Single vs Multiple Speed Gearbox

[techhelpbb]

I agree with the others. It depends on your strategy. In effect you have have lower speeds with more torque or high speeds with less torque. You can even create a higher speed that wouldn't allow the robot to break inertia and switch into it from the lower gear (like an automobile's higher gears).

If you just want to hold ground, there are other ways to achieve this than using drive train torque. You could simply plant your robot like a backhoe does to improve stability while digging. One could even rig a ratchet or something like that so they can only advance in one direction till they loose traction on the carpet. If you increase the surface area on which the additional support touches the carpet you can create a situation where another robot up to the legal weight would probably trip their breakers or loose traction before your robot moves. Be kind of fun to watch a team that usually just plows things out of their way find their 'unmovable' object.