paper: Belt vs. Chain Drive Evaluation - Team 234

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by artdutra04

Has either 234 or 612 (or any other team using belts on their drive train) used non-aluminum timing belt sprockets? Or more specifically, has anyone used the SDP/SI (or similar) timing belt sprockets that have an aluminum Fairloc/T-Insert hub embedded inside a polycarbonate timing belt sprocket on a FRC drive train?

I've been using some of these with 5mm pitch belt on the shooter (as shown below) and ball intake on 228's robot this year, and was considering them for the drive train in the future. They are a lot lighter than the aluminum ones (freeing up machining resources for more important things), and at high RPMs are noticeably quieter than roller chain (compared to our Aim High robot).

I havent used them in a drivetrain, but what seems to fail in drivetrains is the belt. I cannot verify that a plastic one will definitely work, but my feeling is that it probably would depending on size, mounting style, etc.