FIRST provided transmissions survey

[MrForbes]

If you have the wherewithal to design and build your own transmissions (and still make the rest of the robot effective), then go for it! If you don't, but you do have the money to buy aftermarket transmissions, then that might be the best way to go. Otherwise make the best of the kit transmissions...but you might have to design around them, as they generally are a low cost design that will just meet the need.

A single speed gearbox is a transmission, and a multi-speed gearbox is a transmission too.

[=Martin=Taylor=]

Our team has done it all.

We've built our own, used the kit ones, used AM's, or bought pre-assembled gearboxes from other companies.

And guess what? It hasn't made a big difference! The success of our robots has depended more on the scoring mechanism than on the drivetrain.

IMO a good drivetrain is reliable, light, and gets the robot where it needs to go.

We used the AM shifters last year and they worked really well. Thats probably what we'll be sticking with.

[AndyB]

As much as most teams use non-KOP frames, transmissions, wheels, etc...

There is definitly an edge to having a moving chassis on day 1. For the actual competition though, we have always found that going with our own custom built stuff is the best option for the simple fact that you can create it to do SPECIFICALLY what you want it to do.

In the past I may have said differently with the KOP tranny's but after having a good year with our own tranny's, I'd have to argue towards building your own.

That being said, if your school is lacking machining equipment/sponsors, going with the AM Single Speed transmission, some KOP wheels, and the kit frame to do a simple 6wd is definitly a good way to go.

Our team has gone for designing our own transmissions for the last three years. The first was a Crab Drive, so we didn't really have a choice about using the kit tranny. The second was using the 3 inch CIM with belts attached, and was a 2 speed ball lock. The third was this year's 2 speed dog shifter, with 2 small CIMs.

I'd say that this year was our most successful year, and here's why: We spent a lot of time simplifying the game. We realized that you'd need to get tubes from A to B, and built the simplest possible system of doing so. We also realized that in order to maintain a competitive edge, we'd need the shifting capability.

As for the resource issues, here's my suggestion: The only drivetrain useable machine tool that 114 has is a Mill with a DRO. However, we end up with nice welded frame bots, with CNC'd drive systems, and very advanced parts. How do we do that? We go around to local shops, ask them if they can help us, either by cutting cost, or donating machine time. It's a bit of work, but in the end it pays off wonderfully.

[EricH]

By the way, the BaneBots transmissions this year (before the issues were resolved) were close to the worst ever, second only to the drill motor trannies used pre-2005 (if not worse). The 2005-2006 trannies were really good, and were almost exactly like the AM single-speed. (Hey, I'm biased--we won the championship with one set of KOP trannies that year.) This year, my team just used AM 2-speed pneumatic trannies. Our driver seemed to like them better than the single-speed ones, and the robot performed just as well.

However, I'll echo what others have said: it depends on the game whether or not your new tranny design is actually used. Suggestion: use an old robot/Kitbot, build a mockup with the new design, and put it through the mill before or after the season if at all possible. This will help determine what the tranny can and can't do. Then, figure out what you want the drive to do during the design time, and match a drivetrain to that.