We are trying to avoid paying the steep cost (at least in our eyes, LOL) of this part. We are creating some mobile targeting systems for our archery club, and this is our current design solution for the drivetrain that will carry mock deer, bear, and turkey targets around the auxiliary gym.
Any suggestions are welcome, and if someone knows where we can get some of these for cheap, that would be awesome. Cheers,
If you are interested you can use this reference sheet to help you match CIMs to all the different gearboxes taht they can mesh with. It is slightly out of date as newer products have come out. But looking at it tells me that the AndyMark Planetary Gearbox can do roughly what you need, though the price isn’t going to be much cheaper. Same with the VersaPlanetary.
Your best bet might be to go with the Vex Clamping Gearbox with Vex plastic bearing block (as shown on the page) and to play with the reduction that you plan on using. It will be a bit more complicated and isn’t quite as versatile to mount, but if your main goal is cost reduction then this would be a good fit. I haven’t added the cost of those individual items together but I’m estimating that you will still be in the $80 - $90 range approximately.
Why limit yourself to a product solution designed for FRC? I’m assuming you would run this 12V? Why not plug into a wall and not have to deal with batteries? You’ll find a lot more motors/gearboxes designed to run full time that can deal with a lot of weight outside of the hobby robotics realm.
We have run into this with a lot of projects we have built for other clubs around the school. The problem with making it based in FRC stuff is that you almost have to have a member present to operate the thing every time it gets used just in case something goes wrong…
You may want to consider gearing down all or part of the way using pulleys and belts or perhaps by clutching a small wheel to a large wheel; these solutions are less expensive than a gearbox.