A busted gearbox is a showstopper. I can't think of many things worse than a broken gearbox in competition. I bit my nails all season and it turned out okay, but I had some steel plate and a waterjet to make a dozen spares (although we never needed them). As a rookie team pulling parts out of red and blue boxes for the first time, I would want something that I can trust to outlast the rest of the robot even if it's not properly fixtured. I'm not sure if I'm at the level of comfort with the BaneBots transmissions just yet.
That being said, we ran four BaneBots transmissions of three different sizes this year, two with hardened carriers, and all survived. They fit in tight spots, are easy to mount, very light, inexpensive, and they look cool. I'm already picturing them on one of our offseason projects.
With a bunch of gear ratios to choose from, they will still be a valuable resource for FIRST teams, I think, whether or not the 56mm winds up in the kit next year.
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MIT Mechanical Engineering
>> College Mentor,
Team 97: Cambridge Rindge and Latin School with The Edgerton Center, MIT Mechanical Engineering, Bluefin Robotics, and Draper Laboratory
>> Alumnus, Team 527: Plainedge HS