Second set of motors

[Ikillee]

Our team has a 2 motor drive train. We have the 2 gearboxes from last year. How easy is it to mount the gearboxes and motors to the wheels? A friend of mine from another team wasn't directly involved with this but he did say it was really easy. Also how significantly does the programming need to adjust? Our chassis is 27"wide by 28" long.

[Ikillee]

Basically what I'm asking is if it's hard to mount a second set of motors to the drive train.

[geomapguy]

No it's not that hard. Are you guys using the KOP drive system

[nicholsjj]

It's not that hard at all if your team keeps track of its spare parts. You will need four bolts to mount the motors to the other motor mount port on the gearbox, our team also uses thread locker on them. You will want to attach a CIM shaft output gear with the keyway and retaining clips on the CIM motor before you attach it to the gearbox. Make sure you are using the same tooth count as your other CIM gear that is already mounted. You then will need to add two more motor controllers to your electronics board. You do not have to change programming at all if you are using tank drive. You will however need to change your pwm cable to a Y-pwm cable and plug those outputs into both the already used controller and the newly placed controller. Also pay attention that doing this doesn't add to many CIM motors to your robot total, 6 large CIMs total are the max. This also adds a higher current draw for your drive but it is usually a good choice IMO due to acceleration being increased.

[Ikillee]

Originally Posted by nicholsjj

It's not that hard at all if your team keeps track of its spare parts. You will need four bolts to mount the motors to the other motor mount port on the gearbox, our team also uses thread locker on them. You will want to attach a CIM shaft output gear with the keyway and retaining clips on the CIM motor before you attach it to the gearbox. Make sure you are using the same tooth count as your other CIM gear that is already mounted. You then will need to add two more motor controllers to your electronics board. You do not have to change programming at all if you are using tank drive. You will however need to change your pwm cable to a Y-pwm cable and plug those outputs into both the already used controller and the newly placed controller. Also pay attention that doing this doesn't add to many CIM motors to your robot total, 6 large CIMs total are the max. This also adds a higher current draw for your drive but it is usually a good choice IMO due to acceleration being increased.

Thanks! We're going to salvage any parts from last year's gearbox. Hopefully we have all of them. If we have time we could assemble them before bag and tag. Otherwise it would have to be at the competition.

[Ikillee]

Are y-pwm cables popular in hardware stores?

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Ikillee

Are y-pwm cables popular in hardware stores?

Try hobby stores that deal with R/C vehicles, particularly aircraft, or electronics parts stores--or your kit of parts, which should have had two. Hardware stores probably won't have PWM cables at all.

[GortGortGort]

Originally Posted by Ikillee

Our team has a 2 motor drive train. We have the 2 gearboxes from last year. How easy is it to mount the gearboxes and motors to the wheels? A friend of mine from another team wasn't directly involved with this but he did say it was really easy. Also how significantly does the programming need to adjust? Our chassis is 27"wide by 28" long.

Hi , I just posted a photo for you as the gears are in fact different from last year . We infact just ran in to this problem on our bot . You can see the photo .http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/39698
Hope this helps .

[mrnoble]

Both last year's and this year's kitbot gearboxes were designed to work with two CIM motors per box, so you could run a 4-CIM drivetrain. It is irrelevant that they are different from each other. Mounting a second motor to each gearbox only requires that you attach the proper pinion gear (with key), and insert it into the space that's already there for it in the gearbox. Screw the new motor into place, then add two more motor controllers to your wiring and electronics setup.

[mrnoble]

Also, adding the new motors at competition (once you've got the relevant parts) will be even easier than at your school/garage, simply because most of the teams there are not only skilled at doing exactly the work needed, but they will be thrilled to help. It is one of the joys of most FIRST teams to help other teams out in the pit area.

[Ikillee]

Thanks for the help everybody. It was really easy to mount. One man job. It's all hooked up and ready to go for our regional in Calgary in April.