pic: Quick-Change Chassis 2

[cbale2000]

Originally Posted by Kevin Thorp

Worm gear efficiency is largely determined by the ratio. Yes, a high ratio (100:1) worm gear drive might be only 50% efficient, but at 10:1 they are 85-90%. Design World Article

True, which is why I said "as low as", but even at the high-end of that efficiency curve, at 90% efficiency you still have a less efficient drive system than virtually any other machine on the field, and that efficiency curve drops off fast if you opt to gear any slower.

The gearing on a worm drive is kind of a catch 22, if you gear high you loose torque and stall your drive motors in a pushing match, but if you gear low you loose efficiency and probably still stall your drive motors in a pushing match since you're fighting the other robot plus the added friction in the gearbox.

Originally Posted by Rick

I hope this is a joke because isn't this the dream? A reliable drive train?

I would be looking at iterations of your previous (low maintenance) drivetrain, not designing something that is less robust so your pit crew has something to do.

Not counting 2015 (we don't talk about 2015 ) our last two drive systems have been extremely reliable, so it's definitely not just a dream. The only maintenance we've had to do was replace wheel tread about once per event due to wear. Needless to say our pit crew was also quite board most of the time as a result. Both robots are iterations of the same design, so, when possible, I definitely recommend iterating on what works.