KOP Drivetrain vs Voucher

[EricH]

Originally Posted by JB987

Not sure what you mean by maneuvering room. Belts/sprockets don't have to take up much room...some teams even put them in their box tubing frame. Do you mean maneuvering room to access the belts?

What he means, as evidenced by his earlier posts, is actually closer to "margin for error". If you don't place your holes right--say, off by 1/4" in a given direction--belts may be close to impossible to get to work. If you can't handle the risk of being off by 1/4" routinely by adjustment in the belt tension or length, then maybe belt isn't the right choice. OTOH, if you can, then it's something to think about.

[bardd]

Originally Posted by EricH

What he means, as evidenced by his earlier posts, is actually closer to "margin for error". If you don't place your holes right--say, off by 1/4" in a given direction--belts may be close to impossible to get to work. If you can't handle the risk of being off by 1/4" routinely by adjustment in the belt tension or length, then maybe belt isn't the right choice. OTOH, if you can, then it's something to think about.

Sorry for not being clear... Though I want to believe I'm a good English speaker it's still not my native language.

What I also meant is that it's harder to be accurate with belts (for me at least): it's harder to check alignment of timing wheels than that of sprockets, a small point that may and have resulted in hours of stress and puzzlement when things get stuck and sound like they're dying in a car crash. The simile may be more accurate to chains but hopefully the point still stands.

[PhantomPhyxer]

Did I miss something? How do you what this years Kitbot has in it? I did not like some of the extra stuff that was just throw in that we have not used for years but what is so different that every-one is going with a voucher? How money is provideed in the voucher?

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by PhantomPhyxer

Did I miss something? How do you what this years Kitbot has in it? I did not like some of the extra stuff that was just throw in that we have not used for years but what is so different that every-one is going with a voucher? How money is provideed in the voucher?

Please read here first

http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr.../blog-09-07-12

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by EricH

What he means, as evidenced by his earlier posts, is actually closer to "margin for error". If you don't place your holes right--say, off by 1/4" in a given direction--belts may be close to impossible to get to work. If you can't handle the risk of being off by 1/4" routinely by adjustment in the belt tension or length, then maybe belt isn't the right choice. OTOH, if you can, then it's something to think about.

While the lengths of belts may not be adjustable like a piece of chain, you are by no means left without any way to solve these types of issues.

Belts can be purchased in single tooth increments for almost all types of profiles and pitches. If you know exactly how much you are off in your implementation compared to the original design, getting another belt should be doable. Incorporating a tensioner, even something simple like a piece of Delrin on an aluminum standoff can work as well. You don't necessarily need a spring tensioner, or something thats adjustable, there are ways to get by with relative simplicity.

Of course the simplest way to solve these issues is to measure twice(or thrice) and cut once.
-Brando

[Akash Rastogi]

The option is now available on TIMS on the right hand side. Be sure to update your selection.

Thanks AndyMark and FIRST for this option!