pic: Madtown Robotics Drive Proto

[Sam2197]

looks nice and clean. good design

[Akash Rastogi]

What cut of Al are you using for those front bumper-like thing? I've never seen anyone use that before. Looks clean and light. All welded I'm assuming?

[gorrilla]

are those gearboxes custom?

[R.C.]

Originally Posted by lilstogi11

What cut of Al are you using for those front bumper-like thing? I've never seen anyone use that before. Looks clean and light. All welded I'm assuming?

The front bumpers are extremely funny, our teacher 3 years ago thought it would be cool if our bumpers weren't rectangular. So he got a piece of 1x2 aluminum and made slits on the ends, then bent the pieces to that U shape on the front and left the back flat. Then we weld them shut. You can't notice the welds on the front due to powder coating. BTW, we weld everything.

Originally Posted by gorrilla

are those gearboxes custom?

Yes, those gearboxes are custom. For some reason we lost sponsorships but got some weird grants over the summer. We have a brand new CNC, a ton of broaches for keyways and hexes, and other random stuff in our shop. So we figured to start making custom stuff, it's pretty fun. Especially when CD gives such brilliant suggestions.

I forgot, in the grant that we wrote for our CNC, it stated that we had to help other teams machine out parts. So i don't know if i should start another thread, but if any teams needs anything milled (can be possible to do with a 3 axis) we would do it for free (you pay for shipping, the product and $1 for the labor/SO as close to free machining.) Contact Me

[gorrilla]

where do you get powder-coating done? isent that really expensive?

[ironbears]

I work in a custom machine shop that has full CNC capabilities as long with powder coating. Is there a rule against powdercoating in FIRST/ or anything like it?

My employer has allowed us to use all equipment during build season. Do you guys always do that drive train?

[rutzman]

I'm sorry if I'm missing something, but what are those shafts extending from the gearboxes? They don't appear to be attached to anything.

[AdamHeard]

The 1.5 lb gearbox seems fishy to me. What are the gears? Are you accounting for fasteners, cylinder, bearings, shafts, etc...

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

The 1.5 lb gearbox seems fishy to me. What are the gears? Are you accounting for fasteners, cylinder, bearings, shafts, etc...

I can see them being 1.5 lbs without motors. Two motors are more than 1.5lbs.

That being said: Due to all the changes being made to the kit, with electronics and all, don't secure yourself on the CIM motors. Whatever you do, be ready for a change in case it comes.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by ironbears

I work in a custom machine shop that has full CNC capabilities as long with powder coating. Is there a rule against powdercoating in FIRST/ or anything like it?

Not for as long as I can remember. Any team that has wanted to powdercoat/anodize/paint/otherwise treat their metal has pretty much been free to (aside from the cost limits).

This may change in 2009.

[R.C.]

Originally Posted by gorrilla

where do you get powder-coating done? isent that really expensive?

We have a wide range of sponsors that do not donate money, instead they offer resources such as powder coating, we have gotten it for free and yes it is pretty expensive.

Originally Posted by ironbears

I work in a custom machine shop that has full CNC capabilities as long with powder coating. Is there a rule against powdercoating in FIRST/ or anything like it?

My employer has allowed us to use all equipment during build season. Do you guys always do that drive train?

No, there is no rule against it. The pink team, poofs and a handful of other teams do it.

Originally Posted by rutzman

I'm sorry if I'm missing something, but what are those shafts extending from the gearboxes? They don't appear to be attached to anything.

The shafts are attached to the gears, it is an andymark supershifter without the last stage of gears.

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

The 1.5 lb gearbox seems fishy to me. What are the gears? Are you accounting for fasteners, cylinder, bearings, shafts, etc...

The gears are all steel, but they have been faced down (from a 3/8 to a 3/16) and they have holes drilled into them by using an index. The weight is accurate but it does not include motors. BTW, there are only five gears (exclude cim gears) in this assembly and we have found a sponsor that will anodize the gears for us.

Originally Posted by Speedfiend

I can see them being 1.5 lbs without motors. Two motors are more than 1.5lbs.

That being said: Due to all the changes being made to the kit, with electronics and all, don't secure yourself on the CIM motors. Whatever you do, be ready for a change in case it comes.

I was thinking the same thing, I created this drive before Bill's statement. It would be kinda cool to get some Mag Motors. lol.

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by rc_cola1323

The gears are all steel, but they have been faced down (from a 3/8 to a 3/16) and they have holes drilled into them by using an index. The weight is accurate but it does not include motors. BTW, there are only five gears (exclude cim gears) in this assembly and we have found a sponsor that will anodize the gears for us.

What grade steel were you planning on using? Did you feel that this grade was not going to be strong enough? I was under the assumption that its not possible to anodize steel.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by rc_cola1323

The gears are all steel, but they have been faced down (from a 3/8 to a 3/16) and they have holes drilled into them by using an index. The weight is accurate but it does not include motors. BTW, there are only five gears (exclude cim gears) in this assembly and we have found a sponsor that will anodize the gears for us.

Have you done the math on this? 3/16, while probably OK on the first stage of reduction is scary thin for your output stage.

Also as Brandon pointed out, you can't anodize steel.

[R.C.]

Originally Posted by Cory

Have you done the math on this? 3/16, while probably OK on the first stage of reduction is scary thin for your output stage.

Also as Brandon pointed out, you can't anodize steel.

Sorry, I didn't mean steel. I was thinking about the aluminum gears.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by rc_cola1323

Sorry, I didn't mean steel. I was thinking about the aluminum gears.

You're making aluminum gears? I would think very hard about that before committing to a design that revolves around them. Travis has posted on here how there's no way we would have attempted the gearbox we did in 2007 if it hadn't been able to take care of his and Kirk's senior design project as well. There's hundreds of hours of machining alone put into them. The resources are really better spent elsewhere.

Regardless of the material, you need to do the math to see if 3/16" face width will work for you. It probably will for the initial reduction, but my gut instinct is there's no way it will hold up on the output.