New Vex Mecanum

[wilsonmw04]

Originally Posted by Ether

Yes. Vex tested them:

The OP might have been asking for real world testing. After the issues with VEX's last iteration, I would consider that prudent.

[Mike Marandola]

Originally Posted by wilsonmw04

The OP might have been asking for real world testing. After the issues with VEX's last iteration, I would consider that prudent.

Wouldn't real world testing be competition? So the next best thing would be the kind of testing that Aren did.

[ehochstein]

Originally Posted by Mike Marandola

Wouldn't real world testing be competition? So the next best thing would be the kind of testing that Aren did.

Perhaps they did competition test them? I haven't seen any data on CD or the VexPro website with test data. All I know is that they were tested and that they were tested...

Originally Posted by Aren_Hill

...until we wore the rubber off the rollers, no more broken tabs.

Unless you email VexPro, you probably won't know how the wheels were tested. For all we know they could have tested the wheels with a 50 pound robot, which is unlikely but without data we don't know.

[Tim Sharp]

We bought a set of the new rollers and installed them on last year's machine. We've been running it around the shop as vigorously as possible for the last two days. We have experienced zero breakage and only normal signs of wear.

We have decided that Vex solved their issues from last year and we have confidence in the new design.

[wilsonmw04]

Originally Posted by Tim Sharp

We bought a set of the new rollers and installed them on last year's machine. We've been running it around the shop as vigorously as possible for the last two days. We have experienced zero breakage and only normal signs of wear.

We have decided that Vex solved their issues from last year and we have confidence in the new design.

If I remember correctly, most folks would have said the exact same thing at this point last year.. Last year's model failed after more than a few hours of usage.

[Tim Sharp]

Originally Posted by wilsonmw04

If I remember correctly, most folks would have said the exact same thing at this point last year.. Last year's model failed after more than a few hours of usage.

Correct. We can still tell a difference though. The signs of looseness and fatigue showed up early last year. They didn't start breaking until after extended use. We aren't seeing the looseness occur yet. I'll post an update after another week or so.

[GilaMonsterAlex]

We have a set as well, and will hopefully be running them Saturday. We'll post any info as we go along.

[Aren_Hill]

All, the testing we completed with the 6" mecanums was fairly simple, four wheels, properly oriented, test bed weighed up to 150lbs (max robot with batteries and bumpers), and then handed to a High school intern who has no regard for the safety and well being of the wheels.
He was then told "break these" and came back after several hours of driving with the rubber worn off the rollers, no broken tabs.

I later found out his testing included driving around on sidewalks and over significant bumps and door jams, in addition to running around on FRC carpet.

Note, we are also working on specific testing on the current field with additional weight for the game pieces, we expect positive results given the previous testing described above.

Hope this answers your questions,

-Aren

[JesseK]

Originally Posted by Aren_Hill

I later found out his testing included driving around on sidewalks and over significant bumps and door jams, in addition to running around on FRC carpet.

Was the driving robot centric or field centric going down that sidewalk

[wilsonmw04]

Originally Posted by Aren_Hill

All, the testing we completed with the 6" mecanums was fairly simple, four wheels, properly oriented, test bed weighed up to 150lbs (max robot with batteries and bumpers), and then handed to a High school intern who has no regard for the safety and well being of the wheels.
He was then told "break these" and came back after several hours of driving with the rubber worn off the rollers, no broken tabs.

I later found out his testing included driving around on sidewalks and over significant bumps and door jams, in addition to running around on FRC carpet.

Note, we are also working on specific testing on the current field with additional weight for the game pieces, we expect positive results given the previous testing described above.

Hope this answers your questions,

-Aren

Thank you for the information. Can you comment on the 4" wheels and the testing they under went last year and what they are going through this year.

[Aren_Hill]

Originally Posted by wilsonmw04

Thank you for the information. Can you comment on the 4" wheels and the testing they under went last year and what they are going through this year.

The Drill was exactly the same, except they were mounted in a 2014 Drive In a day, rather than the test bed we'd used for the 6" wheels, which was a 2013 Drive in a day.

-Aren

[Monochron]

Originally Posted by ehochstein

Unless you email VexPro, you probably won't know how the wheels were tested. For all we know they could have tested the wheels with a 50 pound robot, which is unlikely but without data we don't know.

FYI Aren Hill IS Vex, he is one of the engineers there. I'm sure he'll provide more data on their testing if you ask.

[ehochstein]

Originally Posted by Monochron

FYI Aren Hill IS Vex, he is one of the engineers there. I'm sure he'll provide more data on their testing if you ask.

I apologize, I should have been more clear in my post. I was attempting to say that Aren did indeed say they were tested but did not provide the testing means.

He has now provided the details that were missing.

Originally Posted by Aren_Hill

All, the testing we completed with the 6" mecanums was fairly simple, four wheels, properly oriented, test bed weighed up to 150lbs (max robot with batteries and bumpers), and then handed to a High school intern who has no regard for the safety and well being of the wheels.
He was then told "break these" and came back after several hours of driving with the rubber worn off the rollers, no broken tabs.

-Aren

[Ether]

Originally Posted by ehochstein

Aren did indeed say they were tested but did not provide the testing means.

He has now provided the details that were missing.

All it took was to ask him to post more detail (as I did in an email to the address he gave).

[ehochstein]

Originally Posted by Ether

All it took was to ask him to post more detail (as I did in an email to the address he gave).

I know, I prefer public information to private. Unfortunately, many teams won't go through the process to contact a company to acquire information. Personally, I would love to see the testing processes used on all AM and VEX products on the product webpages.

AndyMark did a great job documenting their tests on their Mecanum wheels, while haven't seen any quantifiable data on the VEX wheels.

I'm curious how the VEX wheels would hold up if they were put through the same tests as the AndyMark wheels.