Hi. We are a team graduating to V5 this season from VexIQ.
Is there a guide for a list of parts that will be needed beyond the competition kits? Which parts should we be buying more of? What gets worn off quickly? Planning to buy 5 batteries and 2 brains. Would that be enough?
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Omni wheels of all sizes, gears of all sizes, motors of all cartridges, polycarbonate, lots of c-channel, lots of axles and sprockets, adapters, flex wheels of all sizes, and any sensors you plan on using
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I would recommend buying some different colored motors or motor cartridges and a gps ai sensor and inertial sensor (if not included with the kit)
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More C channels, 3 Channels (idk what they are called), flex wheels (super important for the new game), motor cartridges, axles.
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The GPS sensor is a pretty big purchase, and I haven’t seen many use it or prefer it to Odom. I would only suggest buying it if you specifically require it for a design and have done plenty of research into the quirks of the GPS sensor.
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I agree. Odom is much more reliable while moving. Gps can have some uses like correcting odom when at a standstill, but the sensor is a large money and time commitment when just starting out
From top to bottom is what I’d buy first (aside from some form of kit if you chose so), buys what you can you don’t need it all
-Blue motors, building a good drivetrain is a lot easier with blue cartridges, greens have uses. I’d say unless you’re building a catapult you likely wont need the red ones.
-3.25 or 2.75 inch omni wheels, the 4 inch wheels are not ideal and you don’t need traction wheels
-Gears or the sizes not included
-Pneumatics, they are a bigger purchase but they are always a good to have and help with designing especially with a 6 motor drive
-Flex Wheels, they make more reliable intakes and better hoods
-5.5w Motors, they make designing a lot easier than only 11w
-Inertial sensors and rotational sensors for odometry. ATP you have most of the necessities for VEX and these will make autos a lot more consistent than motor encoder autos
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The competition super kit is actually a pretty good base. You will want 2 more motors as spares, at least one more battery, an inertial sensor, 6-8 blue motor cartridges. Four 5.5w motors might be a good idea.
Some other wheel sizes and additional gears would be useful, but you can do a lot with 4" wheels and the gears provided.
Get that then start a shopping list of what you feel is missing. Vex shipping is super high, so you want to make purchases in chunks.
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Why is building a drivetrain a lot easier with blue cartridges? I’ve seen teams use these time and time again and I have no idea why.
I wouldn’t recommend for first years vex v5 teams to buy a GPS sensor because it doesn’t make sense. Since GPS sensor requires experience especially with coding with vex v5 since you need to learn all the vex api’s for not only C++ but also for Python if you want to do Odom.
This would not be a good thing for a drive train, I would most likely look at getting aluminum c-channels or 3 wide ones.
See this thread if you haven’t already: Catalogue of Drive Gearings
Note that a lot of builds discussed there use 6 motor drivetrains (3 per side) and 3 or 4 wheels per side. For pushback there’s a couple of things to considers before you jump in:
- Getting into (and maybe out of) the end-zone (high ground clearance or “wheel forward” options - meaning that the wheels are a bit proud of the structure)
- 6 motor drives only leave you 2 11W motors for game piece handling. Great if you have plans for pneumatics.
Regards,
Nick.
bro don’t give people false information, @Ramachandran_Ramaswa DO NOT BUY THIS
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Seriously don’t. Those plates are steel and are very heavy. Unless you are willing to take the time to cut this piece into smaller ones, do not buy it. No point of a sheet that large and is a waste of your money. Listen to TibTy.
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Some proper tools w/ speed up your VRC work by a factor of 100%.
cordless screwdriverS (plural) w/ torque limiting
one w/ torx bit attached
one w/ socket attached for nuts
medical hemostats
single best item you w/ ever buy
can get @ amazon, walmart (in fishing section), etc
6’ tape measure
nutdrivers
torx tips for screwdrivers that will reach through a 1x3 c-channel
There are multiple threads on this already search my name and them… you will find more info.
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I recommend LOTS of stand-offs. And the best type of screw is the Star type (in my opinion). Now you should also get some bearings but screw joints are more efficient (less friction). Use Bearings only when you have to. Also a lot of Zip-Ties of all sizes are useful.
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The ratios are far more competitive and you can use smaller ratios. A high level team will almost always opt for blue motors on drive just due to ratios and size. The above mentioned guide is helpful.
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Definitely a comp starter kit. Potentially a super kit, but you’ll have to buy more parts that the kit doesn’t include
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