Re: use of electrical sliprings
 

And it's going, going, it's out of here! Yes that is the answer I was looking for. If you think about the forces involved, a fast acceleration or a hit form any side transfers the forces through the fulcrum created by the gearbox directly to the upper joint and there is virtually no way to compensate without a prohibitively large bearing surface. A ring at the bottom of the assembly that mates with a stationary assembly on the robot frame, transfers all lateral movement directly to the frame and very little to the the upper bearing. Side movement is reduced to a fraction of an inch, an nothing in the gearbox is sacrificed. Good practice also dictates your first statement. Without cross bracing, (I assumed it was left out for clarification) the gearbox pulls easily out of alignment, shooting frictional losses in the bearings through the roof. An enclosed gearbox or one with bracing prevents bearing and gear misalignment and keeps the drivers happy.

Re: use of electrical sliprings
 

Ah, now THAT makes more sense! Sorry, running on no sleep and hating baseball doesnt seem to help my problem solving and analytical skills too much.

we pretty much did that already though...best of my knowledge. I'd have to pull the robot out of jesse's....garage? I don't even remember where it is anymore. Oh dear.

Re: use of electrical sliprings
 

geeze Matt, you're making me look bad! :p Last time I ever try to wander into the electrical forums... even if it's about something mechanical!

Now I need to try to redeem myself with another fancy pants work of art...

Matt

Re: use of electrical sliprings
 

A little late but anyways. We've used bevel gears the last two years in our crab drive. And now this year in our turret. In the wheel boxes for our crab drive we locked them in tight and haven't had any negative effects like slipping or coming out of place. The wheel boxes use 1:1, and our turret uses 2:1 this year, and i must say they are grand for our purposes.