Wow lots of good criticism and questions! Ill try to cover everything.
1. I just redesigned with the WCP/VexPro Miter gears (see attachment) which cut a quarter inch out of the width and length of the footprint of the bottom module. I initially hesitated to do this because it required me to make custom shafts, but it worked out in the end.
2. I have done a BOM, and yes it is expensive. It comes out to about $600 per module, not including custom parts and hardware. We have a sponsor who would be willing to machine the parts for us though.
3. The yellow box is an encoder cover, presumably 3d printed. However it is not necessary, just a luxury. The encoders I have designed for are the US Digital S4s, and they are attached to the shaft via the
VexPro Ball Shifter Encoder Hardware Kit from VexPro, which includes the gears.
4. The ground clearance is currently ~3/8", which I deemed satisfactory for my design purposes. However, it could be increased very easily by increasing the thickness of one of the black spacers above the wheel housing.
5. Adam, are you talking about up-down/radial support or lateral/angular support? Because if you are referring to up-down/radial, it is much more than satisfactory I assure you. Here is the link for the taper bearing
Taper Bearing. If you are referring to lateral/angular, how would you recommend I do that? Another plate positioned above the current one housing another bearing?
Thanks for all the criticism, compliments and questions!