paper: 3008 Custom AM Super Shifter Plates Pocketed

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by Ninja_Bait

There's barely any metal on this thing! Doesn't it bend?

I imagine it's also supposed to be for a WCD? Will it be mounted just by the standoffs or will there be other support structures? Because those things will probably twist off like Gundam parts coming off of a sprue.

Of course it will bend. But by how much, and do you really care? (Remember that the CIMs get additional support from the cylinder bracket.) Any stripped-down Super Shifter is probably more susceptible to abrasive wear issues, due to gear misalignment resulting from flexure—but how much efficiency and gear life are you losing, and with a bit of wearing in, will you achieve a new, acceptable steady state that accounts for the misalignment?

Besides, if you're milling out the gearbox (rather than laser or waterjet cutting it), you can leave a thin wall (so the lightening is pocketed, rather than straight through). That way there is something to resist torsion in the individual ribs, if it's actually a problem.

Originally Posted by Ninja_Bait

Anyway, I like that you solved that stupid gear setup on the SS (Why not symmetrical, AM? Why?!?!?!?!).

The asymmetry lets you pack a pair of Super Shifters into an 11.75 in × 7 in × 5 in space (plus cantilevered shafts), driving the left and right wheels of a robot. In games like 2008 and 2010, where width mattered, that was a useful attribute. This arrangement is compatible with wheels down to Ø4 in (on a very flat floor), with the gearboxes mounted low in the frame.