An Overview of VEX EXP Hardware
In this video learn about the unique hardware in VEX EXP kits including shaft collars, spacers, and post standoff retainers.
(upbeat music)
Welcome back to the VEX Classroom. My name is Alaina, and in this video, we're gonna be talking about VEX EXP Hardware. As you've gone through the kit, you may have noticed things like the metal beams, the C-channels, and the plates. You have the gussets that create that angled piece, and there are things like screws and nuts. However, there are other pieces that are very particular to the VEX EXP kit that can make it easier for you as you're building so that mechanisms can stay in place, make things spin more easily, or move easily, and also to help you as you're attaching screws and nuts.
Let's go ahead and go through some of these pieces here. You'll find them in the jewel cases inside of your EXP kit. The other pieces that we're going to cover, I have them here on the board listed out. It's also right in this section of the poster. This section and then the spacers right here are on the bottom. Let's go ahead and take a closer look at the poster and the pieces that we're gonna talk about.
As I was referencing on the wall, I have the EXP parts poster here. If I scroll down, you can see all of the metal pieces, the wheels, and things that are more easily identifiable. What I want to talk about are these smaller pieces here. Here we have standoff retainers, bearing flats, shaft collars, this shaft collar retainer, and then if I go over and down, we also have these spacers here. I also have them lined up here on the table for us so we can see how they work in these different mechanisms.
The first thing that we are going to talk about are shaft collars. They come in their own jewel case in the kit, and you'll see them here; they're a little bit thicker. There we go, there's a good focus on that there. Shaft collars are used to secure wheels and gears to a shaft. I have a wheel attached here to a shaft, and right inside here, I actually have a shaft collar. If I pull that off, you see that here, my wheel could freely remove, but this is really to keep it in place and to secure that wheel to the shaft.
Going a little bit further down this section that I have here, next are our spacers. They also have their own jewel case, and there are three different sizes of spacers. Spacers are used to keep mechanisms positioned correctly. Before I remove this, you can see that there's a nice-sized gap here between the C-channel and my wheel. This is because I have a spacer here. This way, my wheel isn't going to rub against the metal. If I pull all of this out real quick, I actually have these screws right here, and we don't want the wheel to rub on the head of those screws either. The spacer keeps it in place. I have this shaft here. I can slide that spacer on. You'll also notice that these spacers here are labeled as click-on spacers. They have an opening so that if you need to create that space to make sure things are positioned correctly, you can snap them on the shaft rather than having to disassemble part of your robot and then put the spacers on. This is a really great way to make sure that things are positioned correctly on your robot.
The next piece that I want to talk about, I want to start by looking at it on the poster so you can see some of the details. This is the low-profile bearing flat. I'm gonna zoom in here, and you can see that there are these circular openings here on the bearing flat. Bearing flats are made so that you can have shafts spin more easily and more smoothly in your build. If we're looking at a low-profile bearing flat here, I can kind of line it up with any of the holes in my C-channel. You would need to secure this with screws and nuts.
Thank you for joining us in the VEX Classroom today. We hope this video helps you better understand the VEX EXP Hardware and how to use it effectively in your builds. If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out. Happy building!
However, I could slide in a shaft, and it can really easily spin because it's not butting up against the square openings of the C-channel or the rest of the metal. So again, this allows that shaft to spin smoothly, and you'll actually see there are some other pieces as well that have bearing flat components in them, so you can use them with a shaft as part of your build.
So we talked a little bit about these shaft collars here. There's actually one of our pieces that is the shaft collar retainer with a bearing flat. Here, I actually have an example over here of this on a build. Here, you can see I have two screws attaching the bearing, the shaft collar retainer, and bearing flat to the C-channel. Inside of this piece here is actually where we've nested a shaft collar. You can see it fits right inside of that piece. Now I have a shaft that is in place as our shaft collars do for us, but it also can freely spin because the end of this is a circular opening. So this is a bearing flat opening. Now you have the shaft collar that's being held or retained here that keeps our shaft in place, and our shaft can still smoothly spin because it's that bearing flat.
This piece shares a lot of similarities with our post standoff retainers, which are these last three pieces that we're gonna talk about. The last pieces that we have are our post standoff retainers. There are these three pieces here. You have your one post standoff retainer, one post standoff retainer with a bearing flat, which we already know what that is, and our four post standoff retainer. The post, that number comes from if you look on these pieces, there's actually, you can see this ridge here. So you have four posts that could go into nest directly into the holes of any of our metal pieces in the EXP kit. So it can sit flush against there. Then you can add your screw here, your nut on top, and it'll move in nicely. This is really great; in our four post example here, we're attaching a gusset to our C-channel. So it's sitting smoothly and right up against the C-channel. It's a good way to do those connections.
The big thing about our post standoff retainers is that they have these small nesting points. These nesting points are so that you can put a nut inside. You can use that post to secure it in place and make sure everything's lined up correctly, but then the really great part is that you don't need some sort of wrench or plier to hold that nut in place. So you actually can screw this in just by using your screwdriver as you go through, because that's gonna stay in place and hold it where it needs to go. You can see, I have this example here already added. You can see the post, the screw head. You can actually see the nut inside of there as well.
So just to recap on these pieces that we've covered, we have spacers that are used to keep mechanisms positioned correctly. Along that same line, we have our rubber shaft collars, and those are used to capture shafts, to make that shafts, wheels, gears, that they can all stay in place in your build. Once you have your shaft collar that has secured your wheels and gears, you have your spacer that has it the correct spacing away from the wheel. We also have our bearing flats. Our bearing flats have these circular openings, and they allow shafts to spin more easily and more smoothly. Lastly, we have our standoff retainers. We also have our shaft collar retainer with bearing flat. That's gonna hold that shaft collar in place but still has the circular opening so that you can spin that shaft more easily, more smoothly. Like the post standoff retainers, the shaft collar retainer as well allows you to add screws and nuts without needing something like a wrench or pliers. So it makes construction a lot easier.
You can see these used in the build instructions.
As you're going through, if you need any examples of how all of these pieces are used as you design your own unique robots, you can look at things like the basebot, the clawbot, and the catapult bot.
Check out the instructions on builds.vex.com, and you can see how all of these different pieces of hardware are used to connect, support, and enhance your build. This will make it more effective and easier for you to construct.
Can't wait to see what kind of unique robot designs you come up with, and we will see you next time.
(upbeat music)
Welcome back to the VEX Classroom. My name is Alaina, and in this video, we're gonna be talking about VEX EXP Hardware. As you've gone through the kit, you may have noticed things like the metal beams, the C-channels, and the plates. You have the gussets that create that angled piece, and there are things like screws and nuts. However, there are other pieces that are very particular to the VEX EXP kit that can make it easier for you as you're building so that mechanisms can stay in place, make things spin more easily, or move easily, and also to help you as you're attaching screws and nuts.
Let's go ahead and go through some of these pieces here. You'll find them in the jewel cases inside of your EXP kit. The other pieces that we're going to cover, I have them here on the board listed out. It's also right in this section of the poster. This section and then the spacers right here are on the bottom. Let's go ahead and take a closer look at the poster and the pieces that we're gonna talk about.
As I was referencing on the wall, I have the EXP parts poster here. If I scroll down, you can see all of the metal pieces, the wheels, and things that are more easily identifiable. What I want to talk about are these smaller pieces here. Here we have standoff retainers, bearing flats, shaft collars, this shaft collar retainer, and then if I go over and down, we also have these spacers here. I also have them lined up here on the table for us so we can see how they work in these different mechanisms.
The first thing that we are going to talk about are shaft collars. They come in their own jewel case in the kit, and you'll see them here; they're a little bit thicker. There we go, there's a good focus on that there. Shaft collars are used to secure wheels and gears to a shaft. I have a wheel attached here to a shaft, and right inside here, I actually have a shaft collar. If I pull that off, you see that here, my wheel could freely remove, but this is really to keep it in place and to secure that wheel to the shaft.
Going a little bit further down this section that I have here, next are our spacers. They also have their own jewel case, and there are three different sizes of spacers. Spacers are used to keep mechanisms positioned correctly. Before I remove this, you can see that there's a nice-sized gap here between the C-channel and my wheel. This is because I have a spacer here. This way, my wheel isn't going to rub against the metal. If I pull all of this out real quick, I actually have these screws right here, and we don't want the wheel to rub on the head of those screws either. The spacer keeps it in place. I have this shaft here. I can slide that spacer on. You'll also notice that these spacers here are labeled as click-on spacers. They have an opening so that if you need to create that space to make sure things are positioned correctly, you can snap them on the shaft rather than having to disassemble part of your robot and then put the spacers on. This is a really great way to make sure that things are positioned correctly on your robot.
The next piece that I want to talk about, I want to start by looking at it on the poster so you can see some of the details. This is the low-profile bearing flat. I'm gonna zoom in here, and you can see that there are these circular openings here on the bearing flat. Bearing flats are made so that you can have shafts spin more easily and more smoothly in your build. If we're looking at a low-profile bearing flat here, I can kind of line it up with any of the holes in my C-channel. You would need to secure this with screws and nuts.
Thank you for joining us in the VEX Classroom today. We hope this video helps you better understand the VEX EXP Hardware and how to use it effectively in your builds. If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out. Happy building!
However, I could slide in a shaft, and it can really easily spin because it's not butting up against the square openings of the C-channel or the rest of the metal. So again, this allows that shaft to spin smoothly, and you'll actually see there are some other pieces as well that have bearing flat components in them, so you can use them with a shaft as part of your build.
So we talked a little bit about these shaft collars here. There's actually one of our pieces that is the shaft collar retainer with a bearing flat. Here, I actually have an example over here of this on a build. Here, you can see I have two screws attaching the bearing, the shaft collar retainer, and bearing flat to the C-channel. Inside of this piece here is actually where we've nested a shaft collar. You can see it fits right inside of that piece. Now I have a shaft that is in place as our shaft collars do for us, but it also can freely spin because the end of this is a circular opening. So this is a bearing flat opening. Now you have the shaft collar that's being held or retained here that keeps our shaft in place, and our shaft can still smoothly spin because it's that bearing flat.
This piece shares a lot of similarities with our post standoff retainers, which are these last three pieces that we're gonna talk about. The last pieces that we have are our post standoff retainers. There are these three pieces here. You have your one post standoff retainer, one post standoff retainer with a bearing flat, which we already know what that is, and our four post standoff retainer. The post, that number comes from if you look on these pieces, there's actually, you can see this ridge here. So you have four posts that could go into nest directly into the holes of any of our metal pieces in the EXP kit. So it can sit flush against there. Then you can add your screw here, your nut on top, and it'll move in nicely. This is really great; in our four post example here, we're attaching a gusset to our C-channel. So it's sitting smoothly and right up against the C-channel. It's a good way to do those connections.
The big thing about our post standoff retainers is that they have these small nesting points. These nesting points are so that you can put a nut inside. You can use that post to secure it in place and make sure everything's lined up correctly, but then the really great part is that you don't need some sort of wrench or plier to hold that nut in place. So you actually can screw this in just by using your screwdriver as you go through, because that's gonna stay in place and hold it where it needs to go. You can see, I have this example here already added. You can see the post, the screw head. You can actually see the nut inside of there as well.
So just to recap on these pieces that we've covered, we have spacers that are used to keep mechanisms positioned correctly. Along that same line, we have our rubber shaft collars, and those are used to capture shafts, to make that shafts, wheels, gears, that they can all stay in place in your build. Once you have your shaft collar that has secured your wheels and gears, you have your spacer that has it the correct spacing away from the wheel. We also have our bearing flats. Our bearing flats have these circular openings, and they allow shafts to spin more easily and more smoothly. Lastly, we have our standoff retainers. We also have our shaft collar retainer with bearing flat. That's gonna hold that shaft collar in place but still has the circular opening so that you can spin that shaft more easily, more smoothly. Like the post standoff retainers, the shaft collar retainer as well allows you to add screws and nuts without needing something like a wrench or pliers. So it makes construction a lot easier.
You can see these used in the build instructions.
As you're going through, if you need any examples of how all of these pieces are used as you design your own unique robots, you can look at things like the basebot, the clawbot, and the catapult bot.
Check out the instructions on builds.vex.com, and you can see how all of these different pieces of hardware are used to connect, support, and enhance your build. This will make it more effective and easier for you to construct.
Can't wait to see what kind of unique robot designs you come up with, and we will see you next time.
(upbeat music)
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