pic: gear boxes

[Paul Copioli]

Well I guess you figured out that the gearbox casting wasn't designed to take a hammer hit on the side walls. Those side walls were designed as thin as could be cast in order to keep the weight down. Under normal robot operating loads, that should never happen .......

[phrontist]

We had an unexplained fracture exactly like this which we ascribed to manufacturing fluke. We were just playing with the practice bot and some observant student noticed it had developed a fissure. This was less than an hour of use...

[Andrew Y.]

as long as it dosent happen in the middle of a match

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by Andrew Y.

as long as it dosent happen in the middle of a match

Nope sorry. I'd say that's the wrong mentality. (well, maybe not wrong but less than optimal) I's say we should all be striving to build robots that don't break at all.

[Andrew Blair]

Originally Posted by Paul Copioli

Well I guess you figured out that the gearbox casting wasn't designed to take a hammer hit on the side walls. Those side walls were designed as thin as could be cast in order to keep the weight down. Under normal robot operating loads, that should never happen .......

Well, yeah, you're completely right. Something we should all take away from this then...: Never underestimate the um...ability.... of students in small groups.

Though I act like it's not my fault. The knowing are to blame when someone makes a mistake unknowingly.

[alphastryk]

I have to say...if those boxes are that weak...might be good to avoid them entirely. if they randomly break after little use I wonder if FIRST would replace them for you?

[Andrew Blair]

Originally Posted by alphastryk

I have to say...if those boxes are that weak...might be good to avoid them entirely. if they randomly break after little use I wonder if FIRST would replace them for you?

Well, thing is, they don't break randomly. Castings are generally brittle, and a hard strike will crack them. We have spares, and it's not affecting operation.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by alphastryk

I have to say...if those boxes are that weak...might be good to avoid them entirely. if they randomly break after little use I wonder if FIRST would replace them for you?

...or it might be good to avoid doing stupid things like smashing a thin metal casing with a steel hammer...

Just a thought...