Building a gearbox / Attaching a motor?

[coreyjon]

I've been doing this for a long time (2001) - I remember the drill motors, i've cut gears, and I've designed and built gear boxes from scratch. I can't make a better recommendation than akoscielski3. As a rookie team this late in the game, get yourself some of those CIMple boxes.

If in the future if you want to explore building/designing gearboxes the key is to decide very early on, and then have a back up plan especially the first time you try it just in case things go awry. Things to keep in mind are:

Motors: understanding power output, no load (free) speed, and what speed you can expect under load (my rule of thump 80-81% no load)

Gear Reductions required: Set a target speed (IE 12fps), decide on what size wheels /track set up your using. Then work from both ends IE expected loaded speed of motors on one side to the speed required to move your wheels/tracks to achieve the desired speed. At this point it's just a puzzle to solve the proper reductions.

There are many variables to consider: as you increase the number of reductions (intermediate shafts) you reduce efficiency. How much backlash should you use (.001" is my rule of thumb). don't forget about how you plan on connecting the gear box to the wheels (theres a chance for another reduction, so don't waste it).

Designing drivetrains/chassis (now teaching how to) is primarily where I focus myself. It's very rewarding, but also time consuming. With places like Andymark now offering ready made robust gear boxes it takes a lot of guess work and design work out of it leaving you and your team to spend more time on strategy and other end effectors to play the game.

Good luck to your team, no reason to be embarrassed by a question. This forum is here to be an idea sounding board, sanity check, and learning center.