The slip ring would be something that goes around an axle like a collar that has 2 ports on it, the inside port rotates independent of the outside one so that it is possible to attach a motor or sensor on a rotating platform without the wire winding.
Like the idea, but what happens if you want more than one wire going through the turning point?
a redesign, there is a hole in the center now so wires can fit through
I like the idea, too. 
Have you any details on its inner workings? What is slipping against what? How does it accommodate wear, and are there any wear particles (dust) that might cause problems across channels, etc.?
multiple brushes tightly sealed with lube would last a long time
worst case scenario the motor simply doesn’t run
AFAIK, actual slip rings don’t have any lube in them. The issue I see with that is that the lube could create a coating on the brushes and rings that causes them to lose contact, but I’m not completely sure.
See: http://www.electro-miniatures.com/HowSlipRingWorks.shtml
How does the slip ring attach to whatever is rotating? Does it need to screw to, say, the platform on which the motor would be mounted, for example? or is there some other way you would use this?
PixelToast,
Thank you for the product idea. As VEX grows, we are always looking to improve. VEX users’ feedback is key to pinpointing areas and ideas for improvement. A slip ring is an interesting potential product that could definitely have uses in the VEX system. While VEX is currently focusing its design efforts elsewhere, we will keep slip rings in mind as a potential future product.
Thanks for the feedback!
While it would definitely not be VEX legal, I along with FRC 2451 PWNAGE designed a slip ring using the brush assemblies found inside BAG motors that VEX sells. It ended up being about 2" tall by 2" diameter. It had capacity for two individual wires.
I’m not sure I really see a viable reason to need a slip ring in vex. It’s a lot of complexity for something that shouldn’t require it. I definitely couldn’t see it being necessary enough or there being enough market interest for VEX to sell it.
I have worked on a slip ring company in previous, and it is have some different, but the design concept is more or less, please see: http://www.arslipring.com
I don’t think these are legal for High-School competitions.
Adafruit sells this small version that would let you do two motors or two sensors.
They also sell a version thats bigger with a flange.
I find it strange that you mentioned that one when this is only a few bucks more and is twice as capable.
Because it was only an example and it was cheap. I try to help people out some, not to be the end all of information sources / spoon feed info. I did note that Adafruit also had one with a flange. Since the slip rings are not legal anyway, does not make much difference if they can’t use the 6 wire or the 12 wire or this one with 24 wires AND a flange (*) which would let me put my entire tower/claw on a turntable.
:rolleyes:
I picked Adafruit over other suppliers because I’m doing my part to keep her in business so they can continue to develop new cool parts.
But on the other hand, I’m all for VEX to stock some with loose crimp pins / shields and sell them.
(*) I found that one by searching for 24 wire slip ring and it was the first choice. And yes I do know it’s a UK site and it’s out of stock…
So I got overly invested in finding a 24 wire slip ring that I could buy and I found one. It was a surprise, it was only $21.50, cheaper than the 12 wire from Adafruit.
Hummm, no spoiler tag, so those of you that want to try out your Google skills don’t look any farther until you find it.
Amazing what you can do with money…
I don’t believe you actually clicked my link. The one I posted WAS from adafruit… In fact its identical in nearly every way save for a few bucks and doubling wires. It would have also shown up right next to the other one you posted if you searched “slip ring” on adafruits website. What I found strange was that when confronted with a decision between the two you seemingly subconsciously chose the marginally cheaper but heavily inferior variant. Just a cognitive dissonance I had.
Also, spoonfeeding? Really? I wouldn’t call giving extra relevant information spoonfeeding. I’ve wasted enough of my own time searching through the internet for information that existed only on archived websites and in foreign languages that I would never wish on another being the experience of going through a forum full of people who don’t want to be “spoonfeeding” anyone.