This season, our team is using these gearboxes for our drivebase:
We are researching ways to mount encoders to the gearbox. We currently have several Grayhill encoders and CTRE SRX mag encoders:
http://www.grayhill.com/assets/1/7/opt_encoder_63r.pdf
http://www.ctr-electronics.com/srx-magnetic-encoder.html
In the past we have used 3d printed parts to interface from the encoder to a hex shaft. We were wondering if anyone has already figured out a good way to interface with the gearbox, or has used different encoders effectively. Thanks for any help!
In a WCD, it is common for the drive encoders to actually be placed into a wheel shaft on one of the end wheels not connected to the drive transmission. I always like to reference this image of 254’s drivetrain from a few years back. Notice how the encoder is just plugged into a hole in the drive shaft and held in place by the wires being zip tied to the bellypan. It doesn’t hurt to print out a small encoder mount just to be safe, but it’s not required for the precision most teams need.
I hope this helps!
What is the rest of your drivetrain like? We also use the WCP SS gearboxes and Grayhill (63R) encoders, but we mount our encoders to a drive shaft for another wheel in our drivetrain.
This post from last build season shows our encoders mounted to the middle wheels on our drivetrain. We 3D print a mount that can slide with our VersaBlocks and holds the encoder at the end of the shaft.
Nate is on my team. We are doing belt-in-tube WCD. Directly attaching the encoder to another axle will work great for us. Thanks, y’all!