Opinions on A/M battery cart?

[ToddF]

We're getting started on summer projects, and one is a new battery cart. Before we start designing a new one from scratch, are there any opinions on the quality of the AndyMark battery cart? It's listed at $310, and for that price, we'd buy one rather than spending valuable development time designing and building another one. But, only if it's of quality construction. The one comment on the AM website talks of it being tippy, but we can solve that problem. Any photos of one in the wild? Is the sheet metal substantial, or flimsy? Is it powder coated?

I'm very leery of purchasing a product where the vendor only posts CAD screenshots. That's usually an indication that no one would buy the product if the vendor posted a photo of the actual product.

[jvdiv]

They show off the cart in the early stages in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KXdUfH_vhQ#t=83

[ToddF]

Originally Posted by jvdiv

They show off the cart in the early stages in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KXdUfH_vhQ#t=83

1/8" powder coated aluminum. Sweet.

[Richard Wallace]

The AndyMark battery cart looks nice and solid, and appears to make a convenient mentor seat also -- as Andy demonstrated in the linked video.

I also like the RoboPromo battery rack. Unfortunately, that one does not have the useful function that Andy demonstrated. However, it does take up less floor space. And it is quite easy to handle.

[hrench]

Originally Posted by Richard Wallace

I also like the RoboPromo battery rack. Unfortunately, that one does not have the useful function that Andy demonstrated. However, it does take up less floor space. And it is quite easy to handle.

The robopromo one looks really nice, but at one time our team had batteries in a vertical tower and we got the 'sad face' from the safety people because they said batteries need to be close to the floor.

Since then, we've designed a multifunction tool-box cart (and it's even motorized) that has the battery chargers built in.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/FIRST...type=3&theater

It's been a great efficiency booster and I'd recommend that sort of thing. Hard to find room for a dedicated battery box in our crowded pit.

[Travis Hoffman]

Team 48 obtained an AndyMark battery cart and used it throughout our entire 2014 competition season, which includes 3 regionals, the FIRST Championship, the Ohio FRC State Championship, and several local demos. It has held up to whatever abuse we've given to it throughout those events. It rolls up into our trailer just fine.

We also noted the stability issue when using 4 swivel caster wheels and reported it to AM. Glad to hear they are working on that.

We build a wooden cover to slide down over the cart and contain/protect the contents while transporting in our trailer. The cover doubles as a stand when we're in our pit, raising the level of the battery cart and allowing us to use the top as a place for our programming laptop. See attached photo for an idea of the space the cart consumes.

We have the 3-shelf version - six batteries on the lower shelves, and 3 drill battery chargers lying on their side on the top shelf.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by hrench

The robopromo one looks really nice, but at one time our team had batteries in a vertical tower and we got the 'sad face' from the safety people because they said batteries need to be close to the floor.

I hope there was more to it than that. I've never noticed anything in the safety manual about battery altitude.

[hrench]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

I hope there was more to it than that. I've never noticed anything in the safety manual about battery altitude.

No rule book quote, but I can agree with the inspector that vertical batteries aren't safe. Looking at that robopromo, it looks to me like a bad idea to have that many heavy items on such a small footing.

Even the people that bought the Andymark cart say its 'tippy' --do you believe that roboproto stands up without duck-taping it to the pit-leg...?

Batteries smacking the floor could be problematic. If you knock that whole thing over, do you go ahead and compete with five compromised batteries?

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by hrench

No rule book quote, but I can agree with the inspector that vertical batteries aren't safe. Looking at that robopromo, it looks to me like a bad idea to have that many heavy items on such a small footing.

Even the people that bought the Andymark cart say its 'tippy' --do you believe that roboproto stands up without duck-taping it to the pit-leg...?

Batteries smacking the floor could be problematic. If you knock that whole thing over, do you go ahead and compete with five compromised batteries?

Looking at the geometry of it, I wouldn't be surprised if the robopromo rack is actually more stable.

[excel2474]

Originally Posted by hrench

No rule book quote, but I can agree with the inspector that vertical batteries aren't safe. Looking at that robopromo, it looks to me like a bad idea to have that many heavy items on such a small footing.

Even the people that bought the Andymark cart say its 'tippy' --do you believe that roboproto stands up without duck-taping it to the pit-leg...?

Batteries smacking the floor could be problematic. If you knock that whole thing over, do you go ahead and compete with five compromised batteries?

As the designer of the Robopromo battery rack, I can tell you that it is quite stable. I have not seen the AndyMark cart in person, so I cannot compare the stability of the two. Our team used 2 of these battery racks for the whole 2014 season and haven't had a problem with them tipping. If you buy one and decide you don't like it, feel free to return it.

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by ToddF

I'm very leery of purchasing a product where the vendor only posts CAD screenshots. That's usually an indication that no one would buy the product if the vendor posted a photo of the actual product.

In the specific niche market of FRC, I've found that product pictures that happen to be CAD renders are less about hiding an inferior product and more about getting a product information page up as soon as the product is developed. As AndyMark started selling this in the middle of the 2014 season they had quite the time crunch.

Some other great products, such as the Vex Pro Ball Shifter, also use renders on their product pages.

[Nick Lawrence]

Hi Todd,

As the designer of this cart, I can answer some of your questions directly.

Originally Posted by ToddF

The one comment on the AM website talks of it being tippy, but we can solve that problem.

Unfortunately, this is an issue. The folks down south are working on providing the best solution to fix this, either switching two of the casters to non-swivelling, or changing to using omni wheels with rigid brackets.

Originally Posted by ToddF

Is the sheet metal substantial, or flimsy?

The sheet metal used on the cart is completely 1/8" 5052 H32 AL. The structure of the cart is fastened with 1/4-20 hardware. It's pretty beefy, I've stood on one before and it didn't feel like it deflected at all.

Originally Posted by ToddF

Is it powder coated?

Yes! The cart is powder coated with the same black-wrinkle finish that we currently use on our FTC Field Perimeters. It's a nice and robust finish that should hold up to abrasion for some time.

Originally Posted by ToddF

I'm very leery of purchasing a product where the vendor only posts CAD screenshots. That's usually an indication that no one would buy the product if the vendor posted a photo of the actual product.

The reason that the picture on the website is a CAD screenshot is due to the fact that we were taking pre-orders for them when they were still being produced. We had a prototype at AndyMark, but it was not powder coated and would not have provided a suitable representation of what our customers would buy. I'll forward this note to the website guys about updating the photo.

If you have any more questions, I'm happy to answer them!

-Nick

[JeffersonMartin]

We used this cart at our second regional this year and loved it. It was certainly a bit tippy, and fell over once or twice, but held up to it. It is a very solid cart and I would definitely recommend it.

[ToddF]

It looks like we're going to order one. We expect that we'll need to redo the castors, either making two of them fixed, widening the wheelbase, or both. Thanks for all the responses, and looking forward to seeing photos on the website.