's the best chain tool I've yet used for any chain.

Chain sprockets for bike chain. Bike chain has better availible tools, is availible locally everywhere, is lighter per foot than 35 (expensive stuff is the same as 25), and larger teeth mean better fault tolerance when tensioning.

[MechEng83]

An inside corner bracket for the 1" REV extrusion similar to the 15mm version: http://www.revrobotics.com/product/rev-41-1038/

A breakout board for the Talon SRX that contains the index signal pin.

A breakout board for the Talon SRX that plugs right into the motor controller, rather than requiring those really thin cables.

[roboruler]

Originally Posted by Eric Scheuing

This and the right-angle adapter would be incredibly useful.

What about steel though? Especially with the smaller gears, the weight increase isn't going to be that significant, and if case hardened, I can't imagine you'd see much wear.

Gears breaking isn't normally a huge problem but it would be great to have some drop in 4140 steel replacements for gears maybe up to 24 tooth sizes.

Hopefully they could also be black oxide coated for superior performance

Yes, the weight increase in terms of total gearbox wouldn't be very significant so this would be a viable option.