The theory behind the Modulox Gearbox is to provide an educational tool set and prototyping test bed as well as provide a competitive alternative to teams that would otherwise not be able to design or build their own gearbox. Practices widely used in industry such as designing for Modularity, Flexibility and Optimization Capability are elements often missed in competitive robotic design. We believe that inability to optimize a design can keep teams from fine tuning their robots and can keep them from running with the big boys. Of the teams we've mentored we find that larger teams may have the funding or capability to buy or machine a new gearbox to refine torque, speed or placement issues. The smaller or newer teams are often left to put bandages on mechanisms that could require rethinking that the Modulox Concept allows. As mentioned there are some potential engineering trade off's in a modular design but we believe Modulox's performance is comparable to other off the shelf solutions.
We are also excited about the base component potential, outside the standard 1, 2 and 3 slot packaging. Brendan and Andrew already mentioned 1902 piloted the Modulox concept last year on their competition elevator and gripper prototypes. Both these applications used only the base components with custom designed plates. A bit later this year we plan on working with 1902, Exploding Bacon, to document exactly how their design worked and their results over the last season.
Building on the announcement, We've recently put together a new "About"
It's hosted here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/iR3Creat.../0/XDcW1OCGexw