pic: 1276's 2007 3-Speed AM Gearboxes

[Ian Curtis]

Originally Posted by crazykid234

ok, I'll be the first to say that is awesome!!!!!!!!!

What kinds of speeds do you get?

Around 4fps in low gear, 10fps in medium gear, and 15fps in high gear.

We haven't showed them to AM (but I expect they'll see it here). They aren't bullet proof like the 2 speed, without proper code and additional sensors it is possible to lock them up.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by iCurtis

Around 4fps in low gear, 10fps in medium gear, and 15fps in high gear.

We haven't showed them to AM (but I expect they'll see it here). They aren't bullet proof like the 2 speed, without proper code and additional sensors it is possible to lock them up.

When they do get locked up, is it possible to unlock them? Then it quits being a bug and becomes a feature.

Like the mods--nice and clean!

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Billfred

When they do get locked up, is it possible to unlock them? Then it quits being a bug and becomes a feature.

Like the mods--nice and clean!

Yeah. If it is controllable then you have a 3 spreed transmission with brake....

so... is it?

[Ian Curtis]

Originally Posted by Billfred

When they do get locked up, is it possible to unlock them? Then it quits being a bug and becomes a feature.

Like the mods--nice and clean!

It is very possible to unlock, just shift the third gear dog back into neutral. The only real problem is if you were cooking across the field at full speed and then locked them up you might do some damage.

EDIT (In response to Sean): Yep, that's what I figured too. It's just that if you engaged it while you were driving, you could hurt something.

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by iCurtis

It is very possible to unlock, just shift the third gear dog back into neutral. The only real problem is if you were cooking across the field at full speed and then locked them up you might do some damage.

I think he was referring to intentionally locking them up to create a mechanical braking feature.

The biggest issue about using the dogs to lock up the shifters is what happens when it does fail. If you accidentally lock up the gears (which may happen if you have a lock on command feature), or you recieve a significant force to the gearbox when locked up (not sure what force this could be, most external forces this large would probably just cause the wheels to skid well before a failure in the drive) the failure would almost certainly be losing gear teeth. And that spells disaster in a transmission.

[AdamHeard]

That is awesome then. Keep your code so you don't look them at high speed, but also put some code in that let's you lock it on command. It would be really useful for holding position on a ramp at the end of the match.

[Ian Curtis]

In case anyone is wondering, these gearboxes held up perfectly through our regional. There was never any "bad shifting" causing a lockup or teeth stripping or anything of that sort. We found the extra high gear most useful in this years game to race around the rack to play defense and then return.

If there is any interest, we plan on creating a white paper before next season. (There, a deadline, now I'll have to follow it. )

[Andy Baker]

Originally Posted by iCurtis

Around 4fps in low gear, 10fps in medium gear, and 15fps in high gear.

We haven't showed them to AM (but I expect they'll see it here). They aren't bullet proof like the 2 speed, without proper code and additional sensors it is possible to lock them up.

Aaaaah! I think my head just exploded from looking at this awesomeness. You guys are great. This is super cool.

I thought Kaizen Blitz was working on something interesting, as I noticed they were buying a few extra parts... but I would not have guessed this.

For all of the people who think that selling off-the-shelf gearboxes stifles the engineering and creativity of FIRST teams ... phooey on you... look at 1276 and what they have done. Excellent job!!!

Andy B.