Questions about AM super shifters

[thefro526]

Originally Posted by team 3311

1. How do you mount them I have seen the pic. and I don't see any mounting brackets

2. what do most people use for the ratios. should we use the standard or go for a optional ratio.

3. Should my team go for servo of pneumatic shifting. Myself I would go with pneumatic but I have been wrong before,

1) Check out this picture, it seems to be a pretty easy way to mount a Super Shifter to the C-Base or similar chassis.



Here's a shot of how we mounted our shifters this year. We took the transmission bolts and ran them through our side rail and the transmission.



2) Choosing ratios is a game based decision. Personally, I found that the standard ratio was a little slower than I liked in 2011. Would've been fine for 2010 though. On an open field you may want to gear a little faster than a closed field.

3) Pneumatic shifting is our preferred method. I've heard nothing but bad things about servo shift, and my experience with servos in FRC hasn't been the best.

[BrendanB]

Originally Posted by thefro526

1) Check out this picture, it seems to be a pretty easy way to mount a Super Shifter to the C-Base or similar chassis.

We mounted our supershifters in this manner and while it was simple and easy it takes a while to take off. In the off-season we built a new robot and instead of using the two c base plates to support the trannys, we took some of the AM cross hex tube from the kit to span between using the top four bolts. Very easy and a whole lot easier to work on the drivebase!

I'd recommend pnuematic shifting over servos. If the drivebase is the only item that is using pnuematics, then a pre-filled tank is viable. Do a simple test of how many times you can shift before your compressor kicks in. You'd be surprised how few times you end up shifting in a match. This past year we shifted maybe 5-6 times per match but your needs will change based on your robot. I've heard of several teams doing this but they just end up putting the compressor on because they have the weigh to spare.