CV Robotics has used single stage 6-CIM gearboxes for the last two seasons. Our experience has been great with this drive type.
While our boxes are geared for 17.5 FPS theoretical, our actual speed is ~16 FPS. We really like the increased acceleration we get, even at a higher speed of 17.5.
Electrically, we popped the thermal breaker three times this year.... twice it happened immediately after we had been in a prolonged pushing match (8-12 seconds) which is a bad idea in any case.
The other time was a fluke incident, one of the nuts on the PDB came loose and it induced a huge resistance into the system, nearly melting the plastic on the standard size power leads.
Other than that, our system remains relatively cool throughout operation with the exception of the breaker and Rear CIM plates. We have no dedicated cooling, and this year we did nothing to cool the robot between matches. However, next year we are planning on introducing some protocol to cool our main breaker and CIM's which get to 46 C/114 F occasionally.
We didn't run an on-board compressor last year, and all of our other motors were used intermittently. This gave us some extra time before the breaker thermally tripped because of reduced current demand.
Overall, we consider our 6-CIM drive to have been integral to our success the last two years. Our plan is to continue with 6-CIM unless it isn't useful for the game. Ie. If the increased acceleration/torque isn't useful next year
We recommend it
