pic: 3 speed concept - 1st gear

[Cory]

Originally Posted by David Guzman

I have always wonder about this kind of shifting, how long can a gear box like this last?

I had this idea a while ago but I didn't think it would work because of the gears hiting when shifting. What do you all think about using brass for one of the gears that meshes and steel for the other one. I think since brass is a softer metal it would start to take the shape needed to shift properly.

I know there was a team that use this method and had four speeds, i think it was team 33 but im not sure? someone please correct me if wrong.

Dave

Teams have been using this style of shifting for quite some time, and overall, when constructed properly, it seems to be extremely reliable. I suppose if you shift a whole lot, you may need to have extras of the meshing gears on hand, incase you happen to shear a tooth, or completely wear them down, but considering that a team who attends 4 events (2 regionals, nats, an offseason. Yes I know many teams go to more than this), with an average of 10 rounds per event, that's only 80 minutes of drive time, which should be well within the lifespan of most things built for FIRST.