pic: Madtown Robotics Drive Proto

[R.C.]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

They spent hundreds of hours. Hundreds. If you worked nonstop for a week, that's 168 hours.

You know what your best bet is if you want a nice, light, simple to make gearbox? Make custom sideplates for the AM supershifters, pocket them like you did, and use standoffs rather than the extrusion casing, like you did. It'll be real fast to make, and you *know* it will work and be very reliable. It may not technically be the lightest gearbox out there, but it will be done fast and done right. You could probably drop the 4.6 lb super shifter to at least 3.5, probably closer to 3 if you lighten the gears (but do not, do not reduce the face width unless you really know what you're doing). A 3-3.5 pound, 2-speed, bulletproof gearbox is still pretty light overall.

This is our exact plan on 973. We technically have the resources to make lighter gearboxes (from Steel gears, we won't dabble in aluminum without some serious effort and planning), but it's not worth the additional time and risk in our opinion.

I totally agree, but we will be facing down steel gears b/c

a. we have the resources
b. engineers are gonna help us with details
c. a great learning experience for the team