We are looking at the Vexpro 2 CIM ball shifter with 3rd stage to direct drive the center wheels(all wheels are AM 8" pneumatic). I am mostly concerned with going over the rough terrain where the wheel is on a 1" block that is next to a 3" block. The gearbox hangs far enough below the frame to contact the 3" block. The orientation that gives the most ground clearance is with the output shaft and motors on the bottom and air cylinder on top. This leaves the large 3rd stage gear exposed which would have to be protected in some way. Is anyone else struggling with this and/or found a solution?
One of many possible solutions is to not direct drive the center wheel. If you were to move the gearbox to a higher location, and have the output shaft drive a gear/pulley/sprocket, you could power your middle wheel with a gear/chain/pully. This would also set up the possibility to power two wheels from the output shaft of the gearbox.
Just one idea. Im sure there are many other ways to fix this.
Yes, we have thought about this but I would like to keep the gearbox as low as possible for COG and packaging of other mechanisms.
http://www.vexrobotics.com/media/catalog/product/cache/11/image/5e06319eda06f020e43594a9c230972d/v/e/vexpro-robot-chassis_1.jpg If you want a visual aid.
Thanks, I think we could eliminate the third stage and get the additional gearing we need between the output shaft and wheel sprockets.