Thinking of switching over to starting to use the Maxplanatary gearbox in applications we’ve used the Versaplanatary system in the past.
From my limited understanding, the ratios and torque ratings look pretty similar. This past year we were using a versaplatary gearbox on our intake and found we were shearing teeth off gears in it through time. Although I’m sure this wasn’t a gearbox issue and more of the moment arm we were creating was too much for the gearbox itself.
So anyways, just kinda curious to hear peoples experiences between the two of those. We typically build up a kit of parts for things like this, so it isn’t a small investment. The quick modularity of the maxplanatary is really cool.
We still use both. We use the Max where we have a larger load to handle or impacts, and we use the Versaplanetary where we need a compact or lightweight option.
We haven’t really invested much into the use of the Ultraplanetary yet, just because we have a lot of VP parts on hand.
The Maxplanetary is a wonderful piece of hardware and the cartridge design has been very easy to work with. I love that they are contained and students can grab them quickly without worry of mixing parts. They are heavy. You can tell that they mean business when you pick one up.
I am a huge fan of the Max kits after years of counting Versa kit gears teeth and checking versa charts to insure the correct gear ratio was being used. The fact that the max kits are fully enclosed insures that they are quick and easy to assemble/maintain. Keep in mind that all assumes you have the larger space needed to fit a max kit.
I really like the Maxplanatary. They seem to be pretty bullet proof. We have used them for a few years and have not had a failure.
The thing I like the most about them is the gear cartage is all self-contained. So, when you change out the ratio you don’t have a bunch of little pieces that you will loose and never find all the pieces to use again later.
The Max Planetary is MUCH more robust than a VersaPlanetary. It is also slightly heavier. The Steel input block is a big source of the extra weight. The failure modes for the Max Planetary are easier manage and usually don’t damage the gearbox, they damage the shaft.
Max Planetary is also compatible with the Spline XS Shaft and you can buy replacement parts for it.
Generally, if the gearbox is up high in a bot, keeping the weight down has been our priority and we would use something other than a max planetary. If the gearbox is down low, then a max planetary makes a bunch of sense.
The relevance of the UltraPlanetary depends entirely on how you feel about the NEO 550. If you’re in that ecosystem already and are willing to deal with some metric hardware, it’s a cheat code for high-speed mechanisms. Cheap light and tiny, with tie-ins to the rest of the Ion system.
But if you’re all-CTRE, may not make as much sense.
(Also, yeah we are all in on MAXPlanetary for the other motors now. Rock solid.)
In more than one case we have used a Neo with no reduction or single gear/sprocket stage instead of a Neo550+UP and been happy.
We have been happy with MPs and not observed failures in them during our use. The fact that they are sealed and laser-marked make them really easy to work with.
We used VPs for years without big issues. We used them well within design parameters, and they were tedious to rebuild/maintain and their stage stickers always fell off because grease is a little everywhere (and you can rebuild a stickered stage with a different gear set, so I never really trusted the stickers in the first place).
Okay yeah this was the conclusion i was coming too as well. Thanks for this!
The weight considerations are a good point. In 2023 we had 2 versa planataries way up for our shoulder. Even going from versa to max there might have made a difference
Lots of improper use of them on the robot. We started with a pair of MPs up high and that made us very tippy so we tried switching to UPs and that resulted in a boatload of reliability issues. (I’m no longer a fan of the UP for FRC. They can be used safely, but a Neo 550 is too much for the output stage)
We settled on used VPs after driven from Neo 550s, but if I did it again, I would probably go with open gearing.
Also quite valid—if you’ve got the real estate for the bigger can diameter, you can get some nice packaging and potentially even cost savings. I know a few teams that have done that to good success, and not just elites.
Horses for courses, as Darrell Waltrip used to say.
I used to advise students to use VP’s for light-duty situations (intakes, conveyors, etc) and AndyMark planetary anywhere heavy-duty, as while the VersaPlanetaries can work, they’ve been known to fail in those kinds of situations.
Now we pretty much use MAXPlanetaries everywhere. Lots of quality of life improvements over the VP, and we haven’t had them fail.
good to know on the UP part! We used a neo550 to minimize weight on our arm in 2023.
Honestly this past year we had so many little robot breaks vs 2023, it just got exhausting having to constantly repair the robot. I know thats part of the game but my ears turn up now to reliablity improvements. Instead of spending an hour working on what was supposed to be auto, next thing you know your taking apart half of your intake/or whatever mechanism.
yup. Not sure if its a common failure point of VP’s, but on our OTB intake (basically an arm), we had them fail pretty regularly on us. Slowly it would get more stiff and then eventually losing teeth on gears. We probably should have revised that in season but it was tunnel vision lets get through this mode…
They can and will break if you use them incorrectly. For example, in 2024 my team used them for a large and heavy arm and they did not hold up to that sort of load.
