VEX Kits ARRIVED!!!

[Joe Johnson]

My wife is leading a VEX team that consists of my 14 year old daughter and a few of her friends.

The VEX 0.5 kits arrived yesterday.

Lots to like. Radio Shack's money has really spruced up the Kit formerly known as Isaac.

Improvments worth noting:

• Female connectors on RC to allow for better support of PWM wires (AND keyed connections -- it is not possible to plug the motors, switches, etc. in the wrong way)
• Improved switch housing (easier mounting)
• Servos! 180 Degree rotation servos with mounting and square shaft drive like the motors in the kit (makes grippers MUCH easier)
• Metal inserts for Servo/Motor mounting (the self tapping plastic ones were a pain to keep from damaging from overtightening or cross threading)
• Rubber coupling to (hopefully) limit geartooth breakage due to impact loading
• Custom RC Transmitter with 2 springloaded return to center X-Y joysticks on front and 2 sets of 2 finger switches on backside -- has more of the feel of a GamePad rather than a typical RC -- very nicely done.
• Better wheels (not like the foam ones that were so hard to keep from getting flat spots)
• 1 RJ type (phone jack) connection from reciever to RC rather than PWM cables
• Gears (3 gears: big, medium, small. 24 DP choosen to line up with 1/2" pitch of metal parts)
• Battery pack with STANDARD (i.e. Tamaya) connector. I THINK this means that we can use standard 6 cell RC batteries (no instructions with the kits -- coming today???)
• Some useful looking new metal parts.

After looking at the parts in the kit, my (essentially non-mechanical) wife said, "This looks very doable!"

This is a very good sign for VEX. I am no Car Nack, but I predict an inspirational future for VEX Robotics.

Joe J.

[artdutra04]

Check out these pictures from www.pcmag.com:









I'm really impressed by these! Makes me want to buy one and build something like this! Anyone else feel a sudden urge to go to RadioShack?

<off topic> Hopefully, Gus Team 228 will once again host an EDU Challenge later this year, and hopefully using the VEX kits. We hosted a trial EDU competition last year, to try to elighten new students about what FIRST is really about without the stress and constraints of the six-week build. Any team from the Connecticut area that would be interested in helping to set up a new VEX Challenge this year (October into early December), is encouraged to email our head engineer (who organized the event last year) at bpiecuch@hotmail.com. </off topic>

[Adam Y.]

Wow I am saving up for this kit. No psp for me. Also what are those holes that aren't attached to anything. It looks like an expandable breadboard for a microcontroller or a bunch of inputs for sensors. Can you tell me?? Also would the edubot parts like the roller chain be compaitable with the vex kit?? It reminds me of an erector set and supposedly the first heart lung machine was built from an erector set.

[jamesgecko]

I've got one of these kits spread out on my desk. They are, indeed pretty sweet. It really is like an erector set with a few sensors and such. Also, I hear Radio Shack will be selling expansions for the thing.

[artdutra04]

Looking to buy parts from the VEX kits?
http://www.vexparts.com/

[Joe Johnson]

Originally Posted by artdutra04

Looking to buy parts from the VEX kits?
http://www.vexparts.com/

These is NOT the VEX parts in the kit. Some of the parts are the same but this really is just the IFI Isaac parts. None of the new improved stuff is listed as far as I can see.

FYI.

Joe J.

[devicenull]

I gotta go find one of these kits
There's only one thing I've seen that I dislike so far..

Custom RC Transmitter with 2 springloaded return to center X-Y joysticks on front and 2 sets of 2 finger switches on backside -- has more of the feel of a GamePad rather than a typical RC -- very nicely done.

IMO, they should have designed a snap-in holder for that controller and the OI, meaning teams could use the controller, or design their own.. I like customizing my controls

Couple questions, Is it C coding? And... does it support auton mode?

[Adam Y.]

Couple questions, Is it C coding? And... does it support auton mode?

Yes it supports auton mode but no we don't know how it is coded.

[Joe Johnson]

Originally Posted by devicenull

I gotta go find one of these kits
There's only one thing I've seen that I dislike so far..


IMO, they should have designed a snap-in holder for that controller and the OI, meaning teams could use the controller, or design their own.. I like customizing my controls

Couple questions, Is it C coding? And... does it support auton mode?

From the looks of it, I am guessing that RC Transmitter is just a standard Futaba RC Transmitter in a new shell. I am sure that other RC Transmitter's will work with the receiver on Robot.

There are many whitepapers floating around the internet (some on ChiefDelphi.com I think) on how to adapt switches, joysticks, etc. to RC transmitters.

OR if you are so inclined, you can get something like THIS TRANSMITTER that lets you control an RC transmitter via a PC (USB and Gameport versions available). Once you have the transmitter controlled by a PC, it is a fairly easy matter to write a VB program to read Joysticks, Gamepads or even THIS I/O BOX to control your VEX robot.

It is all costs money but the cool factor would be pretty high.

Joe J.

[BrianBSL]

As far as I know, there is currentally no provision for programming the Vex kits, however there is a serial port that uses a 6 conductor phone connector, but I am not sure of the pinout of this, nor do I want to assume that the code from the 2004 EDU-RC's is compatable with these kits without hearing from someone at IFI/IFO/RS. In addition, there is some type of IR port on the controller, although I am not sure what this is used for. There is also no autonomous mode in the game.

The transmitter also adds a teather port on the back side. All kits came with the same crystal set (all 12 of ours are chan 61). The reciever uses a 4 conductor phone cable, leading me to believe there is some sort of data modulation going on there, although I haven't had a chance to really look into it. The rules say you can use 2 transmitters to control your robot, allowing a driver and operator. The default code is quite robust for default code, and configurable with jumpers that come in the kit.

As far as battery packs, although it is not clearly specified in the rules, they do say you can not modify the battery pack, therefore I believe they want you to use rechargable AA's (we just ordered 100 of them and will be making adapters to charge these packs with the old Robovation chargers).

[devicenull]

I guess it's possible to modify the controller to put a couple of the joystick ports on the outside.. They would be limited to what the old joysticks are.. but thats not a major problem. Joystick controller would be very cool

I would love to have the spec's of this kit released, as I'm going to get one as soon as they are released, and I have the money for it.

Maybe I should make a wall adapter for it with like a 25 foot cord, just for testing it

[jamesgecko]

When the kit hits 1.0, there will be coding stuff. There is actually a section in the manual marked "Programming", but it's empty atm. I'm guessing we'll be able to have code in the october comp.

[seanwitte]

I saw the kits yesterday and the system is pretty impressive. The Vex team my Dad is working with built the default "Square Bot" in the manual and had it driving around. The kit comes with large, sturdy plastic gears instead of the sprockets and chain in the Robovation kit. Removing that slop in the drive base made a huge difference, and with the rollerblade wheels its drives great.

The controller looks like a repackaged version of the mini-RC, complete with a set of interrupt inputs. The radios are really nice as well, I'm amazed at what they include for only $300.00.

[Collmandoman]

Would be a fun thingto use the camera with.. if that even works

[Scott Chambliss]

VEX Motor and Servo Information

The following information on the VEX motor and servo were derived from test conducted on April 28 with the test setup indicated. The hardware components are form the VEX kit. The measurement instrument is a HALAD +/- 150 gram gauge. This data is provided to any team who wishes to use it at there own risk. Hopefully official specifications in more detail will be released soon.

Supply voltage beginning of test (controller off) 8.21 V
Supply voltage controller on but no motor load 8.14 V
VEX controller current (no motor load) 95 mA
Controller and motor with no load 300 mA
Motor speed no load 100 rpm
Controller and motor with (motor stalled) 1.6 A
Stall torque (100 gram @ 24.5 in) 2,450 inch grams

Note torque limiting clutch did not activate in stall condition.
Torque limiting clutch measured manually. 3,185 inch grams.

The similar torque measurements (Qty 50) for the servo were less consistent.

Supply voltage beginning of test (controller off) 7.92 V
Supply voltage controller on but no motor load 7.73 V
VEX controller current (no motor load) 85 mA
Controller and servo with (servo motor stalled) 1.3 A
Stall torque reading ranging from 100 grams to 140 grams at the end of a 22 inch arm.
2,200 inch-grams
to 3,080 inch grams.

I hope this helps other in their design effort.

Gardner Chambliss
VEX Team FRV-48
First Team 1648