FRC Gearboxes, Drive Train and motor combination recommendation

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by Coach Seb

Alright... second season team here and we would like to investigate other drive train system than what is send out with the KoP.

Last year, we used the Rhino track and also experiment with pneumatics wheels mounted on the Andymark 14U with upgraded kit... We used the standard tough box mini gearbox.

I am looking at other system, gearbox and shifter and 3 CIM versus 2...

I would like to hear what your team favorite drive system is and why. What are pro and cons of your favorite, what you used in the past....

I understand that ultimately the game will make us determine what we should use, but assuming a flat surface with limited obstacles or "defenses" to go over....

The best drive systems accomplish three things, for me:

1) My team (in that year) can put it together quickly.
2) My team can make it come apart reasonably quickly for maintenance.
3) It will slip its wheels in the lowest gear in a dead push, rather than stick and trip breakers.

Everything after that is either taste or an optimization to make the robot more effective in some other game-specific way (say, open fronts or optimizing time to sprint a certain distance).

Over the five regional wins I've been a part of, here's what they used:

2010 (1398, Palmetto): Custom sheetmetal frame, guts of an AM Shifter, 4" wedgetopped wheels.
2011 (2815, Peachtree & Palmetto): AndyMark C-Base, CIMple Box, 8" wedgetopped wheels. (Other than the wheel change and maybe some sprocket choices, this was the kit drivetrain of the day.)
2012 (2815, Palmetto): AndyMark C-Base, CIMple Box, 6" FIRST Wheels. (This was literally the kit drive system, we just used frame bits to raise most of the frame in a failed attempt to clear the center bump.)
2014 (4901, Orlando): AndyMark AM14U, 3CIM4U gearboxes, 4" HiGrip Wheels. (This was the kit drive system, but with different gearboxes for 6 CIM drive as we expected to do more pushing that year and wanted to spread the load.)

If you haven't guessed, drop-center 6WD (as done in the Kickoff kit drivetrains) has been our weapon of choice over the years. To do otherwise requires a clear advantage once we analyze the game.

Take some time and get familiar with JVN's fabulous spreadsheet, get familiar with wheel options (cough cough shameless plug cough), and start figuring out your capabilities. If you've got means to do a tube-based or sheetmetal or otherwise custom drivetrain, great! If you don't, that's okay too--a solid drive system can be had out of the Kickoff kit drivetrain, though that might guide some other choices in gearboxes or wheels so you don't have to notch things or add other brackets.