pic: Reworked AndyMark Gearbox

[Mark Jones]

[cdm-description=photo]21459[/cdm-description]

[Max Lobovsky]

That is really cool. I am surprised A&M didn't sell a servo shift version. Was it difficult to adapt one? Also, how much weight did you save with the modifications and removing the cylinder?

[Mark Jones]

That is really cool. I am surprised A&M didn't sell a servo shift version. Was it difficult to adapt one? Also, how much weight did you save with the modifications and removing the cylinder?


Saved about 3lbs per gearbox. I cut new side plates from .125 aluminum.

I just made a bracket to mount the servo and a servo shifting fork. I simply cut one of the supplied 3" long 10/32 bolts and made a new shifting rod in which I sandwiched a bronze flanged bushing between two 10/32 nylock nuts.

[Joe Matt]

How does the servo hold up? Any problems or irregularaties compared to the pnumatic system? Have you tested it at full speed? I'm just wondering since the servos seem a little more weak and brittle compared to the pnumatic pistons.

[Swampdude]

I saw you adding those plates at Palmetto. Very cool. Seems you guys don't rest. But necessity (weight reduction in this case) breeds invention. When I see this, it makes me want my 2006 AM shifters to come like that. So the question is, say AM decides to make this an option. Do we have to pay 343 (or you Mark) royalties? Or are you going to let Andy and Mark benefit from your creativity? And Andy are you already on this page? Although the steel channel side plates probably help Andy and Mark to sleep at night as far as the safety factor margins. Losing 6 lbs is a big deal... Nice work Mark!

[Arefin Bari]

How does the servo hold up?

there are 2 holes on each side of the servo ... They are screwed on to that aluminum plate with 4 screws.

[Andy Baker]

I saw you adding those plates at Palmetto. Very cool. Seems you guys don't rest. But necessity (weight reduction in this case) breeds invention. When I see this, it makes me want my 2006 AM shifters to come like that. So the question is, say AM decides to make this an option. Do we have to pay 343 (or you Mark) royalties? Or are you going to let Andy and Mark benefit from your creativity? And Andy are you already on this page? Although the steel channel side plates probably help Andy and Mark to sleep at night as far as the safety factor margins. Losing 6 lbs is a big deal... Nice work Mark!


These are good questions. Mark and team 343 has a great implementation of this idea. Their fork coupling is very elegant.

Keep in mind that there are some prior designs: Matt Reiland and team 226 have shifted their dog gears with servos for a couple of years. Also, back in 2000, we (team 45) shifted the Bosch gearbox with a servo.

We at AndyMark are working on a new, improved, less expensive AM Shifter for 2006. However, we still will offer our 2005 version.

Andy B.

[Mark Jones]

These are good questions. Mark and team 343 has a great implementation of this idea. Their fork coupling is very elegant.

Keep in mind that there are some prior designs: Matt Reiland and team 226 have shifted their dog gears with servos for a couple of years. Also, back in 2000, we (team 45) shifted the Bosch gearbox with a servo.

We at AndyMark are working on a new, improved, cheaper AM Shifter for 2006. However, we still will offer our 2005 version.

Andy B.



Andy....I wouldn't use the word "cheaper"...."less expensive" sounds much better for a quality product such as yours. (so are your going to out-source the assembly to Mexico??) :confused:

Dan...Andy's right. If you purchased some DeWalt gearboxes and adapted them for another application, would you pay royalties to DeWalt or Joe Johnson??? :rolleyes:

Once you make the purchase, they are yours to do with as you want. We purchased the AndyMarks b/c our machining resources were slim this year and we got an outrageous quote to machine some stock gears. The AM's were are bargain. Since we had already shipped the robot, the lesser of the two evils was to modify the AM's to meet our drive application. While I was at it, I made a few more modification to meet our specific needs.

Let's see what Andy and Mark have in store for the 2006 models. Meanwhile, I see what I can do to put together a white paper illustrating the servo shifting mod.

Note to self....must talk to Andy Baker.....where does he find time to devote to all that he does???

[Conor Ryan]

very elegant combination of 2 great ideas, servo shifting and the AM gearbox. Do you have any of that in a cad? I'd like to see how you designed the shifting mechanism, as simple as it is.

[Swampdude]

Dan...Andy's right. If you purchased some DeWalt gearboxes and adapted them for another application, would you pay royalties to DeWalt or Joe Johnson??? :rolleyes:

Eh.. I was J/K. anyhow I think DeWalt owes Joe some cash for all the NBD business he brought in. But just think, if Andy gets the Shifters made in China/Mexico for $15ea, you can get in the loop with AM2 hop up kits.

I think Dean would get upset if you guys start outsourcing this venture though. So make sure you use American kids. :D

[ChuckDickerson]

We at AndyMark are working on a new, improved, less expensive AM Shifter for 2006. However, we still will offer our 2005 version.

Andy B.

Andy,

Is the "new, improved, less expensive AM shifter for 2006" still in the works? If so, any idea when will it be ready for the street? Maybe a sneaky peeky pic or two could dift on to this thread???? Jan 7th is just around the corner...

[greencactus3]

there are 2 holes on each side of the servo ... They are screwed on to that aluminum plate with 4 screws.
i think he means how does it hold up as in how durable is it?
which i think wont be too bad at all. i think an rc car's servo will see more abuse than this. you steer (or work the throttle/brakes) a lot more than you shift gears.

[Andrew Blair]

I think it materialized into their new single speed transmission, maybe citing cost to make/assemble, or robustness.


http://www.andymark.biz/am-gearbox.htm

[sanddrag]

Andy,

Is the "new, improved, less expensive AM shifter for 2006" still in the works? If so, any idea when will it be ready for the street? Maybe a sneaky peeky pic or two could dift on to this thread???? Jan 7th is just around the corner...
The price has been lowered from (I believe) previously $365 to the new price of $330. The price on the Fisher Price planetary has been lowered as well.

[Jonathan Norris]

My team, 610, has been researching into different gearbox's and were planing on ordering one of the AM 2-speed gearbox's until I can across this information about a newer design. I was wondering if you could give us a time frame of when these gearbox's will be available, before new year? and possibly a price range, will it be silmilar to the older version?

[sanddrag]

You guys, I don't think there will be any new design for 2006 other than what you currently see on the site. What you see is what you get, and at the price you see. Hopefully Andy will come along and give the official word, but I believe their full 2006 product line is exactly as you see it on the site. I haven't heard of any further big new releases.

EDIT: I stand corrected. (see below) :)

[Conor Ryan]

Andy,

Is the "new, improved, less expensive AM shifter for 2006" still in the works? If so, any idea when will it be ready for the street? Maybe a sneaky peeky pic or two could dift on to this thread???? Jan 7th is just around the corner...
New 2-Speed Shifter (http://www.andymark.biz/am-shifter2speed.htm)

Yeap it happened, and you can order it now. If you can listen to Episode 4 of FIRSTcast (http://www.podcast.openfirst.org/) to hear Andy and Mark talk about their new line of products, there aren't too many changes. But still their were some changes, mostly in the shifting.

[ChuckDickerson]

Hence why I revived an old thread and asked the question and addressed it directly to Andy Baker ;)