[marshall]

Originally Posted by Pault

Step 1: Drill a 1/4in hole 3/4in deep into the center of the output shaft

Step 2: Use a hacksaw to cut down the center of the shaft to the same depth as the hole.

Step 3: Assemble VersaPlanetary and mount onto robot.

Step 3: Put a 1/2in hex shaft collar around the end of the shaft.

Step 4: Cut a piece of thin polycarb and drill a 3/8in hole near one end.

Step 5: Use a nut to screw an incremental encoder, absolute encoder, single turn potentiometer*, or 10 turn potentiometer into the hole in the polycarb.

Step 6: Insert shaft of sensor into hole in the output shaft.

Step 7: Tighten shaft collar.

Step 8: Attach the loose end of the polycarb to any nearby piece of the robot.

We did this on 9 out of 11 of the VersaPlanetaries on our robot. It was so simple, and just worked. Should accomplish what you want fairly well.

*I don't have the link for where we bought these, but I doubt it would be difficult to find them with the right shaft size.

Can you provide pictures for this?

Personally, I'd rather see more integrated options made available to teams than us using the same old hacks to make our existing solutions work. Yes, they work, but they aren't pretty. I think I have a good idea of what you are describing and the encoder/sensor being exposed is still the biggest problem for longevity (read: durability).