I’ve been making “skins” for some of the robots (presently working on an outfit for “Ike”) I’ve had good success with the patterned paper for scrap books and plain construction paper. Standard felt and the colored foam you can get in the craft store is a little too thick to let the button lock into place. I was pretty impressed with the range of colors and patterns that the felt and foams come in.
So a button that would allow for these thicker materials would be great. A slightly bigger button head would be a bonus since most paper punches are 1/4". Fiskars makes an 1/8" hole punch that I’ve been using with some success. The 1/4" punch lets the current head slip through the paper.
Standard wool blend felt is 5/64 of an inch or (1.6 mm) according to a few craft places. The foam I have here ranges betwee 1/16th and 3/32 (2-3mm). Since they both squish some, a 2.5mm gap should work.
This is a real “one off item”, not sure that the fab setup costs would be worth it, but thanks for considering it!
The 228-2500-086 pin with stop can probably do the trick, with possibly spacers/washers.
Unfortunately these exotic pins come only in limited quantity (4!) in Hexbug Strandbeast. It would be very nice if VEX released the Hexbug special pins as a small kit with a few pieces of all kinds!
Edit: Thinking more… a washer or spacer could be used to secure a thick sheet on a regular pin. Connexion is not as strong as it would be with the pin with stop, but it works…
Thanks Philo for the Strandbeast part idea I’ll check it out when I get back to the shop. I agree, it would be nice to be able to buy bags of the special Hexbug parts. (Maybe the bag out of the 4 in 1 kits??)
I’m doing your option 2 as my attachment. It’s not super secure, but I’ve found that hot glue helps. I can peel the hot glue off the connecter when I need to recycle them. I posted my first note since I had gotten the official part, but it didn’t work for the foam part that I had made.
We’ve used the same build technique as what Philo shows to attach thicker sheet materials to VEX IQ robots, as well as to act as rubber band anchors. This technique is simple and works well.
Philo,
We agree that there are a lot of useful parts for building VEX IQ robots that are currently only available in the 2014 or 2015 HEXBUG VEX Robotics kits, such as the 0x2 and 0x3 Connector Pins. We appreciate and use this feedback as we plan out what new kits to consider for the future. We added new 2015 kits such as the 24 & 48 Tooth Gear Pack based off of community feedback, as these parts were previously only found in HEXBUG VEX Robotics kits.
Art writes: At the present, the highest quantity of 0x2 Connector Pin is available as quantity 50x as part of the VEX IQ Challenge Bank Shot Goal Kit.
I looked at the picture, they look like 0x1 Connectors very similar to the existing thin sheet buttons I have now. Is the picture wrong or is your 0x2 note wrong, or have I not yet figured out the NxM nomenclature? Speaking of which, the build guides that use the numbers like " 228-2500-086" are confusing to the average builder. The older guides have “match this picture” in them, the newer guides like Ike have the weird part numbers. Is there a master picture <–> part guide?
Art writes: There will also be 12x of the 0x2 Connector Pin in the new Robotic Arm kit available as part of the 2015 HEXBUG VEX Robotics retail kits.
You shouldn’t have said that, now people like me will be going “Cool Arm Kit!!, when can I get it?”
The photo of black connectors shown on the VEX IQ Challenge Bank Shot Goal Kit page is a different connector. That black connector is specially designed to snap two pieces of 1/16" thick polycarbonate sheet together, and is used in Bank Shot to assemble the Ramp and Goal. This connector is not compatible with VEX IQ.
In regards to connector pin naming convention of NxM, the “x” denotes where the flange is, and the N and M denote the number of VEX IQ beams that can be attached on either side of the flange. The most common connector pin is the 1x1 Connector Pin, which connects to one beam, then it has a flange, then it connects to one beam. The 1x2 Connector Pin connects to one beam, then flange, then two beams. The 0x2 Connector Pin connects to no beam (because it has an end flange), then flange, then connects two beams. We always list the smaller number first (always 0x2 Connector Pin, never 2x0 Connector Pin) .
All Starter and Super Kits include the large Kit Contents Poster. This poster includes 1:1 scale photos and part numbers for all parts included in these kits. The part numbers were added in the building instructions as they are a “language neutral” way to denote a specific VEX IQ element, for if there is confusion from the photo.
While there isn’t currently a web page or guide that has a photo and part number for all existing VEX IQ system elements, thanks for the feedback about the usefulness of such a master Parts Library page. This is definitely something that we’ll consider adding to our website. We’ve already added a page to our website with information regarding the different colors of VEX IQ elements.
In the meantime, you can probably use this chart (for parts already existing in SnapCad) to establish correspondance between 228xxxx part numbers and image. Not “official”, but can help… http://www.philohome.com/snapcadparts/snapcadparts.htm
In the meantime, you can probably use this chart (for parts already existing in SnapCad) to establish correspondance between 228xxxx part numbers and image. Not “official”, but can help…
