pic: Fun Bevel Gearbox Idea

[Jacob Bendicksen]

It's the V8!

[billbo911]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

Actually if teams use the current monitoring properly, a team could maximize the time motors spend in their peak efficiency range (errr, closer to peak at least) and still get large output output torques (less torque per motor, more torque overall).

If done right you'd get a decent performance increase and exactly ride whatever line you set in terms of net current draw.

Originally Posted by Bryce2471

...

I don't really disagree, but I find it interesting you would say that without hearing what the final gear ratio is.

You both are correct. The final gear ratio was not stated, and torque limiting over time could be quite advantageous.

That said, with the size of fields we play on and the wheels that are available to us, 6 CIM drive seems to be about the limit of practicality.

Please don't get me wrong, I really like this design both for it's creativity and it's aesthetic. I would love to see how it actually performs. I know with the right final gear ration, you could drive it continuously at full speed without tripping a breaker. The carpet might not like it, but that's not the point of this design.

[cjl2625]

Originally Posted by billbo911

8 CIM drive?
Can you say "Popped our main breaker"?
Don't worry, you will!

Looks more like a 4 CIM + 4 mini-CIM, if I'm not mistaken

[sanddrag]

Can you comment on what exact gears you would use if you were to make this?

[Oblarg]

Dumb question: How would one remove a motor for maintenance, if needed? There doesn't seem to be much access.

[Chadfrom308]

Originally Posted by billbo911

8 CIM drive?
Can you say "Popped our main breaker"?
Don't worry, you will!

We had 4 CIMs/4 Mini-CIMs on our drivetrain and didn't ever pop the breaker. That being said, we got a little lucky

[Deke]

I love the outside the box thinking, looks like it was fun to work on!

[scca229]

Originally Posted by Oblarg

Dumb question: How would one remove a motor for maintenance, if needed? There doesn't seem to be much access.

I thought the same right when I saw the render but now I'm envisioning some sort of twist-lock being used to hold the motors in place.

I know I'd love to see this in reality.

[Tyler2517]

Just a few questions i guess. It looks like you are using 4 bevel gears.

If you are using 4 would you not be loosing a large amounts of mechanical efficiency?
I love the idea i just think that using that many bevels would be a mistake even though it is a pretty sleek design.

[asid61]

Originally Posted by Bryce2471

Thanks!
Unfortunately, I don't think our team will even be considering this idea because of budget constraints. I think it would be cool to see how this drive would work in real life though. It would certainly save belly pan space!

If you have access to a mill, lathe, indexing head, and pedestal grinder of any size, you can actually make your own bevel gears and regular gears to save a little on costs. Look up "how to make a gear hob". If you have a community college in your area, they might have a machine shop you could use.

Nice design for the gearbox. Looks like it can save on valuable horizontal real estate.

[Ian Curtis]

I'd love to see a 2 CIM version so you could have a "V-Twin" or even a 1 CIM that looks like a 1900ish motorcycle engine or model airplane engine.

[Bryce2471]

Originally Posted by Ian Curtis

I'd love to see a 2 CIM version so you could have a "V-Twin" or even a 1 CIM that looks like a 1900ish motorcycle engine or model airplane engine.

I actually designed this gearbox with four mounting points for motors, partially so that I could mess around with different motor configurations.

[Bryce2471]

Originally Posted by asid61

If you have access to a mill, lathe, indexing head, and pedestal grinder of any size, you can actually make your own bevel gears and regular gears to save a little on costs. Look up "how to make a gear hob". If you have a community college in your area, they might have a machine shop you could use.

Nice design for the gearbox. Looks like it can save on valuable horizontal real estate.

It sound like an awesome process to learn about. Unfortunately, my team has never had access to a pedestal grinder.

Of course there's no time like the present! we just got done building a CNC router on a super tight budget, so I feel like we might be able to make something work.

[Bryce2471]

Originally Posted by Tyler2517

Just a few questions i guess. It looks like you are using 4 bevel gears.

If you are using 4 would you not be loosing a large amounts of mechanical efficiency?
I love the idea i just think that using that many bevels would be a mistake even though it is a pretty sleek design.

Just like on any other transmission, each motor has a pinion gear on it, but there is only one large bevel gear on each side of the drive. Because these transmissions only have two stages of reduction, they shouldn't be any less efficient than you average gearbox.

[Bryce2471]

Originally Posted by Oblarg

Dumb question: How would one remove a motor for maintenance, if needed? There doesn't seem to be much access.

Questions aren't dumb!
I didn't put a ton of thought into it, but my first instinct was a ball-end hex wrench.