Drive train questions

[nitneylion452]

Originally Posted by Gearheads1

We are looking at doing a 6WD system this year and had initially looked at having 2cims direct drive the center wheels and then use belts or chains to power the outer wheels.The design has evolved into using a single cim on each center wheel that is chained to the front and using another cim to direct drive each rear wheel. Does anyone see any issues with the evolved setup.I am concerned about matching speeds between wheel sets and a potential loss of power, but I may be worrying for nothing. Thanks for your thoughts.

Brian Holmgren
Team 1723

When you say CIMs direct driving your wheels, I hope you mean off a gearbox. A CIM motor spins at 5300 RPM under no load and it won't have enough torque for a drive train. You're going to be trying to get a 120lb robot moving and it will take forever to get up to speed. Not to mention the fact that you'll be getting pushed all over the place.

If you are in the market for gearboxes, using the CIMple box from the KOP isn't a half bad idea. The ~5:1 ratio is good for the CIM. I am personally a fan of the AM ToughBox which is 12.75:1 if you don't play with the gearing.