pic: Modified AM Shifter Gearboxes

[Drew4564]

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I apologize if I'm missing the obvious, but aside from the gold coloring what modifications have been made to this transmission, and why did you make them?

[jspatz1]

Appears to be a 1st generation shifter, with its internal double sprocket, with the addition of an external extended output shaft, like a super shifter.

[Ernst]

Originally Posted by Andrew Lawrence

I apologize if I'm missing the obvious, but aside from the gold coloring what modifications have been made to this transmission, and why did you make them?

This is an AM Shifter. It is normally gold.

Originally Posted by jspatz1

Appears to be a 1st generation shifter, with internal double sprocket, with an additional external extended output shaft, like a super shifter.

I didn't see the extended shaft on the first time around - thank you for pointing that out.

[asid61]

This looks surprisingly lightweight. Perhaps replacing the cylinder with a smaller one would be good though.

[Drew4564]

We made them simply for the fact that we had two given to us by a retired team, and it was a much cheaper process than buying new ones. I agree that a smaller piston would be desirable, but I'm not sure what would work as a replacement.

[R.C.]

Originally Posted by Drew4564

We made them simply for the fact that we had two given to us by a retired team, and it was a much cheaper process than buying new ones. I agree that a smaller piston would be desirable, but I'm not sure what would work as a replacement.

If your looking for something more compact I'd recommend either:

Bimba Flat - 3/4 Bore (due to #10-32 male thread), could do 9/16" bore as well
FO-040.5-MT
or
VEXpro Pancake

You will probably have to modify spacer length as an FYI when switching to a pancake cylinder.

[jspatz1]

Originally Posted by asid61

This looks surprisingly lightweight. Perhaps replacing the cylinder with a smaller one would be good though.

These older gen-1 shifters are almost entirely steel (sideplates, gears, sprocket, shafts, dog, bearings, bolts) so they are actually quite heavy, but they are durable.

[wilsonmw04]

I like it as an engineering exercise. Were you planning on using these for next season?

[Drew4564]

Yes, we are planning on using them for next season, and are currently in the process of building an off-season drive with them! It was a great way to learn Solidworks for my team, as we had to not only modify the gearboxes but put them on a WCD.

[Drew4564]

Originally Posted by R.C.

If your looking for something more compact I'd recommend either:

Bimba Flat - 3/4 Bore (due to #10-32 male thread), could do 9/16" bore as well
FO-040.5-MT
or
VEXpro Pancake

You will probably have to modify spacer length as an FYI when switching to a pancake cylinder.

My team will definitely look into these, thanks for your help! The current cylinder is much larger than it needs to be, and would take up a lot of space at the bottom of the drivetrain.

[jspatz1]

Originally Posted by Drew4564

Yes, we are planning on using them for next season,

To obey fab schedule rules, you will need to disassemble them to their original COTS state, and replace and redo any modified parts.

[BBray_T1296]

Originally Posted by jspatz1

To obey fab schedule rules, you will need to disassemble them to their original COTS state, and replace and redo any modified parts.

I agree, this is the legal way of doing this.

A separate discussion altogether is, how many teams actually follow that vs teams that don't.

[HP42S]

Originally Posted by BBray_T1296

I agree, this is the legal way of doing this.

A separate discussion altogether is, how many teams actually follow that vs teams that don't.

Funny you should mention this. It was about 1 year ago when I was looking a little closer at possible FRC participation and as a total FRC noob couldn't figure out why everyone on CD was showing off their new drives before kickoff. So I asked a question on CD and was politely told how off-season work could be done. Got a much better understanding now

Still trying to figure out if it's really worth stepping up to FRC..... seems to me like the odds are stacked against 1st, 2nd and maybe even 3rd year teams.