Chiaphua Drivetrains
 

We tried a dual motor gearbox this past year using drill motors and gearboxes on high speed and Chiaphua motors mated with their cluster gears. There was a 32P 64T common spur gear mounted on a central shaft spun by the small part of the cluster gear and a 16T pinion on the drill output shaft. This central shaft also had a sprocket mounted on it that conected by chain to the sprockets on the wheel axles. This whole thing was great and really fast and powerful, I mean really. Unfortunately it only lasted a few runs before self destructing. Gears stripped like crazy.

I'm interested in knowing how teams that use the Chiaphuas (alone or with other motors) get the power out of the motor and into the wheels. Sprockets, Cluster gear, other gears, custom shafts, what? What I'd really like to see or hear about are the designs that don't need 30 CNC-ed parts but if you've got a kickin' drive train feel free to brag a little.

Show me some Chia drivetrains!!!!!!

well, michael designed us a multi motor drive train, and it's still kicking (well, if the robot was put back together). maybe i can get a pic of it later today. i know that we had a small gear on the chiphua motor shaft, and then a really big one on the drill motor. they don't spin at exactly the same speed, but it's made so that the chiphua will just use it's power to time it correctly. then, we used the drill motor transmission, set to high (i think), and used the shaft on that to drive wheels/treads. i know that's not an extremely detailed explination, but i'm a programmer :D.

Our drivetrain was just a single-motor unit, but it worked remarkably well, and we never had a single problem with it. We used a combination of free-spinning gears and locked-down gears with a shifting collar to achieve a 5:1 and 10:1 reduction, followed by additional sprocket reduction. I've attached a picture, but if you want more info, post a question, or PM me.

All the gears were purchased through gear vendors with the exception of the center splined gears. Those are part of a driveshaft gear from a car welded to a normal gear. The collar is made from the mating piece to the splined gear, and is shifted pneumatically.

Thanks for the pic. It's pretty cool. I still don't get though exactly what moves to make it shift?

I'd guess it's the big block in the center that moves. The drive shaft has a splined shaft that is currently hidden by the block. The block also contains a splined coupling. When the block moves to the right, the coupling connects the spline to the gear train on the right. The left side freewheels on the output shaft. When the block goes to the left, the left is driven and the right freewheels.

As I recall, the TechnoKats use a similar concept with a different coupling mechanism. Kingman's was also similar.

Actuation is done by the pnuematic cylinder on the left.

TechnoKats
 

Here is the drivetrain we had that used the chiaphuas.....

White Paper by Andy Baker-->> 6 Motor Drive Assembly w/ Pneumatic Shifting of 4:1 Gearbox

The contents include these pages:
Background
Overview
Assembly Pictures
Fabrication Tips
Assembly Tips
Performance & Specifications
Bill of Material
Assembly Prints (4)
Part Prints (27)

Below is a picture of the gearbox.
:D

All i have to say is the "CCT" or Crazy Chicken Transmission! I saw it at GLR, and it was awsome, but i don't know if they hooked it up to chipewa motors, though...:D

In the White Papers section is Team 716's dual motor gearbox. It uses the Chiapuas and the drill motors. It also has a modification to the TechnoCat's drill motor mount.

Some machining required but CNC not needed.

We never broke anything except the stock final output of the drill transmission - only because we didn't follow Dr. Joe's advice and replace it. We will replace it next year if we still have the drill motors.

Yep, that's exactly how it works. Probably a more clear and concise explanation than I would have given, too.

Erm, that's it, pretty much.

We coupled the Chiaphua and the Drills (in high) together. Gear shifting was done by the 'antitransmission,' so the whole mechanism was really simple. I don't have any good pictures, though.

If I recall correctly, the ratio from Chiaphua to Drill output was 1:5.33 or so (or, maybe 5.33:1...I was on vacation, so my brain is off). . . it was close enough for our needs.

The real key to the awesomeness embedded in the drivetrain was the antitransmission and belting.