Hereās a helpful article: (Non-VEX) Resources for VEX Parts ā¢ Renegade Robotics
Read R6, R7, and R8 of the game manual carefully.
Also, I have to plug the VEX World Coaches Association on Facebook, too: a group of mentors/coaches whose discussion centers on running robotics programs, rather than on the robot itself.
Robosource.net for the color screws and the half thickness screws. I like nylock nuts, but recommend: "Build first with the keps nuts then when your build is 90% locked in, switch to nylock. The aggravation of the nylocks early in the season isnāt worth it.
/sigh It would be nice if Faceslime users got out of their echo-gardens and posted here.
The only place that locking screws are really helpful is standoffs, since those have no locking in their threads.
Instead of buying locking screws from vex, I would suggest buying a bottle of loctite, which you can add to the screws as needed.
So I hate, with a passion that only equals my dislike for Facecrud, of bottles of loctite. Teams use it everywhere, it crazes the poly carb and becomes a huge mess. Itās hard for new users (roboteers) to apply, and the spill factor is high.
This could be an option, then.
Iāll offer two comments:
2-1/2. Itās a good place for āchit-chat rumor millā that is more interesting to adults than students.
Really? The people on the Facedirt forum are intimated by middle school students that know more than they do? More of an echo chamber than I thought. āIām dumb, you are dumb letās be dumb togetherā. Sadly @DanMantz and the rest of RECF considers them to be first rate and has made decisions based on their thoughts (and now I know itās their collective dumbness and afraidness of middle school roboteers throwing snark at them. Not really sure why RECF would give them any credence, maybe Dan can chime in why they would take so much input)
On point two āItās a good place for rumor millā has me really appalled. People that are afraid to be wrong in public now do chit-chat in their echo box?!? They should show up here and participate. Many awesome mentors (and I look at you as being a mentor to me) show up here and post.
You canāt guide to the future from behind a garden wall. Show up, be present and lead. Iāve posted a few things that havenāt gone well (and I own them) but nobody here will doubt my passion and support for teams and this program.
Can you pass this on to the FB group:
Over in the VEX forum are thousands of roboteers that want to hear from you. We want you to participate in our conversations about robotics. We also want your snark and posts to memes. We want you to be 100% involved with us. Donāt hide, participate!
Iāll echo @Foster here. I canāt stand Facebook and wonāt touch it with a 10 foot poll for any reason. Why should I need to register with some surveillance application in order to communicate with Vex coaches?
Iām not a huge Facebook person, but I do have it and am a member of the VEX coaches page. I definitely spend more time reading the forums than I do on there. I just wanted to clarify that most of what is posted on there are questions that coaches have for one another. It is often newer coaches looking for advice from more established programs. More often than not, they are nuts-and-bolts questions about how to run a team, and almost never snark or memes. It might be nice for this forum to have a section specifically for coaches that could serve the same purpose without facebook being involved.
Ok so lets make this happen. @DRow can we get an mentors / coaches forum set up like the EP forum? Letās click off the current event partner list and see if @cougarbots is a member? If not the current RECF list of team mentors should also be a great list to access the new forum.
@cougarbots There are dozens of mentors that are here on the VEX forum. Iāve been here from the start, I was Mentor of the Year in 2010 and Iāve been happy to help. I grew SEPA from a handful of teams to the growth in 2014. I helped DelMarVa grow from 2015 to now. @Illyana will confirm that Iām someone that works with teams, can be a jerk but fully participates in the mess that is this forum.
In 5 decades Iāve learned that Iām never the smartest person in the room. I lead from the front for elementary VEXIQ, from the side in Middle School VRC and well from the back for the HS teams. I just throw money and coffee at the VEXU teams.
Thanks for posting here. The Faceslime group has 2200 people, so 2199 people to go.
So @Foster has warned me in the past to not rise to the bait on certain posts, so I wonder if he is trolling me with this postā¦ But I will respond to this, because although I respect Foster tremendously, I feel this post is very unprofessional and frankly, has false statements.
The Vex Forum is owned and managed by VEX Robotics. There are multiple different forum channels on the Vex Forum: most are public but there are some private channels too. The EP channel is an example. The Face Book coaches forums were set up by coaches and membership is limited to adults directly supporting a VEX robotics team or RECF VEX robotics events. As @cougarbots noted, most of the questions are specific to running a team or getting clarification on robot builds, the competition rules. There is rarely rude or snark comments.
Neither I or any RECF staff have any direct involvement in any of the social media platforms that discuss our programs (there are others too). Nor do I or any RECF staff directly monitor posts on either the VEX Forum or FB Coaches Pages. I have shared my philosophy publicly that if you want me to be aware of a topic discussion, please tag me or email me. This is consistent with both the FB group and VEX forum. I will note I post much more frequently on the VEX Forum than I do on the FB Coaches pages but when I ask for feedback, I do ask for it on all platforms. And I value the feedback I get equally from both user groups. I do consider the coaches that participate on the FB Coaches forums first rate and am grateful for their contributions to the RECF, VEX Robotics and STEM. I feel the same about the coaches, parents and Event Partners here. Calling those Coaches that choose to participate on the FB Forums ādumb and dumberā because they want to avoid the snark that sometimes happens on this forum is probably one of the most offensive things I have read on the VEX Forum - the coaches on FB have the same passion and support for their teams as those on this forum. I am really, really hoping that Foster is just trying to get a rise from me because I canāt believe he really has that much disrespect for other coaches that like a different environment (as a side note, most of the most active coaches on FB are also active on here).
In summary, I would surmise that itās posts like the one I am responding to is exactly the reason that there are other social media groups. If you want all coaches to join this VEX Forum family, ask them with kindness, not with insults.
Best Regards,
Dan Mantz
CEO - REC Foundation
No, I wasnāt trolling you. While the VEX forum is greatly appreciated it has a blurred line between VEX @Bob_Mimlitch_III @Bob_Mimlitch and RECF @DanMantz .
I poked you because @DRow and I are at the bottom of the food chain. Some support from the lead person (Dan and Bob) would make this happen faster. And I wanted @cougarbots to get a fast response. Because we are all about supporting mentors and EPās to make this 98% volunteer effort happen.
Neither I or any RECF staff have any direct involvement in any of the social media platforms that discuss our programs (there are others too). Nor do I or any RECF staff directly monitor posts on either the VEX Forum or FB Coaches Pages.
And here is where this will go off the rails. Iām one of the many mentors that was unhappy with the change to VEXIQ going from 4x8 to 6x8. I was told that this was a popular opinion on the FB Coaches pages, so thatās why it was done. In digging on the forum there was zero discussions on this before the fact. Pick the hill to die on, this shouldnāt be it.
Two key points:
Facebook is at the center of multiple disinformation law suits. And frankly they canāt give a << c channel connector >> about it. They make billions from selling advertising that they can target. They track you and send that info to key advertisers. Do this, dump into your feed āBass fishing lures, whatās the best to buyā And then look in 24 hours how many lure deal you can get.
Second is my slam on FB users. Iā've had more than a few mentors write to me and say they were on both foums. Yay you. So there are a ton more that never post here. Here is your chance to show up. Reply to this post that you are both a FB coach and you are here. For every one Iāll make a $100 donation to the RECF. (I expect to pay about $300)
Let me be clear. Faceslime is a company that make money through advertising and selling your demographics to other companies. Facedirt has zero investment in you, they are a leach on your skin. Facecrud makes money by creating an echo chamber so all the people in your group can reinforce that opinion. Fact check me roboteers about this, there are people on Facequagmire that think the earth is flat.
Lastly is this:
I am really, really hoping that Foster is just trying to get a rise from me because I canāt believe he really has that much disrespect for other coaches that like a different environment (as a side note, most of the most active coaches on FB are also active on here).
Nope, I have zero disrespect for the way they present. The roboteers on Discord mock me and I respect their ability to do that. I do have an issue that itās
I bet that they are awesome people aliening with the goals of RECF and the rest of us. Oddly, there are very few posts here. But see the challenge above, I put money where my fingers areā¦ (Do we still say money where my mouth is?)
I tagged you on getting a subfourm set up since @DRow is far from the top of the food chain. I ping you @DanMantz and @BradLaure to make things happen.
And (I should make this my signature) never reflect my bad behavior that Iām not passionate about the roboteers.
Iām in both places. I learn a lot from both. @Foster Iām glad to be the first to dig into your wallet. 
Hope you donāt have to dig too deep. 
Thanks Harry, Iām hoping I have to dig deep. My want the FB group to be represented. There is another thread that Iāll count, check in that thread. Happy to send RECF your donation.
Sorry to take it back on topic, @Foster. 
Also, the brass standoffs at the base of the motors is another place that could greatly benefit from using the threadlocker.
In many cases, the static friction between parts made from different metals is lesser than the friction between parts of the same material with similar crystallite grain sizes.
An alternative to Loctite for securing standoffs could be to use compressible nylon spacer or bearing blocks to absorb shocks during vibration:
Dig deep, in both places!
Gcfky here and just by name on FB, too. On Discord as well. Getting Medicare this year. And ecstatic that wherever they saw it the GDC got rid of the pneumatic penalty this year.
TORX TORX TORX TORX TORX!!
But seriously if youāre buying screws I highly recommend TORX. They are a game changer.
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