Gearboxes? Help!

[pauline589]

Hi! I'm Pauline from 589 Falkon Robotics. Since our inception in 2001 we have been using the AndyMark toughboxes a lot! I believe one year we created our own custom gearboxes and it went great, but that was over 5 years ago.
I am the head of the whole drive system team and really want to either build our own gearboxes or use better ones than the andymark tough boxes.

Don't get me wrong the Andymark toughboxes are awesome! Though we have been using our robot more and more every off season and the andymark ones are simply not holding up.

Any suggestions? Anything would help! Thank you!

[AdamHeard]

Can you describe the failure you are experiencing. Pictures are a great supplement as well.

We make custom gearboxes for almost every system, and most are nearly identical in AndyMark in terms of what would wear out or fail.

If you're experiencing failure it's likely lack of grease, foreign debris causing issues, misalignment causing gears to clash, etc...

[bardd]

Are you asking for alternative gearboxes or an explanation on custom gearboxes?

If you're looking for alternatives, I would highly recommend CIMple-box, the ones that were in the KOP in the last two years. They're really sturdy, and even though they have only 1/3 of the toughbox's reduction, we got great speeds and intense pushing power with them.

If you're thinking of custom, I can't help unfortunately

[pauline589]

The thing is we have had professionals look at the boxes (we broke down on a sponsor trip at an engineering company..so awkward). We applied as much grease as we have in years past, actually more than usual. My theory is just it had so much strain on it that is caused a misalignment in one of the gears. The mentor who is an expert on drive systems simply explained that "these gearboxes are only meant to last through competitions, we have used [our robot] more than any other. "

The pictures are here: http://imgur.com/A4mus,yHWxC,7Fs1Z,o...FlA T,RYjzn#1

Not all the pictures of parts have problems, I just decided it would be better to take pics of everything.

[pauline589]

cimple boxes? I actually have built a few for testing code in the beginning of season? how many of them did u use on the drive system? one on each side?

[bardd]

Originally Posted by pauline589

cimple boxes? I actually have built a few for testing code in the beginning of season? how many of them did u use on the drive system? one on each side?

Yes, and the same last year. In 2011 each powered three wheels, in 2012 four.
In fact, we were using the ones from 2011 since we got them until about a month ago (we're on a break), and they still work great. we used them on average about once a week for a few hours.
Again, highly recommended

[IndySam]

Those appear to be the picks of a gearbox that was never properly greased.

[davidthefat]

Originally Posted by IndySam

Those appear to be the picks of a gearbox that was never properly greased.

That's what I said.

edit: Once it starts wearing down, it's a perceptual process. The ground up gear particles gets between the gears and further grinds them up.

Originally Posted by pauline589

cimple boxes? I actually have built a few for testing code in the beginning of season? how many of them did u use on the drive system? one on each side?

Yes, the ones we used on the 2011 robot. They still work wonderfully. Second statement was not a question. From what I have observed on CD, most teams use 4 CIMs; 2 per gearbox.

[Andrew Lawrence]

Originally Posted by bardd

Yes, and the same last year. In 2011 each powered three wheels, in 2012 four.
In fact, we were using the ones from 2011 since we got them until about a month ago (we're on a break), and they still work great. we used them on average about once a week for a few hours.
Again, highly recommended

I second this. I've looked through multiple gearboxes for use on our robots, and through all of them, the CIMple Box is by far one of the best. Very reliable, easy to mount, and saves teams a lot of money/time when designing a robot (no need to order different gearboxes, these come in the kit of parts!). 1 per side, and your drivetrain will be trucking all year long.

There's a reason that 1114 used CIMple Boxes in their Kitbot on Steroids. They're amazing.

[pauline589]

Originally Posted by IndySam

Those appear to be the picks of a gearbox that was never properly greased.

How can they work perfectly fine for over 3 months and then all of a sudden just progressively get worse if it was not properly greased in the first place?

How did it operate correctly for such a long time?

Sorry, not trying to sound rude, I just really want to figure it out to insure it does not happen again!

[pauline589]

Originally Posted by SuperNerd256

I second this. I've looked through multiple gearboxes for use on our robots, and through all of them, the CIMple Box is by far one of the best. Very reliable, easy to mount, and saves teams a lot of money/time when designing a robot (no need to order different gearboxes, these come in the kit of parts!). 1 per side, and your drivetrain will be trucking all year long.

There's a reason that 1114 used CIMple Boxes in their Kitbot on Steroids. They're amazing.

One per side? Hmm.. I guess I can try it during off season. What is different about it that makes it so reliable?

[IndySam]

Originally Posted by pauline589

How can they work perfectly fine for over 3 months and then all of a sudden just progressively get worse if it was not properly greased in the first place?

How did it operate correctly for such a long time?

Sorry, not trying to sound rude, I just really want to figure it out to insure it does not happen again!

Hard to say, just luck.

I don't see any grease on the gears or in the gearbox housing, and the condition of the gear and the shavings in picture 17 are classic signs of an improperly greased box.

[Andrew Lawrence]

Originally Posted by pauline589

One per side? Hmm.. I guess I can try it during off season. What is different about it that makes it so reliable?

Like the name suggests, it's very simple (3 gears, 2 of which are on the CIM motors), only 1 stage, so it's more efficient, and because of its simplicity, there are little to no possible failure points.

Just BE SURE TO GREASE THEM. (Caps and bold for emphasis)

[pauline589]

Originally Posted by SuperNerd256

Like the name suggests, it's very simple (3 gears, 2 of which are on the CIM motors), only 1 stage, so it's more efficient, and because of its simplicity, there are little to no possible failure points.

Just BE SURE TO GREASE THEM. (Caps and bold for emphasis)

hmmm okay! I'll for sure try it!

[pauline589]

Originally Posted by IndySam

Hard to say, just luck.

I don't see any grease on the gears or in the gearbox housing, and the condition of the gear and the shavings in picture 17 are classic signs of an improperly greased box.

Alright! That would explain a lot! I'll look over the other gearbox and see if the same thing has happened! thank you!