Re: Back Driving Problems
 

Here is a picture of the lock

Re: Back Driving Problems
 

We actually used a wrench in our pull back mechanism to prevent back drive but it will still back drive when the robot is powered off or disabled without assistance from the CIM driving it. In our particular setup the wrench does not seem to do much or any good.

Re: Back Driving Problems
 

Our reloader mechanism for our catapult, although it doesn't operate the way you describe, utilizes a gearbox from an ATV winch. These particular units are fitted with a mechanical brake which locks up the gearbox when the motor is not driving to prevent them from backdriving and dropping your ATV back into the hole from whence you are trying to free it. So far it has proved to be a great safety feature in that if we remove power from the motors during a reload cycle the mechanism just stops in place instead of backdriving. (During which there is about 50 ft-lbs of torque on it).

The gearbox is from a SuperWinch T-2000 ATV winch. It is a previous model of the LT-2000 which is currently being sold commercially. The difference between the two is that the T-2000 has a pinion gear that is separate from the motor output shaft and connects with a simple D interface. The Cybergnomes build their robot out of an ATV and Snowmobile wrecker's shop so we were able to tear through 3 different winches found in the yard before we found one that could be easily interfaced with our motors. I was able to find two brand new T-2000s on kijiji for $100 and some places like amazon may still have stock. Just remember the LT-2000 pinion gear is part of the motor's shaft and will take some magic to make it work. The motor used on the T-2000 is the same diameter, bolt layout (and I postulate, same design) as a CIM motor. Our initial prototypes used a Mini CIM with the shaft cut down and one side milled flat which fit right into the pinion gear. The faceplate of the Mini CIM could actually be removed and the motor bolted right up to the gearbox however, some would contest this violates motor rules. The T-2000 provides a gear reduction of 153:1. Our robot uses a 4:1 Versaplanetary to feed the T-2000 box providing 612:1. The versaplanetary is fed by two RS775 motors in a 2into1 Versaplanetary mount.

Edit: see this pdf for parts breakdown: http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&...62788935,d.b2I

The output ring gear we were able to bolt a VEX hub right up to using pins to fit into holes in the ring gear.

Re: Back Driving Problems
 

Could you describe this more? I cannot visualize it based on your description.