Hello!
We just purchased a couple EVO Slims to try on this years robot, but we are now concerned. The gearbox has a lot of open areas on it and we are worried about it getting past tech inspection. We have had to cover up gears and sprockets before on things we have made. Looking at AndyMark’s site, they don’t seem to cover this at all or make a solid case for it.
Any thoughts or suggestions?
Thanks!
I have seen teams use gearboxes like these in the past during competition so, you shouldn’t have an issue with it. However, if you are worried I would recommend 3d printing out a case or making one out of thin sheet metal.
When we used EVOs, we stuck little strips of polycarb on with dual lock.
We added covers on our gearbox last year to keep it cleaner (WCP SS though, not EVO Slims), but in the past, inspectors have never gave us an issues with exposed chain runs or gears.
Exposed sprockets or gears are pinch points for fingers: very dangerous and should be covered. Sprockets or gears inside a gearbox are much less likely finger magnets, so you should be okay. Worst case, you can tape some polycarbonate film around the outside to keep fingers and dirt out and grease in. All in all, I wouldn’t consider this to be a significant reason not to use these or other plate-style gearboxes.
100% correct. We had a mentor three years back that had his finger taken off by some chain.
I have seen several instances where teams wrapped a layer or two of duct tape around an open gearbox like that. It makes it so that one has to very deliberately remove the duct tape to stick fingers in the gearbox. It also keeps debris from getting in and sticking to the grease.
We had an EVO shifter last year and we just covered it with a strip of cardboard. It wasn’t pretty, but it worked.