Armabot is excited about the new 2018 season! There are a bunch of new products on our site and a couple surprise products we will release near kickoff. Currently we are busy getting parts plated, kits finalized, and wrapping up documentation. Our goal is to get everything ready by kickoff, a few parts are not in yet, but we’ll keep you updated. Check out some of the new goodies below and at www.armabot.com:
We are doing the RS7 encoder voucher again this year, so be sure to get it by using your team code in the discount area. This has been extensively tested on the 775pro motor, and should also work on the 775 Redline motor. It’s still TBD if it’s compatible with the new Ozzyboard connector PCB.
The Right Angle Drive bolts to a Versa Planetary Gearbox. It drives a 3/8” hex shaft, and sports a 6061 aluminum housing. This assembly is fairly compact and can help a bunch fitting into the place you need.
Do you love the West Coast Products aluminum wheels? We do so much that we wanted to be able to have an easy time making perfect tread segments. Use this tool to make a bunch of these tread segments enabling switching tread at competition as desired. These wheels push!
Backshafter has a couple options that both come in the kit. One is to gang 2 775pro or Redline motors together. The other is to attach Versa Planetary gearboxes on both sides so that one motor drives two outputs. Use your imagination on what this could be good for!
ArmaVac is the top sucker on the market for FRC. It can be bolted up to a belly pan to suck a robot down or has an option for a standard PVC connection to route vacuum power via rigid or flex tube PVC.
Laminated Ballast Mass, the name says it all. If you want professional looking COTS weight to get you right to 120lbs, this is the right stuff. Put them in an easy to reach spot (bottom of belly pan) to remove a plate in case the inspection scales are off or you need to add some weight from a modification.
Do you have a tote full of Versa Planetary gear parts? Well this template should be in your tool box. Just match the gear to hole to figure out what ratio they belong to. Made of thick stainless steel so it’s built to last!
The Armabelts are back! We expanded the family to support the BAG motor and also included a dual motor option.
Last and probably least, the HD Ratchet. Go figure that this may be obsolete before it makes it out of the gate. Maybe someone would have a reason to use this over the new awesome Vex addition. Perhaps if your robot winch is tightened like a spring against a davit and you need to whack the release lever with a hammer?
About your Laminated Ballast Mass- what does the hole spacing look like? Any chance we could get a simple cad model? Bolting to the bottom of a bellypan is a really great idea, just want to make sure it meshes with a convenient hole pattern!
What does the wiring process look like for the RS7 Encoder? Looks really awesome and convenient (sorta like a cimcoder) especially with the voucher, though I am curious about how it’s wired to the control system.
Lastly, ArmaVac?! At this point I’m just curious- what could this possibly be used for on a FRC Robot? Is it even legal? What could teams do with it?
Thanks for all your hard work on these great products!
As Andrew alluded to, you can suck towards the ground and generate force downwards, increasing traction without increasing mass.
I’m not sure how significant and useful this is in real life though. Could be the difference between winning and losing a pushing match, or maybe it steals precious current away from the drivetrain.
Having a cots option for vacuum will be nice. We’ve played with it before - last in 2010 for a ball magnet, but other teams have made them work quite well. 1771 comes to mind in 2008.
The fans draw air from the bottom of the car and send it—along with dust, debris, oil sprays, and the occasional grass clippings—to the back, presumably into the faces of other drivers. These drivers inevitably raised a stink to Hall about it: we can’t see when you’re in front, we’re getting sprayed with all of this debris. “Well,” said the taciturn Hall, “why don’t you pass me then?”
Awesome. Is there any chance of you selling the square tube component separately since the 3/8" bearings and miters gears presumably make up a big part of the cost?
We will post drawings and cad for most items including the Laminated Ballast Mass. The dimensions are a little unique since we made each plate weigh exactly 1lb.
The RS7 encoder is well documented from last year. We usually use a Talon SRX Encoder Breakout Board from Vex, or wire the A,B,Vdc,GND between two digital ports on the Roborio. One of the students I mentor for on 5818 did a great write-up on how to hook everything up for PID control of a motor.
Some others posted some great examples for ArmaVac ideas
We’ve done vacuums twice (2004, 2008) with the large exercise balls. I’m assuming the rules still allow it, though I haven’t checked carefully. The only hurdle was using legal motors. We pulled an impeller from a vacuum and replaced the motor and then attached this all to a trashcan lid with rubber/foam attached to its rim. Once you had a vacuum, nobody was knocking the ball away from you. In 2004 during testing, they put it on the shop window and a student was doing pull-ups on it.
Do you have any testing data from the ArmaVac? A fan curve would be ideal, but difficult to obtain. Can you hook it up to a long vertical tube and see how many inches of water it can pull up?
