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Shifting is not needed in all applications.
Some of the shifting gearboxes I have seen cost a huge penalty in weight where a medium speed multiple-motor drivetrain would also work very well. Team 61's tank drive was one of the strongest last year and it was only a single speed.
One thing I didn't see very much of is lightening of the steel gears. We removed 70% of the weight of each of the steel gears and had no failures all season. With the amount of steel I saw in some of these drivetrains it's a wonder the robot made weight after you add manipulators.
For swerve the only multi-speed bot I have seen so far is the Thunder-Chickens and man you better be pretty ambitious if you are going down that road behind them.
Shifting is cool, and it helps in many applications but you can also design around it like Al said.
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