Sothis new productjust popped up on AndyMark today…
Last year they released the track drive and we had to traverse daunting obstacles…
This year they are releasing a wheel that “gives way to allow rigid objects to be manipulated easily. This makes for high-performance intakes and internal conveyors.”
Thanks for the hint AndyMark.
Looks to me like we will be handling rigid, chunky shaped coal game pieces this season.
I didn’t notice the bit about rigid objects - half the appeal at first glance is that it is like the Entrapption Stars, but with a hex bore.
Edit: are we getting wiffle balls?
I believe this was also around the time that the Rhino Drive was released. I think you’re on to something.
For picking up cogs and gear game pieces to hang somewhere obviously 
Creative reuse of the leftovers from last year’s field…
The Rhino Drive was actually a coincidence and had nothing to do with the upcoming 2016 game.
Obviously this is a throwback year and we’ll be driving over corn again.
Do you have proof of this? I know Andymark was aware of atleast the basic game concept early. Even if there was some coincidence and the product was already in development, I have no doubt AM sped up the creation of the product once they knew about the game. The story I have heard was it was for non-frc use and I have a hard time thinking they would spend valuable time around the FRC season spent on a non FRC product.
Do I think these wheels mean the game has a hard object? Not necessarily. These remind me of the conveyor belt wheels or “marshmallow” wheels as I have heard a lot of people call them. I am really happy that these are going to be made now with a 1/2" hex interface as it saves the need for a hub or a broaching operation.
This sure is reinforcing the idea that some object (or different objects) representing coal are the gamepieces.
Do you have proof of this? I know Andymark was aware of atleast the basic game concept early. Even if there was some coincidence and the product was already in development, I have no doubt AM sped up the creation of the product once they knew about the game. The story I have heard was it was for non-frc use and I have a hard time thinking they would spend valuable time around the FRC season spent on a non FRC product.
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For this season, FIRST did give some distributors, including Andymark, advanced notice about some qualities of the game. I would not be suprised if they have done the same for the coming season. Read here for full information.
Does $6 for a 2" wheel seem a bit steep to anyone else?
[EDIT: just saw how expensive the tear drop flex rollers are!!!]
Seen similar wheels on many 2015 robots for landfill tote gathering.
I never understood why they were made with a 0.5" square bore instead of hex. I imagine (with absolutely no real-world testing of course) these new wheels won’t work as well as the entrapption stars for intakes of spheres, like the boulders this year because the stars can get more than tangential contact. I would love to see AndyMark come with with a v2 of the stars with a 0.5" hex bore just for ease of use.
As for wiffle balls, if you are talking about the am-3364 under “Customers Also Viewed”, they are game pieces for FTC this year, not a mistake by AndyMark in releasing FRC game pieces early.
We’ll know if we discover the game piece by accident because the thread with the discovery will get shut down.
Yes and no, they do appear to be waterjet out of sheet… and the material isn’t that cheap. For low qty production the price seems about right.
[QOUTE]I never understood why they were made with a 0.5" square bore instead of hex. I imagine (with absolutely no real-world testing of course) these new wheels won’t work as well as the entrapption stars for intakes of spheres, like the boulders this year because the stars can get more than tangential contact. I would love to see AndyMark come with with a v2 of the stars with a 0.5" hex bore just for ease of use.
Looks like these would be fairly easy to modify by cutting the ring out and getting 6 point star.
Ooh, this looks really nice. These wheels would be super helpful for intaking rigid game pieces. At first glace, I was concerned about the hex shaft turning inside of the hex, but .425 is a hilariously heavy interference fit. I do wonder if using Thunderhex with these wheels would pose any issues. I doubt it, but I can’t really say for sure.
Not really. What’s your alternative for this application?
I’ve seen team use something similar to the 4" flex wheel from McMaster (2497K12 for example). Those are $30+.
Another alternative was making your own roller from polyurethane tubing - which isn’t cheap either.
David
True, but then they wouldn’t be COTS. So they take manufacturing time and replacements, which will probably be necessary as they take a beating spinning at high speeds, will count against withholding. Also just the extra effort. Comparatively, I would rather pay an extra dollar or two per wheel/star to get a COTS 0.5" hex star than have to modify it. That’s just me coming from a small team with limited manpower and manufacturing capabilities; I imagine for larger teams like 973 that is not a problem.
A good “on a budget” alternative to these holed wheels is always the banebot wheel (orange or bue ideally, which are -/+ 5A of these wheels respectively). They worked well in 2015, so I can’t imagine them not working well if we’re getting rigid game pieces next year
Could just be me never having used the material but .425" seem like it would be fairly extreme for an interference fit.
I noticed that as well, but I’m assuming the AndyMark team found it was easy enough to use.