VEXPro 2014 Product Initial Impressions

[Paul Copioli]

Originally Posted by Ricky Q.

The CIM-ile ratios are now posted and it is also back In Stock.

Ratio with RS-550: 9:29
Ratio with RS-775: 12:29

Best,
Ricky

For those of you that use the other notation (like me), these are speed reducing, torque increasing gearboxes designed to make the motors "match" a CIM motor both physically and speed characteristics.

[topgun]

Can we sandwich a 4" VersaWheel between two HTD pulleys set up for 15mm belts, similar to what is done with the center wheel in the KOP drivetrain?

Essentially it will be pulley-wheel-pulley.

We don't need a versahub in between, correct? Also, what size of #8 bolts do we need? The max on the Vexpro site is 2". This looks like it would be longer.

Thanks.

[Arpan]

Originally Posted by Andrew Lawrence

The shipping delays were bad for a lot of teams, but IFI and WCP have had nothing but the best customer service during the course of this season so far. They did everything in their power to get teams their parts as quickly as possible, given the low inventory they had a large mass of orders to tend to, and have been very transparent to teams about the given situation. To blatantly call out their customer service and degrade it (especially in a thread where you claim your only intent is product performance) is not only disrespectful, but also embarrassing to see from one of the top California teams.

Seconded! Vex has been incredibly upfront with the status of everything we've ordered.

[magnets]

Originally Posted by Andrew Lawrence

The shipping delays were bad for a lot of teams, but IFI and WCP have had nothing but the best customer service during the course of this season so far.

Bad? I'm waiting for parts ordered before build season started that were in stock.

However, this is the only bad thing about vp. Their gears are the cheapest, look the nicest and are generally quite good. I'm not a huge fan of the loose fits of the bearings on the dog gears, but that's pretty minor. Another note, the CAD models don't have the exact/real sizes, they have 1.125" for a press fit hole that's slightly under, and they don't always specify the tolerances and concentricity and the fancy datum stuff, but the vex parts do seem to be a step above other suppliers in terms of accuracy.

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by magnets

Another note, the CAD models don't have the exact/real sizes, they have 1.125" for a press fit hole that's slightly under, and they don't always specify the tolerances and concentricity and the fancy datum stuff, but the vex parts do seem to be a step above other suppliers in terms of accuracy.

Genuinely curious- have you seen another supplier provide 'fancy datum stuff' like concentricity of a gear profile -> bearing hole?

If you are talking specifically about how round bearing openings are in plates, I think you're referring to the measurement known as Roundness.

Either way, I've never seen much GD&T tolerancing appear on vendor specs before, so I'm wondering where the expectation for that information comes from?

-Brando

[magnets]

Originally Posted by Brandon Holley

Genuinely curious- have you seen another supplier provide 'fancy datum stuff' like concentricity of a gear profile -> bearing hole?

If you are talking specifically about how round bearing openings are in plates, I think you're referring to the measurement known as Roundness.

Either way, I've never seen much GD&T tolerancing appear on vendor specs before, so I'm wondering where the expectation for that information comes from?

-Brando

Oops, I meant to add that I wasn't upset because none of the other suppliers really have them. I'm not looking for roundness on the bearing holes as they tend to be quite round, but my problem with the dog gear was the diameter was a touch bigger than I would have made it.

Knowing if stuff is really concentric can really help with design to locate features. For instance, the versa pattern thing on vex parts is very accurately concentric, but for instance, some of the recesses for fastener heads in the gearboxes for mounting aren't quite concentric with the mounting hole. In normal use, it doesn't really matter, but if you're using the plates/gearbox your own application, it's nice to know.

I wouldn't mind seeing stuff like circular runout on hubs and stuff. Whenever our kids draw a part in CAD, I have them do all the GD&T dimensions. We've got a great machinist who won't work with kids and drawings who don't have a good understanding of GD&T. As a result, we end up with a bunch of high school kids who really understand dimensioning parts and tolerances for machining and who understand how poor the field drawing FIRST supplies are.

[Paul Copioli]

Originally Posted by magnets

Oops, I meant to add that I wasn't upset because none of the other suppliers really have them. I'm not looking for roundness on the bearing holes as they tend to be quite round, but my problem with the dog gear was the diameter was a touch bigger than I would have made it.

Knowing if stuff is really concentric can really help with design to locate features. For instance, the versa pattern thing on vex parts is very accurately concentric, but for instance, some of the recesses for fastener heads in the gearboxes for mounting aren't quite concentric with the mounting hole. In normal use, it doesn't really matter, but if you're using the plates/gearbox your own application, it's nice to know.

I wouldn't mind seeing stuff like circular runout on hubs and stuff. Whenever our kids draw a part in CAD, I have them do all the GD&T dimensions. We've got a great machinist who won't work with kids and drawings who don't have a good understanding of GD&T. As a result, we end up with a bunch of high school kids who really understand dimensioning parts and tolerances for machining and who understand how poor the field drawing FIRST supplies are.

We agree on this: Good GD & T is essential to make parts that function properly and as required. All of our manufacturing drawings have fully dimensioned drawings with GD & T per ISO standards. Our customer interface drawings will never have them. Why? We believe that is proprietary information. We believe that prescribing total runout (because concentricity in the GD&T world has nothing to do with rotating a surface around an axis) for a hexagonal hole is one of the most complicated things to get right.

So, in general, for VEXpro items, things that are supposed to be locating features (versakey system, bearing bores) will be true and things that are fastening (screw counterbores) will be at the maximum allowable tolerance for the fastener to fit.

[Ian Curtis]

Originally Posted by magnets

Whenever our kids draw a part in CAD, I have them do all the GD&T dimensions. We've got a great machinist who won't work with kids and drawings who don't have a good understanding of GD&T.

I don't think they make great machinists that will work with people who don't have a good understanding of GD&T. Watching people realize how hard it is to really know where something is is one of my favorite parts of the manufacturing phase of FRC.

[Grant Cox]

Originally Posted by magnets

Bad? I'm waiting for parts ordered before build season started that were in stock.

magnets - Please reply to this thread (or send me a PM) with your order number and who you ordered it from (WCP, Robot Space, or VEXpro) and we can look up the status of your order.

[Allison K]

I'm happy with the VEXPro experience thus far. We've had a few hiccups, but all of them due to user error (which is all well and good, it's a learning experience, the products aren't supposed to do the thinking for us)

Gussets - The gussets have all been great. We are using a number of them, and the concept has inspired the students to design their own custom gussets as well. They were so enthused about it that they went out and found waterjet sponsors so that they can expand on our VEXPro stock with their own custom additions. We switched to 5/32" rivets this year so that we could cut down on the number of drill bits we needed to stock and generally simplify fabrication (same hole size for #8 clear and 5/32" rivets). The only downside we've found with the 5/32" over 3/16" is that we can't get countersunk rivets for 5/32", which is fine because we don't actually need countersunk rivets for any reason, and if ever we do we'll just drill the holes out to 3/16".

VersaFrame 1x1 and 1x2 - My students have been drilling spectacularly centered holes on their tubes. They are all rookie students so I don't have last year to compare, perhaps they are just all naturally gifted fabricators. I think it's more likely that the etching on the tube is providing enough of a reference and guide to get the holes properly centered on the first try.

No specific comments on the other products yet as we haven't spent enough time with them.

Originally Posted by T^2

On the VEXPro website, the option to purchase a pneumatic shifting cylinder is separated from the option to purchase the base kit. I'm sure there could be legitimate reasons for this, but what I see is a blatant attempt to obfuscate realistic pricing data from the buyer. What a poor way to treat your customers. Please prove my accusations groundless.

Wait, what? It was stated multiple times in bold font that the cylinder is not included in the base kit. I figured it was because many teams would rather not spend $80 on new ones and would prefer to recycle the ones they had from last year.

[Trent B]

Originally Posted by Aren_Hill

With a BAG or 775 you should be fine with the metal plate, 550 or AM9015 you should replace to the plastic plate.

It has a BAG motor so we should be fine.

Thanks