Reducing the weight of the KitBot

[Ben Piecuch]

I'd like to comment on the KOP transmissions, and put a new perspective on them. We built our own transmissions last year, for a single speed, single motor (CIM) drivetrain. We had to do some design work, purchase gears/shafts/material, and then spent about 1 week machining all the pieces. In the end, we had an efficient, smooth, very effective gearbox, which was flawless throughout a years worth of competition. But, it heavily taxed our team resources, and delayed our autonomous testing for over a week.

This year, we've compared the KOP gearboxes with the ones we built last year. These offer a similar gear ratio, the ability to mount one or two motors, and can be assembled in one hours time with absolutely no machining. Also, these gearboxes weight about 1 pound more (each) than our custom-made, heavily machined gearboxes. To me, it's a no-brainer. These KOP gearboxes are wonderful, and with a minimum of machining time can be kept to the same weight as our previous gearboxes. Not to mention, we'll have a driving chassis by the end of the weekend. Way to go Paul on a great addition!

Bengineer
Team 228