pic: The Beginings of a Vex-Legal Space Elevator

[Greg Marra]

Sweet!

[Jay Trzaskos]

I wonder if the server rails we used in our tower/shuttle were the inspiration for these additions to the VEX line up? Or maybe it has something to do with Rack Solutions ties to VEX Labs. I'm sure john could clear this up for us.

JT
229

EDIT: For any of you who don't know, IFI, VEX Labs, Rack Solutions.com and Rack Solutions.co.uk are all part of Invovation FIRST, inc.

[JVN]

Originally Posted by Jay Trzaskos

I wonder if the server rails we used in our tower/shuttle were the inspiration for these additions to the VEX line up? Or maybe it has something to do with Rack Solutions ties to VEX Labs. I'm sure john could clear this up for us.

The server rails we used on 229 last year are from the Accuride 2907 series. These are low-friction slides using ball-bearings. (I used these rails last summer, during my RackSolutions internship. When we were designing our 2005 robot, I remembered them and integrated them into our elevator.)

The VexLABS-Slide Rails are patterned after a different (simpler), friction based design. (No bearings). That RackSolutions came up with for some of our medium duty applications. This design was easily adapated to Vex.

The basic design is that there are 2 "C" sections, which sit inside each other. They slide back and forth on their "corners" and not on their edges, which provides a happily low-friction motion, while maintaining good linear allignment. (See attachment.)

I'm very proud of this rail design, and can't wait to see it released as a product. Art certainly proved to us that it will be well utilized. We at VexLABS continue to be impressed by the high quality of his robot designs, and of his dedication to the Vex program.

Thanks Again Art!
-JV