Andy should link to that on his product page. Very informative.
We’ve literally mounted the battery a different way every single season and not one of them was as slick as this.
Yeah, we’re working on that. I will make these changes by the end of the day.
eStop Robotics is headed up by mentors on FRC team 357: Joe Troy and Adam Schuman. Joe and Adam are trying to bring new things to the mobility robotics market, and I’m excited to see what they come up with in the future.
Sincerely,
Andy
ps… thanks for keeping this thread going. If anyone has questions on AM stuff, you can just post it here and I will answer quickly.
Has anyone else noticed that the standard 2.5" CIM motors are unavailable until Mid-January :eek: ? Conveniently Andy provides links to other retailers but, do you think it’s possible they’re stocking a new version that will be the default in the 2010 KOP or are they just that much in demand? Not trying to fling rumors, the only reason i wonder is because that’s quite a while away, and a little too convenient that they will go back on sale right around when the season starts (and the new 2010 KOP will be distributed to teams). I ask because we were going to pick up a few before the season since we were running low on back-ups. Don’t want to buy them from a different vendor only to find out that we can’t use them during the 2010 season.
But at the same time I also don’t think FIRST would exempt all previous years’ CIM motors from being used this year. Ahh, I’m so confused and I’m probably just failing to see something :o ! Opinions? I’m sure one of you can set my mind straight.
Technically they’ve always precluded previous years’ CIMs from being used except as a spare part. So you’re supposed to always purchase the new CIM motor model # if you want to upgrade from 2 CIMs to 4.
Inevitibly, one year the kit won’t come with any CIMs. What an interesting year that one will be …
Regarding the above posts, you might consider that FIRST has issued a caution several times against making any presumptions about what will or will not be permitted for use in the 2010 competition. Any team purchasing materials in anticipation of using them during the build season does so at their own risk. So you might want to think very carefully about expending any significant funds or effort pre-stocking materials before kick-off. You need to ask yourself “are we comfortable making this investment now, if we were to find out at kick-off that we could not use those parts?” How you respond to this will be tempered by your risk posture (and your available budget).
I only mention this as a caution, given the warning that we all read in the first paragraph of this entry in Bill’s Blog. As always, we have to remember that the rules from prior years DO NOT apply to this year’s competition.
-dave
…
[Unsubstantiated Speculation]
There may be a correlation between these things but it is unlikely the one you came to, AndyMark does not know specific details about 2010 (as far as I know) Now, FIRST may have gone to them and said, “I need 3000 CIM motors” or FIRST could have gone to AM’s supplier of CIM motors and bought the 3000 motors.
So, to answer your request, No I don’t think that AM is stocking the new motor in the KOP because I doubt they know what it is. Additionally, even if they DID know what it is they would be trying to either offload the remaining CIMS (I don’t know what percentage of AM’s business is composed of FRC teams but if it was significant this would be a logical move) or they would not be restocking them.
As for FIRST saying that we can’t use the CIM motors next year :
Welcome back from the holiday weekend. I spent my time at the lake mulling over the options for 2010 and am feeling energized. It’s too early to share the final details, but there will be change, so keep your options open as you plan for the season.
Anything can happen.
However, CIM motors are quite ideal for FIRST, they provide, in some people’s opinion, too much power in a reasonably light weight for a relatively low cost.
[/Speculation]
More unsubstantiated speculation: It’s not ENTIRELY unlikely that AM would not know about the 2010 game or details about the kit early. They obviously knew about the 2009 game and kit early, being the sole supplier of the wheels used in it.
So, to answer your request, No I don’t think that AM is stocking the new motor in the KOP because I doubt they know what it is. Additionally, even if they DID know what it is they would be trying to either offload the remaining CIMS (I don’t know what percentage of AM’s business is composed of FRC teams but if it was significant this would be a logical move) or they would not be restocking them.
Perhaps they’re not exactly telling the truth here.
That being said, the CIM motor is too awesome to drop out of the kit, but since nearly every offseason drive base, gearbox, etc. is designed around it, I would not be surprised if FIRST removed it from the kit for that reason alone.
So much of AM’s product line is CIM based that I doubt they would purposely not stock CIM’s until kickoff so I wouldn’t read anything into it.
However, that doesn’t mean we will or wont get CIM’s in this years kit.
I have a question about the Toughbox Nano
The picture on your website show that the middle shaft has the bearing held in with 2 screws and the cads show that it uses a hex bearing and a snap ring on the opposite side I am wondering is which is the real way it will be made.
Very good question. I need to upload a new CAD file, since the picture is correct and the CAD is wrong.
The problem is this: our 3/8" hex bearings were delivered last Friday, and the hex was made too small. This hex size should have been 0.375-0.3765", but it came in as 0.372". So, we have this large quantity of too-small 3/8" hex bearings.
The work-around for the Toughbox Nano is to use a regular round bore 3/8" bearing without a flange, and then retain the bearing in place with the two screws.
We are still working on getting the correct 0.375" hex bearings in, but we don’t know an exact delivery date yet.
Sincerely,
Andy
Andy,
Is there a way you can rebroach the hex in the center to get it up to >.375 ? There has been a couple of times where we’ve made our “hex bearings” (1/2 flanged bearing w/ a pressed in 1/2" OD 3/8" ID bushing) and had to rebroach them after everything was pressed together.
Brando
I’m guessing it’s hardened after broaching, in which case the answer would most likely be no.
No AM black friday deals? :rolleyes: 
Guess I’ll just have to save up some money for a pair of the shifters.
Yes, this is correct. We tried to broach these and just trim off the 0.001-2" per side, and the inner race immediately cracked. That steel is hard, and so is the broach.
Andy
I was there at 4 AM to get in, but the line stretched all the way across the front of the building and out to the Chrysler Plant on 31.
AM must have had some awesome deals.
Yeah thats what I figured, but it was worth a shot I suppose.