Vexplorer and Vex Robotics (Video)

At the Revell Models booth at iHobby, I found the Vexplorer, which came out a few months ago.

Last year, Vex said that they where joining Revell to enhance the Vex Robotics line.

This year, the robot was there! 

It was cool to move around, and the camera was a nice touch. During test drives, however, visitors found that if they moved the robot in certain ways (such as moving the arm all the way down), the Vexplorer made a loud clicking noise (I think it was gears snapping). A limit switch detecting that the arm was down could have prevented this.

The Vexplorer (referred to as “Blue” by Vex) has no sensors, no programming, and the electronics can not be used with the older Vex Robotics (”Red”) electronics. I feel that they could have gotten more loyal followers if they would have made the two electronics compatible, as opposed to just the hardware being compatible.

Further “Vexplorer”-style robots are planned for 2008 (see pictures).

Water Bottle (sprays water):

 

Disk Shooter (shoots soft disks):

A costly mistake that Revell is making on their flyers, banners, and magazine ads is sending everyone to Vex.com, an unrelated consulting firm, instead of vexrobotics.com.

–Scotty

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