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Unread 28-12-2013, 10:16
Greg Needel's Avatar Unsung FIRST Hero
Greg Needel Greg Needel is offline
REVving up for a new season
FRC #2848 (All-sparks)
Team Role: Engineer
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Rookie Year: 2002
Location: Dallas, TX
Posts: 3,111
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Re: Nothing but Dewalts???

The last time I used NBD was in 2010, and not in the drive train. From my perspective the best advantages of them was having 2 (or 3) ratios that you easily change on the fly for speeds. Also because such a wide array of motors could be adapted to them it kept the robot design flexible with many power and speed options all with the same mounting configuration. I think there is still no gearbox that provides the same level of flexibility but some of the offerings from Cots suppliers come close now. The other thing that I loved about them was the clutch, for things like intake mechanisms which have the potential to jam.

At this point I think the only place I would consider using them again would be for an intake or conveyor, but even then I would have to do the cost vs time benefit for the flexibility vs some of the cots parts with no modifications required.
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Greg Needel│www.robogreg.com
Co-founder REV Robotics LLC www.REVrobotics.com
2014 FRC World Champions with 254, 469, & 74