Open vs Closed Gearboxes

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Originally Posted by tim-tim

A few of us were sitting around a table in the shop the other night discussing the pros and cons of open and closed gearboxes.

This was brought up during a challenge for a small group of students to redesign a transmission for the 2012 robot. We have done both in the past, but what are the experiences of other teams?

We have run custom (not as aesthetically appealing as other teams have) open transmissions; and have used more than our fair share of COTS transmissions, which are typically enclosed. We have always had success with both. What are your experiences?

What lessons have you learned that can be shared with others?

*Note: This is not meant to be a standard vs custom thread, but focused on open vs closed designs*

"Junk" gets all up in them too easy. There really isn't much of a gain by having them open. If your worried about the weight, just put something thin around them.