Over the weekend we realized how many options we now have for various robot parts when we were trying to determine which gearbox was best suited for our needs. We were navigating multiple websites and multiple products on each website comparing their specs and verifying they did what we needed.
We wished there was a better way and decided to do something about it. We created Find Robot Parts: http://findrobotparts.com/ to quickly navigate through gearboxes, motors, and sensors from various websites.
We hope this is a great new asset for all FRC teams and plan to expand it as we find time.
P.S. We are sure we missed something or entered something incorrectly so please let us know. We want this to be as accurate as possible.
Nice work! The filtering interface looks great, reminds me of McMaster.
I feel like this could be a great means of bringing greater awareness to “lesser known” COTs products, which don’t come from FRC-focused vendors but nevertheless are extremely useful in FRC applications. Things like alternate compressors and solenoids which fit the rules and may offer advantages, for example.
FYI, The Robot Space is another awesome supplier of VEXPro parts. Super speedy shipping within Michigan (and presumably Ohio/Indiana/other midwestern states, but I can only personally vouch for Michigan).
Great site overall; I just have a few observations/suggestions.
For numeric specifications (gearbox reduction, motor speed, motor power, etc), narrowing down options by (user-specified?) ranges may be more useful than just selecting exact numbers.
Sorting the tables by columns other than the default should be an option.
Operating ranges and input voltage (especially if it’s not 5V, though I think they all are 5V) may be useful for sensors.
CIM compatible mounting is a useful specification to know for gearboxes.
Weight would be useful for motors and gearboxes.
Wheels and sprockets/pulleys would be my choices for categories to add next if you’re looking to expand.
I’ll also plug The Robot Space – I’m in Pennsylvania, and I appreciate that if I order something from them, it usually arrives 2-3 weekdays after the date I ordered it.
Joe:
Great idea on the compressors, that is exactly the type of thing we want to highlight.
Allison & Ben:
We will look into that site and any links.
Max:
-We will look into letting the user enter a range, might not be available for a while
-We talked about sorting but it didn’t make a lot of sense since there can be multiple values in a column and then you need to decide on which item to sort by.
-CIM compatible mounting is already listed (under output shaft as 8mm)
-We can look into operating ranges
-Weight is a good idea and another thing we will look into
-Wheels/sprockets/pulleys are another item we will look into
“CIM compatible mounting” refers to an 8mm keyed output shaft and an even number of 10-32 tapped holes on a 2" circle. I’m fairly confident your assertion that all of the motors listed as having an 8mm output shaft have that hole pattern is correct, but it’s still something I feel is worth listing separately.
I’ll second the recommendation for pneumatic components as well.
We appreciated all the feedback and after a couple of discussions we will be doing the following very soon:
Compressors
Accumulators (Pneumatic Tanks)
Only problem is we don’t know where to get these besides the vendors we already list on the site. Where do you get them?
Other changes we are making based on feedback is adding The Robot Space and more sensors. If there are any specific sensors you think are missing please post them.
Nice site, definitely looks like a good place to go to quickly compare parts. Should also be a great resource to give rookies once it’s complete.
It would be great if there was a category/filter for the published weight of items. When you’re trying to narrow down your choices between several similar products, weight can play a huge factor in decision making.
Also, I’ll add a +1 to adding The Robot Space, they’re great for getting Vex parts fast in the Northern Midwest (especially Michigan).
You can also buy Bimba cylinders directly from Bimba’s website (that might be tough to integrate, since you can pretty much change any option on the cylinder) or McMaster.
This is an awesome idea and I love the clean layout of the site. If I may make a suggestion, you should add bumper materials. We at robopromo.com have been helping teams with all things bumper related for five years now - from the raw materials themselves to customizing iron on numbers and even making pre-sewn bumper kits to help teams save time during the build season. It could be another helpful addition to the site.
We are truly amazed at the feedback we are getting both in email, this thread, and in person. The limiting factor in us getting new categories posted on the website is the time it takes to do the research.
If people are interested we have created a Google Spreadsheet that everyone can update. Once we see enough data in a category we will add it to the site.
