I'd like to clarify something that has bothered me. To articulate our shooter mechanism we used two 10:1 versa planetary stages for a 100:1 overall reduction. This is way outside the recommendations from Vex's
Load Ratings Guide for a Cim motor. I apologize to any teams who may have gotten the idea to do this from us.
A much safer solution for articulating the shooting mechanism would be to use a Mini Cim motor in a versa planetary at a 108:1 ratio. This can be safely done by using a 3:1, 4:1, and 9:1 stacked up. It's still within Vex's recommendations and it provides a similar amount of torque.
Another solution would be to use the
Gem 500 gearbox from AndyMark. I believe the joint at which the shooter articulates should be the strongest part of the robot. I will say from my experience with the Gem 500, it will have no problems, it's a tank.
Again, sorry if anybody copied this aspect of our design. I'd like to blame the sleep deprivation, but it was a result of our lack of experience. We've learned from our mistake and will do better next time!