I am trying to improve the build quality of my robot this year and I am wondering if ditching pop rivets altogether is a good idea.
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Yes, rivets do not fit the vex bearing flats holes perfectly, and cause a lot of slop. We as a team like using the 0.5in screws for bearing flats, along with thing nylocks.
Edit: This is an example from our prototype for this years competition.
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Never use VEX’s pop rivets, they suck. If you use them, you’re pretty much going lower your build quality rather than improve it due to it being plastic and terrible in general. Their design is pretty much sh- I mean saddening.
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Bearing rivets were designed for quick installation and removal of flat bearings when building educational products, which, by the way, accounts for the majority of VEX Robotics sales and use. Originally, you got a bunch of them with the old Cortex Clawbot kit, and in the steel “Booster Kit,” both of which are designed for education primarily, rather than for competition. Bearing rivets are no longer included in the V5 super kits, but instead, the new “hex nut retainers” with a bearing hole have taken their place.
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I agree with the others. I would add that my students occasionally use them when they are building a prototype of a mechanism that they know they will have to tear down and rebuild before implementing it. They are faster than screws, but not secure enough to be used in a final competition product.
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None.
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Just a question which kinda bugged me: If pop rivets decrease build quality, why do I see some teams use pop rivets + metal washers on base bearings?
Because they have bad build quality?
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