Has anyone come across a 3mm press fit coupling for the 775 Pro?
I am trying to adapt the motor in a high RPM application directly to a pulley.
The GT2 pulley that WCP offers has a large cantilever due to the fact that the 775 pro has such a short output shaft. I would like to find a coupling that does not use a set screw (in fear of it coming loose) to a direct drive a gt2 or like pulley. If anyone knows of something that gets you from the motor too 1/4" or 3/8" diameter shaft and can be used in a high RPM application please let me know.
The versa planetary would definitely work, however you must use a set screw to install it. I may be over-cautious, but I am fearing set screws this year because of the nature of this game and I don’t want anything to come loose, especially in a high RPM application such as a shooter wheel.
We used a set screw+A shaft key. It doesnt directly key the motor shaft but it does help. You could also cut a small slot in the axle with a dremmel, or lathe and connect it to the adapter with a DIY shaft key. The adapter has a gap so its not an issue.
Think about it this way. No matter what gearing the output of a VP is spinning at, the input will be spinning at the free speed of a motor. If that coupling has held on at high speeds to motors for years, why would it fail now? I’m not saying set screws in general are the best idea, but the VP design is tried and true. The VP will also provide a much better supported output shaft than you would have otherwise.
This is a horrible idea. How do you cut a slot in a 3mm wide shaft? How big would the slot even be? Maybe 1mm?
What are the recommended installation instructions (ie spacing from motor) for the WCP pulley?
I am interested to see it installed and running, I have a fear about the cantilever off of the motor output shaft because there is so little engagement. There is very little info about it on the website.
Your not going to run into an issue with shaft stick out, it is the same as the Banebot 775. 254 & 971 run the 12T pulley on their stuff, you can check out CAD from FRC971 on their site.
We were also concerned that 775 motors might not handle side loads well.
We’ve had good results using 3/8 hex shaft stock (217-3310) to fabricate 5mm bore press-fit shaft adapters for the 775pro. Here is our method: (lathe)
– rough cut stock ~1 inch long using chop saw or band saw
– face both ends to give 7/8 inch finished length and break edges
– center drill
– drill through #21 (0.159 inch dia)
– drill about halfway through #9 (0.196 inch dia) <-- this step gives a press fit hole diameter for the 5 mm motor shaft
– tap the smaller end 10-32
– using arbor press, align squarely and press motor into large end of adapter
(Note: arbor press ram should only touch the back shaft, not the motor body)
A 3/8" hex bore gear on the adapted motor shaft drives a larger gear on a 1/2" hex output shaft. Both shafts are supported by bearings in a gearbox housing, which we make on a mill using 1x3 rectangular aluminum tube with 1/8 inch wall thickness. The output shaft bearings are installed flanges-in with a 1/8 inch plastic spacer between the gear and one bearing. The motor face mounts to one side of the tube* secured by two M4x10 button head screws, then a spacer and the shaft gear go on, and a 3/8" hex bearing (217-2735) goes in flange-out. A 10-32 x 0.5 inch button head screw and washer keep the bearing in.
Free current draw with this method is less than we saw testing with a Versaplanetary, and the gears are easier to keep lubed. It is also easier to integrate this gearbox into our shooter because the output shaft is also a shooter wheel axle, supported by another bearing on the opposite side. Another benefit is that we can select any of several gear ratios that use the same total number of teeth. That includes options smaller than 3:1, which is lowest ratio available using Versaplanetaries.
*Vent holes in the tube wall, aligned with those in the motor face, are highly recommended.
To echo what RC is saying here, we’ve been doing this for years, with RS550’s, 775’s, and are planning on doing it with 775 Pro’s this year. RC added that part to his inventory based on feedback from us. We press it on to the 775 with the short flange 0.020" from the motor face to reduce the cantilever. We’ve never had an issue. (Last year’s bot had 7 per robot 775’s with pinions pressed on as described. We had 0 failures.) With bearings in the new 775 Pro, this should be even less of an issue.
Do you guys have a source for other size gt2 pulleys? I can buy the pinion from WCP, but where do get your others from? (I was hoping mcmaster would sell them).
Also based on it’s size it looks like gt2 is close to MXL, any experience in the difference between the two?
We buy and broach pulleys from SDP-SI. It is a lot easier only having to source pulleys and not pinions. We previously had issues reliably sourcing pinions. It would be nice to be able to buy hex broached pulleys, but I don’t know of a source for that yet.
MXL may be close in pitch size to GT2, but GT2 has significantly higher power ratings than MXL. I don’t remember the number (you can find them in the Gates manual if you want), but it is close to an order of magnitude of difference. I doubt that MXL would handle the motor torques, but you should check the numbers yourself.
We did the same thing for one of our prototypes. Pressing a short section of 3/8" hex shaft onto the motor has worked great. We hex broached some timing pulleys and secured them with a shaft collar. Being able to quickly swap out pulleys or gears on the motor is really helpful. We used a 0.195" reamer for the hex shaft. This is a little on the tight side, but it goes.
Can you point me to a C-C distance calculator that works with the GT2 3mm 12 tooth pinions that WCP sells? The one at SDP-SI only goes down to 16 tooth.
I would like to use this pinion to drive a 44 or 45 tooth pulley from SDP-SI. Will exact C-C set up work, or will I need a side tension system to keep six teeth of the pinion engaged to the belt?
