pic: Modified/Integrated Transmission

[Thermal]

Originally Posted by CraigHickman

I would highly suggest against pocketing your motor mounting plate like that. Not for strength concerns, but for cost and time. The weight savings simply aren't worth the headache.

That being said, Nice design! Ought to make everything nice and integrated. If you can figure out a system to make each side of the drive system modular (IE GRT in 2007), it would add to the system's robustness and quick-changeability during competition.

I'm still waiting for a team that can pull of Nascar speed pit stops for battery and drive changes. It'll be cool to see a team rush into the put, drop the entire robot base (drive+battery), latch a new one on, and rush off. You know, I think my CAD setup is calling me...

Each drive assembly contains the gearbox, two sideplates bolted together with spacers, and the wheel assembly. Thusly with all assemblies added together, you get 1 drive assembly (1/2 of the bot, 2 wheels). Each drive assembly bolts to 3 1"x1" 8020 bars that go across the bot. So technically, if we had backup full drive assemblies made, we could fully change out half of our drive train by removing 3 bolts, sliding the drive assembly off the 8020, putting the new assembly on, and bolting the drive assembly back to the 8020 crossbeams. I'd reckon with a pre-made backup, it could be a 2 minute job (Or, if you wanted a super-speed run nascar style, a power drill + bot on a crate + a guy holding the assembly beside you, could be a 20 second job). I think this older picture of our drive assembly shows what i'm talking about nicely, along with the picture of our 2009 bot. We used this same 8020 crossbeam design in 2007 and 2009 and they worked excellently