Low Cost Planetary Gearbox Source...

[Joe Johnson]

I am continually impressed with the Folks at Banebots, Inc.

I have been bringing up concerns and problems and they have been very pro-active in their response.

This is a copy of the latest letter from Ed Yackey concerning the screw threads stripping out:

oe,

This is what we have for screws:

The thread is M3, Pitch: 0.5 mm
The head diameter can be at most 5.5mm
Stage Length McMaster#
1 20mm 91290A123
2 30mm 91290A130
3 35mm 91290A135
4 45mm 91292A025

We have ordered the 20mm, 30mm, and 35mm screws from McMaster and verified
that they are a good replacement. We have not checked the 45mm screws
from McMaster but believe they should work.

The back plate on the gearbox (between ring gear and motor) is fairly
thick and the holes are drilled through and fully tapped so the lengths of
the screws are not real critical. The 35mm and 45mm screws for the 3 and
4 stage gearboxes could be longer if you wanted more threads in contact.
In particular the 35mm screw is a bit short and it looks like the
manufacture removed the lock washers from these screws to compensate.

The heads of the screws need to be max 5.5mm. The McMaster socket head
screws listed above just fit.

The screws which mount the motor to the gearbox are M3, 8mm long (McMaster
#91290A113). We have purchased these screws from McMaster and verified
they work.

We would like to offer free replacement screws to all FIRST teams which
purchased gearboxes. What we’d like to do is to have any team that wants
new screws send as an email with the invoice number on it. We can then
look at what they ordered and send then the correct screws. I’m guessing
posting on the FIRST forum is the best way to announce this. We have a
limited number of screws in house now and are expecting a good supply next
week.

Thanks for you help

Ed Yackey
BaneBots, LLC

I think that this is a very reasonable response.

Please continue to keep us posted with your experiences with these gearboxes and this company.

Questiong to the CO teams & FIRST folk: Banebots, Inc is in Fort Collins, how come you guys have not been beating on their doors and getting them involved? We have to find a way to get them to the Denver Regional.

Joe J.