RoboBitz - 2023/24 Product Releases

FIRST General Forum
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Introducing: RoboBitz

In and amongst all of the exciting product announcements from our fellow vendors, we would like to introduce ourselves to the FRC Community.

We are RoboBitz! Our goal is to provide FRC teams worldwide with affordable, high-quality products.

We have several new products that we are excited to introduce to you!

Products 2024:

Introducing: RoboRollerz

Carbon Fiber Roller - (RB-RR001)

RoboRollerz is a lightweight Carbon Fiber composite roller system developed specifically for FRC! This roller system is typically 25% lighter than comparable products.

You can join the composite revolution and take advantage of the weight and price savings in 2024 and beyond.

The RoboRollerz system has several custom options for driving your rollers. To go along with the Carbon Fiber Rollers, we have produced 4 RoboRoller Ends.

Blind Hex End - (RB-RR003)

Thru Hex End - (RB-RR004)

Integrated 18 Tooth Pulley - (RB-RR005)

Idle Roller End - (RB-RR006)

RoboRollerz Kits

To cover all of your roller needs we’ve put together 2 premade RoboRollerz Kit. The RoboRollerz Quickstart Kit (RB-RK001) contains a collection of all Roller ends and several Carbon Fiber Tubes. The RoboRollerz Intake Kit (RB-RK002) contains everything you would need to get an extremely light roller intake up and running.

Additional Products

In 2024 we will also be selling:

Bearings

  • ½” Hex Flanged - (RB-BB001) - $2.23 USD
  • ½” ID Round Flanged - (RB-BB002) - $1.86 USD
  • ⅜” ID Round Flanged - (RB-BB003) - $1.86 USD

Panel Mountable - Port Saving Cable Extensions

  • USB-B Extensions - (RB-EL001) - (3 Lengths)
  • RJ-45 Ethernet Extensions - (RB-EL004) - (3 Lengths)

Conclusion

We are very excited for this season to come and future product releases in following years! Stay posted for future announcements!

Find us @ www.RoboBitz.com

Thank you from the RoboBitz Team!
Jake & Adam

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16 posts were split to a new topic: Carbon Fiber Safety

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What materials are you printing from? Some of these products seem pricey for 3D printed components.

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I’m liking the multiple lengths of cables offered here. Typically the longest USB-B port-saver/extension I’ve found locally has maxed out at 12in (often times 6in). That short of a cable could be challenging to work with at times.

The offered lengths make these much more appealing!

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Before I get accused of anything again… I’m not behind this one either CD sleuths. I don’t know who is.

Would not recommend drilling the CF for retention, use glue or epoxy. Products look interesting. Will definitely keep an eye on this.

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Cutting carbon fiber composite materials can present a range of safety concerns that need to be carefully addressed. As always it is best to do your own research and work within your comfort zone. Here are a few things to consider:

1. Respiratory Hazards: Cutting carbon fiber can release fine particles and dust that, if inhaled, may pose health risks. We recommend wearing a dust mask or respirator when working with carbon fiber.
2. Skin Irritation: Direct contact with carbon fiber can lead to skin irritation or allergic reactions, particularly for individuals with sensitive skin. If you are sensitive to skin irritation consider wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves and full-sleeve clothing to minimize direct skin contact.
3. Eye Damage: Carbon fiber dust or particles can cause significant eye irritation and potential damage if they come into contact with the eyes. This is no different than working with any other material, wearing protective glasses or a face shield is essential to safeguard against eye injuries.
4. Conductivity Concerns: Carbon fibers dust is electrically conductive. Take proper precautions to protect electronic components nearby. Clean electrical tools often.

To ensure safety when cutting carbon fiber composite materials, it is crucial to implement adequate safety protocols, use appropriate PPE, work in a well-ventilated area, and follow guidelines and best practices provided by regulatory authorities and industry standards.

The parts prices are carefully considered taking into account scrap factor, hardware costs and labor costs. Teams are welcome to design and print their own ends for the tubing if cost is a major factor in their purchasing decision.
Our parts are printed from BASF Black Ultrafuse PRO1 Tough PLA Filament

We recommend using Loctite 422 in addition to the hardware fasteners when installing ends for competition use.

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I noticed this on your product listings. Have you experienced any issues with the loctite adversly affecting the PLA roller ends (such as “eating away” at it)?

I know 422 is listed as safe for plastics, but there’s also been discussion on these forums revolving around loctite rated for use on plastics still having some effect on things like Lexan. I’m guessing if you’re recommending it, it probably is safe :woman_shrugging:.

Also, where is the company based out of? I found it strange that I couldn’t find that info on the website. $22 Canadian for shipping 5 carbon fiber tubes is very attractive, but I’d also want to know if I should be expecting duties if this is an international shipment (to Canada in my case).

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Despite being a Loctite product, 422 is not a thread locker, it is a ethyl-based adhesive designed for bonding plastics to composites. Short term testing has shown no degradation to the plastic components.

We’re in Ontario, Canada

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Another FRC related company in Ontario!? I must have died and gone to heaven!

Very excited to follow along here and support if/where we can.

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This may have been added as a result of the conversation here, but this video tutorial is now linked on the drilling jig, carbon fiber tube, intake bundle, and starter kit pages.

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yes, yes it was

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edit: this isn’t to say using ChatGPT is inherently a problem, just that this was likely written by it

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:skull:

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Made especially for robotics championship! Is this what 4414 is using? /j

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You’re going a bit too far. You haven’t even verified that these are legitimate sellers. alibaba is well known to just rip you off. For context the same bearing on thrifty is twice this price pretty much. Honestly it’s tempting to buy a few just to see what the tolerances are because they are a good deal by the looks of it.

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I have no comment for the supposed Alibaba product as there is zero info there, but the first Amazon “source” you show as being far cheaper and supposedly the same as what’s being sold by RoboBitz is a completely different size.

The Amazon one shows 16mm ID, RoboBitz’s are ~28.5mm ID (or 1.125 for a standard FRC bearing).

You are also calling out this new company for drop shipping certain items as though it’s a terrible thing to be doing, is that not how ThriftyBot started with their product line? With FRC bearings too no less?

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I personally dont see any issue with the dropshipping. If they have the capital to do it (and its not like priced wildly stupid), more power to them.

The (allegedly) AI generated posts isint as great and its a bit concerning to be giving 1m sticks of CF to the masses that likely has no idea how to properly handle them.

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Is this not exactly what WCP has been doing for at least the past year? Possibly longer? I don’t understand the apparent hate from people here, when this is not the first company to sell raw carbon stock to teams without any info on how to safely handle it (which RoboBitz has already begun addressing thanks to community feedback it seems).

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I don’t love the tone of this, this isn’t dropshipping by any stretch of the definition and this is how resellers work. Almost nobody selling bearings that consumers are buying from is making them in house, you find a supplier and you buy at a large quantity then resell somewhere else after warehousing them.

I did a reverse image search for fun and found this, there is no guarantee this is their supplier or that it doesn’t come from the same source. I’d love to see photos taken in house of products, but there is nothing wrong with what this is doing and I do applaud having a source of these in Canada for Canadian teams so they don’t need to buy from US based resellers and deal with cross-border shipping and logistics

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This just in: people resell things from China.

The only thing I’m concerned about here is a product that requires a hole being drilled in CF. While it’s not for me, plenty of this can be explained in guides.

As for using chat gpt to write something: I don’t care. Most of us use all sorts of ml based tools, big deal.

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I think this is different. The design of the product requires drilling and cutting the CF rods which requires safety precautions. The AI written safety blurb in conjunction with the other things pointed out about the website suggests the following:

  • the manufacturer hasn’t tested this product
  • the manufacturer doesn’t follow safety procedures, or not the ones given by the AI post
  • the manufacturer didn’t care to check the AI written prompt for accuracy
  • generally lack of thought/attention to detail
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