Outside of the availability issues of the V5 and V5 components, I think the V5 has been a big success. That said, there is always room for improvement. Having 30+ teams using only V5 this year, here is my list of potential improvements they could make - without overhauling the platform.
Please change the mico-USB ports on the brain and controller to USB-C. Micro-USB has to be the worst possible port. It is very hard to see which way the plug goes in (also why is the controller port upside down?). Also it seems like there isn’t much back to the port - we’ve already had two that have been pushed in and they should be able to take standard wear-and-tear.
The eyeglass Phillips screws in the motors need to change. The socket head alternative is only slightly better. Maybe a snap together version?
The wall wart power adapter is a step backwards. Not only is it a bit chintzy, but why cover up 2-3 outlets with the big end of it?
All of these could be “fixed” with a Gen2 that wouldn’t need a trade-in and wouldn’t require an overhaul of how the hardware works.
Please please please more 3 wire ports. It is a massive pain that should not exist
V5 battery cells are easy to break
On another note:
It would be really cool for VEX to also provide Aluminim C-Channels without any holes so it could provide an option for more durable structures to handle some of the stresses applied from V5 motors.
Robosource sells some really nice V5 motor screws, but sadly Robosource isn’t available in every region.
As far as I’m aware, they’re all standard screws; many other distributors will also carry the same part. I’m sure they can be obtained in virtually any region, albeit possibly with a bit of searching required.
Side note: the formatting of the quote toward the end of your post didn’t quite work correctly.
For the power adapters vex decided to use a universal power supply and ship every kit with an adapter for UK, EU plugs etc. The plugs are actually a better shape and dimension for the UK and EU plug styles, unusual choice for a company with mostly US customers but brilliant for us over here in Europe.
With the cortex system they would ship the bundles with a region specific adapter or kettle cable.
Yes, we have them … they are slightly better. However with 300+ motors that is no fun to change them all. So some of them have the socket head, some the phillips head - which then makes it even worse.
Interesting take. It just sucks for us that we can only plug two or three adapters into a six port power strip. Also, we’ve had 3-4 cords break already because they are so small.
I agree, overall v5 platform has been a positive improvement.
I also agree 100%, it would be a huge improvement to switch to USB-C in future versions of the v5 Brain. It would also be a welcome improvement on the IQ brains.
It would be nice to have better options to mitigate the ESD issues during the winter. It gets really dry during the winter for us, which introduces a lot of static at that time. The tiles are a big culprit, it would be great to introduce a new flooring option that had improved anti-static properties.
I would rather ax the 3 wire ports all together and have them release an adapter between the new ports and the 3 Wires so that you could have as many ports converted to sensors as you want, and also support using the old motors at full power instead of weak idle rotations.
Well, I guess them breaking so easily is a fair reason to have extras, but I feel like that’s not really what they were going for in including that many
I think different controller styles might be a cool idea. let people buy smaller controllers like the cortex ones as an alternative to the humongous v5 ones, maybe just 2 styles
I really like that idea Xenon, as it allows teams more variety in what they want. But, considering that the GDC made 3D printed scuffs be legal, it likely would be legal to just put a differently colored 3D printed shell instead of asking VEX to manage the hassle for color. In terms of shape, it is asking for a major redesign for something that provides little benefit.
TL;DR - I don’t think the juice is worth the squeeze, especially when theres already problems with reliability of the V5 system
I wasn’t thinking about color, mostly just the shape. I really liked the cortex controllers more, and would like to see v5 controllers in that shape.
Would it be legal to 3D print an entire new casing for the controller, and migrate all the components into the new casing? I highly doubt it, but that would be cool.
