COTS Parts made just for FIRST Robots

[sanddrag]

If there was a company that sold parts just made specifically for FIRST robots (yes, I know you are thinking AndyMark) what kinds of products would you like to see (be specific) and what kind of prices would you pay and how much interest would there be in such a thing? Thanks.

Please do not make this into a thread debating why this is a good or bad thing. Keep it to part and pricing suggestions only.

[NoodleKnight]

I'd like a company that stocks every type, size, and maybe shape, of gears and sprockets known to this world -- also priced reasonably. If this did exist, I'd be happy.

EDIT: Also it would be nice if they can ship to anywhere in the world -- and send it fast. Oh, and also not run out of stock and put their customers on backorder.

[RogerR]

product: wheels (no tires!) in a variety of sizes that are key-able. something like skyway's tuff-wheels, but smaller (ex: i'm in the market for 4" dia 2" wide), that we could add our own tread material to.

price: cheap, preferably. but quick turn-around time is important, and often worth paying (extra) for.

[Paul H]

This is one big thing I've been thinking about....

I'd like to see machined aluminum wheels with tread material, like so many teams made this year (60, 217, 229, 254, etc.)

Maybe two versions, one with a keyed hole and one with bearings

And of course a way to mount sprockets to both

Various thicknesses and diameters


And for the price....around what it would cost to buy wheelchair wheels, hubs and tread....and it would have to weigh less to make it justifiable.



Maybe also some sort of arm transmission with similar reduction to the double kit gearbox, just smaller/lighter.

[sanddrag]

Thanks for the input. Keep it coming. But for the price please cite specific dollar amounts. Thanks.

[Paul H]

Hmmm...I'd have to say no more than $50 for a 6" by 1.5" wheel (those are about the dimensions that I'd be interested in)...AndyMark trick wheels are $52 for 6 inch ones.

That would come out to $300 for wheels for a 6 wheel drive train.

[Stephen Kowski]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

Thanks for the input. Keep it coming. But for the price please cite specific dollar amounts. Thanks.

probably a good way to find this is to design whatever it is and either shop it out to local machine shops to get quotes or use something like emachineshop.com's program to get an instant quote.....then price from there....although I probably would like to pay something in the $20-30 range, but I want a discount because I am involved in FIRST

[Cory]

Originally Posted by Paul H

Hmmm...I'd have to say no more than $50 for a 6" by 1.5" wheel (those are about the dimensions that I'd be interested in)...AndyMark trick wheels are $52 for 6 inch ones.

That would come out to $300 for wheels for a 6 wheel drive train.

That seems fairly expensive to me...

A plain aluminum wheel is far more simple to make than a set of omni wheels, I'd think they should be significantly less, as a result.

[Paul H]

Hmm, sounds good. I really have no idea what they would cost, so $50 was just a guess on the high side. $20 or so sounds better...now that I really think about it, a plate of aluminum and tread material isn't very expensive, I just don't know how much machining and everything costs.

[sanddrag]

A 6"x2" aluminum disc costs about $25 for the material. Machining that into a nice wheel would actually be quite a bit of work (it is not just a plate). We may be looking for the impossible here (in regards to the wheels and the price), but this is exactly the kind of feedback I'm looking for. I'm just curious on what the market would be for FIRST-specific items.

[ChrisCook]

Originally Posted by NoodleKnight

I'd like a company that stocks every type, size, and maybe shape, of gears and sprockets known to this world -- also priced reasonably. If this did exist, I'd be happy.

EDIT: Also it would be nice if they can ship to anywhere in the world -- and send it fast. Oh, and also not run out of stock and put their customers on backorder.

here here!!! I found it really hard find any type of gearing for our robot. That would definatly make it more fair in coming years.

[sanddrag]

I'm wondering, would there be any interest in a COTS frame? If so, what would it be (material, construction, configuration (long/wide), how many wheels, etc) and how much would you expect to pay for it?

[Stephen Kowski]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

I'm wondering, would there be any interest in a COTS frame? If so, what would it be (material, construction, configuration (long/wide), how many wheels, etc) and how much would you expect to pay for it?

honestly I wouldn't expect to pay much for it. I can get a entire frame made for less than $50 so i don't expect your ROI would be very high for a frame. But that is just one person's opinion. Plus it would have to be very impressive to beat out what comes in the kit (not that it couldn't be done, but the kit had about everything). I just think a frame would have so many small elements like you mention you would have to plan for would make it a very tough job. As I said before I just do not think your ROI would be very high for a product that teams either can get "free" in the kit or if they do not want that solution they would probably do something custom anyways. that's just my 2 cents.

[Andrew Rudolph]

I would like to see some gearboxes made for arms and things like that using the FP motors. Gear them down to like 15 RPM, maybe even have them with no backdrive. About the Same cost as andymark gearboxes.

Maybe sell a frame with a prebuilt 4 or 6 wheel drive, or where you could buy a frame, wheels and gearboxes from you to quickly make a 4 or 6 wheel drive. Like the kit bot but better. Of course you take a big chance in case the kit bot is improved and your product isnt any better than the kit bot. The frame should cost around what a simmilar frame of 80/20 would cost.

[Joe Johnson]

1) I think a good channel select, Autonomous Mode select, Estop box would be great.

2) I would also like a turn key, wireless programming link (including the ability to activate the "robot reset" and "program" switches.

3) Although IFI is probably about to redo the IO, I think it would be great to have some easy breakout board that would make customizing OI easier. I am thinking something that would plug into all the joystick ports but it would allow you to plug in 4 joysticks but you could use jumpers to map any of the joystick switches and pots to any of the joystick ports.

Also, I'd put a few LEDs on the board and some switches, along with a few slider pots and a few knobs and let those be patched in easily too.

It is probably not going to happen, but it would be a nice thing to have.

Joe J.